Storm or natural event Stories

[mountainman 2]

This is a question for everyone out there. What weather related or natural event do you remember more then anything else?
For me, it was in 1972. My dad had to rescue his sister from her house in Luzerne Pa when the Susquehanna River flooded as a result of Hurricane Agnes. He used a rowboat to reach her from a 2nd floor window. I was 11 at the time.
What event do you remember most?

 

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[WindHarvester]

Re: Storm Poll

In January 2003 We had a very bad flood, It was early morning and My Son, Daughter, and Myself were sound asleep, My Wife was at work in Town. I was awoken to our Dog scooby barking like crazy, when I went to the window I saw him standing in about six inches of water, I immediately woke the kids up and told them to get dressed fast. They were very young and didn't know what to think. I ran outside and let the dog off it's chain, and ran back inside to tell the Kids to get the book bags we bought them for Christmas and get what Christmas gifts they wanted the most that would fit in their bags and make it fast. I put them on my back and walked them in thigh deep water to higher ground about three hundred yards away.

We now have river property that is about three hundred feet above the river, I will never live on the direct river front again even though I loved where we used to live. We lost a cat in the flood that my wife and I had found together in High School but it could have been much worse had the dog not saved our lives. Scooby Doo is still alive and well, my Sister and her Fiancee took him in for us after the flood and Her Fiancee still has him today.

 

[DigginThePast]

Re: Storm Poll

Blizzard of 1978. Cars stuck everywhere but we a lot of fun on the snowmobiles. Shut down Connecticut.

 

[spartacus53]

Re: Storm Poll

I can remember the funniest one, and that would be the blizzard that hit Boston, on April 1st leaving 29" of snow. I spent the day looking out my hotel window and just making a few phone calls as there was a state of emergency and you weren't allowed to drive unless it was life, or death.

Come to think of it, last winter in NJ was no picnic either. It seemed that we had 3 major Nor' Easters dumping nearly 2 foot per storm within 2 weeks.

 

[mountainman 2]

Good replies so far. Anyone else? Anyone ever see a tornado up close or get shaken up by an earthquake? What was the closest lightning strike you've seen? Anything that really sticks out in your mind?

 

[fossis]

Good replies so far. Anyone else? Anyone ever see a tornado up close or get shaken up by an earthquake? What was the closest lightning strike you've seen? Anything that really sticks out in your mind?

I've been through some gosh-awful thunderstorms & tornadoes, but once saw lighting strike behind a barn about 500 yards away, the next morning there was a dead horse lying there.

Fossis...........

 

[spartacus53]

Although it was nothing horrific, I have seen the following weird weather in NY/NJ

Suffern, NY lived alongside the Ramapo fault, had one earthquake that was a 2, or a 3 so nothing major. Just heard a bang, very little ground rumble if any. Pictures on the wall shook, so that was.

I have seen a few close lighting strikes, but the closest by far was about 40 yards away max, hit our intersection dead center and left a black spot and rainbow like swirl on the pavement. That had to be from the oil and gas residue, it still looked pretty cool.

Basking Ridge, NJ had a tornado run through, but nothing the size you see in the Midwest. Jersey tornadoes are relatively wimpy. Thankfully most damage was done to the trees as they were knocked down helter-skelther across many of the surrounding roads.

When I lived just off the ocean in Atlantic Highlands, NJ, it was always a treat to watch the Nor' Easters hit the coast and see the waves crash over the seawalls. We would have some flooding that was normally minor, but 2 towns south in Sea Bright, NJ was a totally different story. That town is actually an isthmus, ocean on one side and a large river on the other. That town would flood from shore to shore.

 

[lonesomebob]

The Palm Sunday tornado in Hillsdale co Mi in 1968, I lived through it and spent three days as a cop on search and rescue, I locked the sherriff in a cell to get some sleep, took his car and patrolled for the night . some funny things happened and some tragic , belown through a steel wagon wheel was the most tragic thing to see, Bob

 

[bigscoop]

Blizzard of 78.
We lived in the country, and on the second day of that storm I saw what appeared to be a man falling down about 200 yards out in the field, but I wasn't sure because the snow was blowing so bad. So I called my neighbor and together we went to check it out and sure enough it was a local farmer who had been stranded in his truck all night and that day he got lost trying to walk home because he couldn't see where he was going. I went back to the house and grabbed a bunch of blankets so we could try to keep him warm, we couldn't move the huge guy because the wind and cold would steal your breath away if you tried to exert too much, at 60 - 70 below wind chills we hid behind drifts. We spent a little over 4 hrs in the field with him that day waiting on a rescure team to arrive from the nearest town of Wabash. When they finally showed up they were being lead by a huge grater and two bulldozers. The guy lived though he was frost bitten badly on his hands and face and ears from the exposure of the night before. It took eight men and a bobsled to drag him to the road, and even then we could only go about thirty feet at a time, hiding behind one drift before resting and moving to the next one. The thing I never will forget was this, I was in great physical shape, probably the best in my life, and I just couldn't get over how quickly you fatigued when you exerted yourself in that very cold and very strong wind. I never will forget that experience.

 

[savant365]

In 1976 we went on vacation to Colorado. When we got home there were pictures in the paper of a flood that went through Big Thompson Canyon. Everything we had seen 3 days earlier was just gone. 2 years later a tornado ripped the roof off of our back porch right outside of my bedroom window, I remember my Dad dragging me out of bed and downstairs just as my bedroom window shattered. I have seen lightning strike a few times but the most memorable was seeing it hit a transformer on a light pole...better then any fireworks show I've ever been to. I got snowed in in Cheyenne WY. for 3 days at the end of May one year but I guess that's normal up there, lol.

HH Charlie

 

[WindHarvester]

A few years ago We were on our way back from a job in Chicago, We were driving through Indiana when the weather went from a beautiful sunny day to a very bad storm. As We were driving through it listening to some music an emergency alert went over the radio saying that a massive tornado had been spotted at mile marker 197, right when they said that I looked over to see we were at mile marker 196 so I immediately called My Wife, Son and Daughter to tell them how much I loved them.

We kept on driving for about five miles and the weather cleared up to the same beautiful sunny day as before, so I called home to let them know we were safe and the truck was washed.

 

[Monty]

I was at my gun range shooting in a match one Sunday morning. Just as we were finishing we could see a storm cloud approaching and lots of cloud to ground lightening. (The gun club sits on top of a real tall hill and you can see for miles). I hurridly packed my gear and started out of the shooting area, when the gears locked up on the old Chevy truck I was driving. So, I pulled into the parking area of a covered handgun range and got out and lifted the hood to jiggle the linkage. (Anyone with an old 50s Chevy car or truck will know what I mean.) There were several shooters who were standing under the tin shelter waiting for the rain to let up so they could go and pull targets. All at once the hair stood up on my arms and head and I ducked even deeper under the hood of the truck. A tree about 30' from me suddenly just exploded and split open into 3 pieces from top to bottom and burning wood and debris showered the area. a lightening bolt came from the sky and totally destroyed that tree and there were at least 20 people near it but no one got hurt. I'm not a real religious person but in a split second I heard, felt and saw the wrath of God! I was sure glad I'd been a good boy lately! It literally scared the Hell out of me! Come to think of it I'll bet some preacher was there playing hookey from church. Monty

 

[naturegirl]

I was ten years old living in Talara, Peru when an earthquake struck about midnight. Dad was away in Lima on business and it was just Mom, us kids and our maid. It was all so sureal, and confusing. Mom dragging me out of bed and pushing me towards the front of the house while she tried to get to my little brother's room. I didn't know what was happening till the shaking stopped. The following weeks were one big adventure for a kid, but fairly traumatic. It was a large quake, but centered offshore. We had already been transfered and when the man who had bought our house came to see if it was still standing told my Mom if the people started running to the hills, she better get us in the truck and follow them, because it would mean a tidal wave. We didn't wait, Mom learned to drive a standard really fast, and we spent the night on top of a hill at a friends house. What I remember most was the sound, it came from everywhere, it rumbled and growled and creaked, like a monster that you couldn't see. And a strong sense of betrayal, the land isn't supposed to move like that!

 

[mountainman 2]

Many of you have been thru some traumatic events. I've been fortunate enough never to experience an earthquake or huddle down during a tornado. We have an occasional tornado but they usually cause minimal damage. I have seen some impressive t-storms though. The closest strike was when i was looking out to my backyard during a storm and no more then 50 feet away a bolt hit. The sound was instantaneous and deafening. Another time i saw a bolt strike in front of a farmhouse about 75 yards off and saw a shower of sparks shoot back up into the air. We never realize the power of nature until we get close to it.
Anyone else?