Chicago / Indiana PT'ers... bad storms...you okay?!

[ramanth]

Saw there were some bad storms and tornados that hit the Chicago and Fort Wayne area.... 3 dead in Utica, IL...

Sara, Debbie, and Mugsy... you guys okay?

*hugs*

[CountryWolf07]

I think we also had tornadoes in Ohio too.. but 3-4 hours south of me.. My friend called me saying that her dad had called informing her that they had tornadoes touch down/forming..

How scary..

I hope you all are OK!

[Edwina's Secretary]

Yes, I'm fine. The worst damage was about 90 miles south of Chicago in Utica....a town right by Starved Rock Park. We did not even have storms. Debbie is much further south than I am. Hope all is okay. I didn't know Fort Wayne got them too. Need to check on my husband's family!

[cloverfdx]

I hope everyone is ok.

Takecare.

[My Peanuts]

There were sirens going off like crazy everywhere. My area didn't get anything other than rain, but the storms and tornados were heading this way. I'm really afraid of tornados! Four people died in Utica Illinois, terrible

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Thanks for the concern Kimmy.

The sirens did go off, but I didn't even hear them. I was upstairs with the TV on low because I was studying. Terry was downstairs in the hottub and heard them, so needless to say, his relaxition period was over. I have one of those weather radios (NOAA) so we put T & P in the basement and listened to that radio to hear exactly what was going on. The closest the really bad stuff got to us was about 30 miles south of us in Joliet where a Walgreens and a gas station were destroyed. Fortunately they said there were no injuries there.

Utica, on the other hand, got a direct hit from a tornado. It's a really small town - quaint comes to mine - and I guess it was pretty much destroyed. As of this morning's news (on my way to work) 4 people had died and some more were still missing. Turns out this touchdown is what spurred the urgent warnings for the Joliet area, probably saving a few lives there. Utica is probably about 45-60 miles from us, a little South and West. It has a sentimental place in our hearts because Terry has been auto-crossing (racing) Corvettes out there since the early 70's.

It was really rather eerie because I was listening to this weather radio and they kept talking about the strong winds and "severe rotation" which spawns a tornado. And all the while it was absolutely calm outside. At that point I was ready to join T & P in the basement, but it kept saying everything was South of us. Believe me, had they said it was in Joliet moving North/Northeast at 35 mph, I would have been down there in a heartbeat!

For some reason that area South of us usually gets hit pretty hard during tornado season. I, personally, would never live/build down there. A few years back almost the entire town of Plainfield was wiped out - including the high school! But for some reason, the storms seem to loose some of their intensity as they get closer to the city. Maybe it's because of all the buildings and such changing the air currents - who knows. We've gotten some pretty severe storms, but this is the closest a tornado has come in the almost 10 years I've been living out that way.

Anyway, now that you know more than you wanted to know - yes, we're all ok. Thanks for asking.

Oh, and the weather radio said the storms were going to hit Naperville at 8:35 pm. I know Rachel is in St Charles which is a little West of Naperville, so she probably got hit at about 8:30. There haven't been any reports of major damage out that way, so hopefully she and her pups are ok.

[sirrahved]

There was a touchdown just a mile away and I happened to be across the road at the seminary. I made it home fine though, and everything's okay.. (can't say as much for Wabash county, though!)

[ChiRen]

We're okay here.

It was pretty nasty, but no tornadoes. The sky was almost black for awhile, but again...nothing other than some hard rain.

[mugsy]

We had 4 funnel clouds sighted, but no touch downs in Fort Wayne. We got a couple of sprinkles and 4 claps of thunder all night over at our house, but Mike called from work and they had to evacuate. We live southeast and he works southwest (and my parents live southwest) and I guess it was nastier over there. And yes, Wabash County got hit too. MSNBC showed a homemade video of a funnel cloud in Jamestown, IN which is up near the MI line (Kimmy, just south of the outlet mall where we meet for transports).

[ramanth]

Glad you're all okay. My friend in Oswego said a tornado missed his sister-in-laws house by blocks (She's also in Oswego).

Scary stuff.

[tuxluvr]

Originally posted by tuxluvr
Tornado touchdown happened about 35 miles northeast of our house - Jamestown area... some pretty mean pictures on the evening news!

I was driving home from Chicago area down Hwy 41 all afternoon, completely oblivious to the "danger" all around me(I learned later that the storms around Lafayette were a mere 20 miles to the east of my journey)....guess God was looking out for my behind yet again!

[ramanth]

Originally posted by Tubby & Peanut's Mom
But for some reason, the storms seem to loose some of their intensity as they get closer to the city. Maybe it's because of all the buildings and such changing the air currents - who knows.

Debbie, I got thinking about this, and then I remembered an episode of Storm Stories I had watched.

They explained that the tall buildings and heat of a city does not prevent or deter tornados. In the past downtown Salt Lake City, UT and Nashville, TN have both been hit by tornados.

A tornado can hit anywhere...but the way they described it is..

Say you were to throw a dart at a map. More than likely you'd hit a rural area than a large city. Mile for mile, the US is covered by more rural areas than large cities.

I was a baby when a tornado rumbled thru downtown Lansing.

[EssTer]

I'm glad, that you guys are Ok!
Those storms souns pretty scary!