Everyone from SW Mo OK?

[TrekTheKaty]

Don't we have some people from the Joplin area? Everyone please check in. Sirens went off in St. Louis but no significant damage.

[Melalvai]

My mother-in-law is ok. :) I'm in north Missouri, we had our tornadoes last year. I don't know of any TE who is southwest, I know a few are central MO.

[colorisnt]

My friend who lives down there is OK. She was really shaken up and posted some pics on facebook, but is fine. I wasn't in MO (I'm in CoMo), but back home in Indiana. Thankfully everyone is fine.

[sundial]

Trek, did you get any storm damage today? We just had a tornado touch down near us as a system moved through. (I'm in NE Arkansas). AccuWeather is stating that it's going to be bad this week for us folks in Tornado Alley so let's keep in touch and check in.

Found this dramatic video of someone filming the event while in a convenient store in Joplin, MO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cQnvxJZucds

And photographs of the damage to the town. :( :(

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/devastating-pictures-of-the-joplin-missouri-torna#HTWF2

[uforgot]

I'm between St. Louis and Joplin. Our sirens didn't go off. Everyone we know there is safe. Our school has joined a few other central Missouri districts and we are competing with each other to see who can raise the most money by Friday, and then we are giving it to the school district or a shelter.

[TrekTheKaty]

Thanks to everyone for checking in. I hope everyone is OK.

No damage today but a decent storm.

I donated to the SW Salvation Army (link on weather.com)

[sundial]

Looks like another round of storms are headed your way, particularly in the St. Louis area. Here is the latest from AccuWeather:

http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/50084/tornadoes-about-to-swarm-the-o.asp

[uforgot]

Terrific news. Maybe I will just move into the basement.

[sundial]

"A number of large tornadoes this afternoon and evening!"

As of 2:50 p.m. CDT:
Number of tornado reports so far today is 20.

There are 17 different tornado warnings out for Missouri alone at this time. Just about every thunderstorm over central and eastern Missouri is rotating and capable of producing a tornado.
Some of the storms were lifting northward toward St. Louis. New thunderstorms were rapidly developing over Arkansas and were becoming severe.

Joplin has been spared as the storms are developing east and north of the area. Only a few showers are expected for the devastated city this afternoon.
A tornado crossed Sedalia, Mo. around lunchtime CDT and has apparently caused major damage. Cars and buildings are damaged and a tractor trailer was overturned. One person is reportedly injured. The number of casualties is not known, if any.

Sedalia, Mo. had two tornado touchdowns at around 12:00 p.m. CDT. There are reports of some homes completely leveled. The damage covers a four block area at 32nd and Grand Streets. Two homes are reportedly pulled off of their foundations. As of 3:30 p.m. EST only minor injuries have been reported.

A tornado was reported on Waterford Rd. in Centertown at 1:45 p.m. CDST. Centertown is located in Cole county in central Missouri.
Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) tornado watches are now in effect from southeast Missouri to western Kentucky. Storms will be developing in that area shortly and will produce large, powerful tornadoes.

A second PDS tornado watch has been issued for central and eastern Arkansas, northern Mississippi, western Tennessee and the Bootheal of Missouri.

http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/50128/latest-on-the-tornado-outbreak.asp

Just breaking.....funnel cloud spotted near Padukah, KY.

[sundial]

Tornado Watch

TORNADO WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WT 370
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1110 AM CDT WED MAY 25 2011

TORNADO WATCH 370 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM CDT FOR THE
FOLLOWING LOCATIONS

MOC017-023-031-035-071-093-099-113-123-133-143-157-163-179-181-
183-186-187-189-201-207-219-221-223-510-260200-
/O.NEW.KWNS.TO.A.0370.110525T1610Z-110526T0200Z/

MO
. MISSOURI COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

BOLLINGER BUTLER CAPE GIRARDEAU
CARTER FRANKLIN IRON
JEFFERSON LINCOLN MADISON
MISSISSIPPI NEW MADRID PERRY
PIKE REYNOLDS RIPLEY
SCOTT ST. CHARLES ST. FRANCOIS
ST. LOUIS STE. GENEVIEVE STODDARD
WARREN WASHINGTON WAYNE


MISSOURI INDEPENDENT CITIES INCLUDED ARE

ST. LOUIS CITY

[uforgot]

We spent most of the afternoon in the hall at school. Had a tornado west of us and one north. Tornado Alley. Fun stuff.

Our school has raised several thousand dollars for Joplin. Several people have gone to help. Nurses, etc. We also have a trailer on the school parking lot and the town is filling it with toiletries, bottled water, dog and cat food etc. It will go down there Friday. Seems like we all have friends and family that live there. We found out today that one of our retired teachers is missing.

[wackyjacky1]

Found this dramatic video of someone filming the event while in a convenient store in Joplin, MO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cQnvxJZucds

Holy #$^%!!!

Same guy returned and filmed the aftermath. Just looking at the destruction, I would not have believed anyone would have survived.

http://youtu.be/W-P4P68YyNM

[Koronin]

Glad everyone here is alright.

[sundial]

We found out today that one of our retired teachers is missing.
:( :(

Uforgot, I'm surprised that the schools didn't let out early for the storm. Did you have super cell after super cell move through your area?

What a wonderful thing for the community to come together to help the Joplin victims. People want to roll up the sleeves and work together when disaster strikes and it's always encouraging to hear about a community making a difference in the lives of many.

[uforgot]

Yes, we had the supercells moving through. It was still sunny here when the first tornado siren went off. The tornado was 25 miles away. Letting the kids go home is more dangerous than keeping them here. It took about 30 minutes for the siren to go again for another one 15 miles away, and then the final siren an hour later for the one north of us. We go through drills all of the time since this is the reality for us from March-June. Tornadoes are common around here, and everyone has had trees uprooted, lost barns as a part of it. I've even experienced one going over my house. (Yes, it does sound like a train). What ISN'T common is the F-5 one that hit Joplin. Even the basement didn't provide safety from that one. Sedalia was hit yesterday too, and I think people are taking the warnings a lot more seriously since Sunday. They say that lives were saved in Sedalia because people are taking cover now. They had an F-2 and many houses and businesses were destroyed, but no lives lost.

[Melalvai]

You are right that people are taking the warnings more seriously because of Joplin. We used to sleep right through the watches, but the night after Joplin we were WIDE AWAKE during the ~hr long watch at 1:30 am. Our hallway that is the only interior "room" in the house, if you close all the doors, no longer seems quite adequate as a shelter.

The house we're moving into tomorrow has a basement. Unfortunately, this is also an area prone to floods, so basements aren't a great idea. I guess the ideal house for this area has one of those closets that doubles as a storm shelter, regardless of exterior or interior walls.

[sundial]

Sedalia was hit yesterday too, and I think people are taking the warnings a lot more seriously since Sunday.

After the Joplin tornado and the potential for the second one to hit, I had heard that survivors were writing their names and info on their bodies in case they end up in the morgue. :(

Melalvai, I guess at this point it's better to have a basement than none at all. Besides, you can store your canned goods down there. ;) Hubby and I are shopping for tornado safe rooms that can be installed in the garage. I really like this one (http://www.tornadosheltersystems.com/?q=node/6).

[Bike Chick]

There was also one in Ellsinore, Missouri and several sighted in my area of Illinois last night. Our junior college and many businesses closed early because of the threat of storms. It's good that people are being more cautious and heeding the warnings. I just hope they don't get complacent when the sirens go off.