Randy Harris
SI Tier 1 Instructor
I finally have access to the web after the tornado hit here in the Southeast.The following is a brief report on what the situation was in my little corner of the world. The damage we suffered was NOTHING compared to others and want to make sure everyone knows that . Some places near here and especially farther south are in very bad shape with homes completely destroyed and people killed. We were extremely lucky with just property damage and travel slowed by downed trees and powerlines. We are very blessed for things to not be worse than they were.
The storms started rolling through the Chattanooga TN area on Wednesday morning. Some trees were knocked down here that morning but nothing major. I went to work an hour late waiting for the tornado warning to expire. The weather reports all said that there would be at least one more round of storms and maybe two later in the afternoon and evening. The storms we were expecting later were the ones tearing up central Alabama at that time.
My wife's office sent everyone home at 11:30am due to the weather reports of impending storms. The rain started falling here around 3pm and street lights were out when I came back to work from lunch at 3:30. By 5pm hail the size of golf balls and tennis balls began falling. It sounded like bricks were falling on our building. Just as I was getting ready to leave work the storm hit our neighborhood.
My wife rode out the storm in a closet as 100 mph winds hit our neighborhood.They don't really build houses with storm cellars in the southeast as tornadoes are a rarity here. In our house the closet under the stairs made the most sense as a place to hide in case the storm hit our area. The storm lasted just a few minutes but it does not take long for 100mph winds to do a lot of damage.
I was still at work on Wednesday when the storm hit our neighborhood. It took me an hour and a half to get home...It normally takes just under 15 minutes. But with EVERY road leading to my place blocked by downed trees and power lines it was slow going. I finally got to within 500 yards of my neighborhood but the road was closed due to downed power lines. After waiting a while for the road to open I finally made the decision to "bug back" to the house on foot because there was another storm on the way . I grabbed my sneaky bag and rifle bag , threw them over my shoulder, and started walking past the roadblock when they got the word that they could open the road....so I went back and got in the car and drove the rest of the way home. The last round of storms was not nearly as bad as the previous one.
Eight people were killed just a couple of miles from my neighborhood. One casualty was an elderly man found in his chair 50 feet out in his yard where the storm had propelled him from his house....... another man was ejected from his house into the yard and suffered a broken leg. I am BLESSED to just have the minor property damage that we have.
I had some damage to the house but nothing major. My neighbor has a 4 foot section of fence harpooned into the side of her house. It looks like it was shot out of a cannon and is just stuck in the side of the house like an arrow stuck in a tree trunk. That is something you don't see every day.
Trees and power lines are down EVERYWHERE. All the trees down look like a blast wave from a bomb rolled through and knocked them down. There were tree lined streets that are now tree filled streets. Travel is slow going but getting better. In fact the Close Range Gunfighting class scheduled for this weekend is having to be rescheduled for May21-22 due to trees and powerlines down at the range.That area was hit hard. But we will simply reschedule and the class WILL go on.
Thursday was "clean up day" in the neighborhood. People were clearing out downed trees and shingles and pieces of fences from their yards. There was no power so generators were good things to have to run power tools and to keep freezers from thawing out. Ice was a commodity impossible to find in stores. If you have a freezer I strongly suggest you have either a generator or a few bags of ice in the freezer to keep things cold longer. Also some frozen jugs of water in the freezer will help keep food cooler a little longer and when it melts you can drink the water.
This was an emergency situation that some preparedness in advance made a little easier to get through. We talk about preparedness all the time, but this just reinforces it....
Things you NEED to have on hand other than the obvious things like a good first aid kit and a fire extinguisher.......
1. WATER. We never lost water, but Lookout Valley Tn and Ringgold Ga city water has been turned off. You can go without food for a few days. Water is crucial.
2. CASH. If electricity is out stores can't run cards...No cash...no gas, no food , no supplies. Keep some cash on hand at home.
3. BATTERIES. No electricity...no radio, tv, lights,etc. Make sure you have batteries to run your flashlights and radios and lanterns.
4. GASOLINE. Never a bad thing to have some extra gas on hand. I think everyone in a 10 mile radius with a chainsaw was running it yesterday. Gas powered generators need gas too.And if the electricity is out you may not be able to pump gas at the gas station....so having a few extra gallons on hand may be a good thing to have.
5. NONPERISHABLE FOOD. There are still A LOT of folks with no power here and that means stuff in the fridge will be bad. But a simple Coleman stove and some cans of soup will get you by for a while. A weeks worth of canned food might make things a whole lot easier if there is a power outage for a few days and if stores are not open.
6.TOILET PAPER. Make sure you have toilet paper.
7.CAR CHARGER FOR CELL PHONE!!!!!!! My wife's phone was dead and could not be charged because there was no electricity . Luckily I have a car charger for mine and that made a big difference being able to still communicate by charging it in the car.8. A TARP . Tarps are good to cover holes in roofs and houses. Also sheets of plastic or even garbage bags can be used for this.
9. A generator or even a power inverter to run your freezer or power tools may be a wise investment.
10. A GOOD ATTITUDE. We all just got out and did what needed to be done. No sniveling no whining. Yes it sucks that stuff is torn up, but it is not going to move itself off your lawn and out of the street. If you are doing something you don't have time to say "Woe is me".
This is not "end of the world" stuff. It is simply a natural disaster just like people have lived through for thousands of years. Things will be back to normal in a few days. But everyone who thought ahead at some point and stashed a few rudimentary supplies will have it easier than those who said "that will never happen here".As of now I have not heard any reports of looting. And honestly in this part of the country I doubt there will be any. From what I have seen it has just been a whole lot of folks helping each other as best they can. Granted, we are not in the hardest hit areas. And I know things might be different if everything as far as the eye can see had been destroyed. But from my little corner of the world people are working to get things back to normal...not waiting for someone else to come do it for them. I just thank GOD that it was not worse than it was and pray for those that were in areas hit harder.
