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Natural Disasters - Everywhere These Days


lazarus

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A disturbing news report some workers wanted to leave ahead of the storm and were told they would be fired if they left.

Another aspect of the report I find surprising is it appears they had no storm shelter in the factory. Quite a few of the large manufacturing plants located in tornado prone areas have shelters for that very reason.

Factory workers threatened with firing if they left before tornado, employees say

Another, wider view shot of the industrial area where the candle factory is located.

211213-mayfield-candle-factory-before-after-cs-1131a-b61785.jpg

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50 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

A disturbing news report some workers wanted to leave ahead of the storm and were told they would be fired if they left.

Another aspect of the report I find surprising is it appears they had no storm shelter in the factory. Quite a few of the large manufacturing plants located in tornado prone areas have shelters for that very reason.

Factory workers threatened with firing if they left before tornado, employees say

Another, wider view shot of the industrial area where the candle factory is located.

211213-mayfield-candle-factory-before-after-cs-1131a-b61785.jpg

 

Somebody is going to catch a lot of hell for making that decision.

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Video of one of the tornados. All the more scary because you only get a glimpse of the monster tornado when lit up by lightening.

For those that have never lived in an area where tornados are common, the siren at the beginning of the video is the tornado warning siren. Growing up and living in Minnesota and Wisconsin for most of my life it's a sound that generates a Pavlovian response of anxiety and dread every time I hear it.

 

Edited by forcebwithu
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One of many drone videos now posted showing the destruction. One detail I noticed is the lack of basements which isn't uncommon for houses built in warmer climates. Unfortunately that also means those people had no hardened shelter to go to when the tornado came blasting through the area.

 

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/15/us/kentucky-tornado-piano-man.html

 

After a Tornado Blew His Roof Away, He Played Piano Under an Open Sky

The morning after Jordan Baize’s house in Kentucky was destroyed, he turned to his Yamaha piano. It was a moment of calm that his sister recorded on video.

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Jordan Baize returned to his house in Bremen, Ky., on Saturday to find that it had been badly damaged in a tornado. His piano was still intact, though, and he played a Christian worship song as his sister filmed.CreditCredit...William Widmer for The New York Times

After emerging from his basement in Bremen, Ky., where he had sheltered during a tornado, Jordan Baize saw that the roof of his house had blown away, doors had come off their hinges, and shattered glass and insulation were scattered everywhere.

His Yamaha piano, however, was still intact. Under an overcast sky the next morning, Mr. Baize sat alone in his living room and started to play a song that had been stuck in his head for days.

Whitney Brown, Mr. Baize’s sister, said she heard her brother playing on Saturday while she was in his bedroom packing clothes into boxes. As she started recording Mr. Baize, she recognized the tune as a Christian worship song, “There’s Something About That Name,” and recalled the words:

“Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there’s something about that name,” a reference to Jesus Christ.

Ms. Brown said those lyrics seemed apt for the situation. Her brother’s house, his “kingdom,” had been destroyed, but his hope had not been, she said.

“It was healing, just to know that he was still clinging on to the hope of Jesus,” said Ms. Brown, 32, a massage therapist and doula and an owner of a saw mill.

At least 88 people were killed as tornadoes tore through Kentucky, Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee on Friday. Twelve people were killed in Bremen.

 
 
 

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Mr. Baize’s daughter’s chicken Betty atop his Yamaha piano after the tornado.Credit...Whitney Brown

Mr. Baize, 34, said he had not realized that his sister was recording him but was heartened by the response after she posted the video on Facebook.

“In these times, whether folks all around the world have suffered a tornado this past weekend or not, we all are facing storms of some kind,” said Mr. Baize, an accountant and consultant. “That little bit of peace and perspective that I was dealing with, in what I thought was a personal, private moment, I think has spoken to people across the world.”

Mr. Baize said that he rushed into the basement with his two children, his ex-wife and her husband, and they huddled under a mattress just before the tornado was expected on Friday night. Three or four minutes later, it arrived, he said. It lasted about 30 seconds.

After the storm passed, he and his children spent the night at his parents’ house nearby. When he returned to the house the next morning, he took stock of the wreckage: debris everywhere, five or six inches of rain in what was left of the house, and damaged trees that three generations of his family had grown up climbing. He turned to the piano, which was covered with water.

“I thought I might just see what shape the piano is in,” he recalled thinking. “If it’s in awful, terrible shape, I can at least play once more.” He started playing and felt a sense of peace.

Gloria Gaither wrote the lyrics to “There’s Something About That Name,” and her husband, Bill Gaither, composed the music. She said she was overwhelmed after seeing the video clip of the song they wrote decades ago.

“A song appears in somebody’s life when they need it, evidently,” she said, “in circumstances we never could have dreamed.”

Edited by Glasseye
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On 12/15/2021 at 7:24 AM, forcebwithu said:

One of many drone videos now posted showing the destruction. One detail I noticed is the lack of basements which isn't uncommon for houses built in warmer climates. Unfortunately that also means those people had no hardened shelter to go to when the tornado came blasting through the area.

One guy had the forethought to build his own underground bunker for the family to ride out the tornado. Laughed when the camera panned the neighborhood and caught a glimpse of a house with "Hurricane Brandon" painted on the side.

 

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12 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

One guy had the forethought to build his own underground bunker for the family to ride out the tornado. Laughed when the camera panned the neighborhood and caught a glimpse of a house with "Hurricane Brandon" painted on the side.

 

 

Back around 2005 or so (a few years before I retired) there was a big "education" campaign going on tornado preparedness, response, etc. 

Part of the training was designating people to be spotters. I understand the concept,  but.... My boss told me that he expected me to be a spotter when working shift. I told him in a nice way to f**k off.

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10 hours ago, Glasseye said:

 

Back around 2005 or so (a few years before I retired) there was a big "education" campaign going on tornado preparedness, response, etc. 

Part of the training was designating people to be spotters. I understand the concept,  but.... My boss told me that he expected me to be a spotter when working shift. I told him in a nice way to f**k off.

The problem with spotting a tornado is you may be looking in the wrong direction.

Twenty one years ago I was sitting with a GF in my hot tub which was on the south side of my house. The sky was boiling, the winds were picking up and the tornado sirens started their mournful wail. She wanted to head for the safety of the basement, I said not to worry if there's a tornado we'll see it coming from the SW as tornados usually come from that direction and we can head for the basement then.

About 10 minutes later the wind really picked up in speed and was driving the rain horizontally, cool to watch until my ears started popping from low pressure above. I immediately said to the GF let's go, pulled her out of the hot tub and together ran, dripping wet and butt naked to the basement.

After the storm passed we dressed and walked around the house to assess the damage. Fortunately my house was ok, but an old Cherry tree which I knew was on its last legs broke at the base and damaged my neighbor's garage.

I learned later the tornado came from the NW, passed over my house and touched down about 15 miles away near Milwaukee's airport.

Needless to say I dodged a bullet big time. Pics of the damage.

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A house sits covered by a deep blanket of ash from a volcano that continues to erupt on La Palma, in Spain's Canary Islands, on October 30. The Cumbre Vieja volcano has been erupting since September 19, sending lava into neighborhoods and raining ash downwind. 

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https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2021/12/top-25-news-photos-2021/620915/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-photo-newsletter&utm_content=20211206&silverid=%%RECIPIENT_ID%%&utm_term=New Photo Galleries

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NZ: Campgrounds and a marina have been evacuated overnight in Northland due to a tsunami surge that caused “significant damage” in Tutukaka.

Boats have been “completely destroyed” by a wave around 2m higher than the high tide line – believed to be caused by a combination of Cyclone Cody and a huge volcanic eruption in Tonga.

Last night Civil Defence Northland issued a tsunami warning for people living along the coastline following the violent eruption of underground volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai.

It warned of “strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore”.

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The Japan Meteorological Agency said a three-metre tsunami may hit some of Japan’s southwestern islands including Amami Island, and a 1.2-metre tsunami was observed in the city of Amami soon before Saturday midnight.

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There’s a tsunami warning in place for NSW coastal areas. Last night authorities evacuated Bondi as the warning was released.

 

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Tsunami advisory in effect for US as waves hit Tonga following volcanic eruption

A tsunami hit Tonga's largest island, Tongatapu, reportedly sending waves flooding into the capital after an underwater volcano in the South Pacific exploded in a violent eruption, propelling a cloud of ash and gas steam into the air.

Waves crossed the shoreline of Nuku'alofa, Tonga's capital, flowing onto coastal roads and flooding properties Saturday, according to CNN affiliate Radio New Zealand (RNZ), which reported residents headed for higher ground as waves swept the palace grounds, waterfront and main street.
Meanwhile, Tonga's King Tupou VI was then evacuated from the Royal Palace, RNZ said, citing local media reports of a convoy of police and troops rushing the monarch to a villa at Mata Ki Eua.
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