Everyone from SW Mo OK?

[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.

[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.