There’s a boss in WoW, that I actually forgot his name. But his first message before you do combat with him is “You fear which you cannot control. But can you control..your fear?”
Tornadoes, as much as I try to control my fear, they control it. And the reason is my house is a ‘bungalow’ and has no basement. The ‘center most part of the house’ is a hall closet, but it’s filled with so much junk like vacuum cleaners, coats, and other heavy things. Since the house is small, this is the only place where these things can be placed. So if we ever had a tornado (especially a big one)…I’ll likely not be here anymore.
Now I’m not a Christian, but it feels God has my back and keeping the nasty ones from hitting us. But..for how long until my luck changes?
God also protected us from this day that happened five years ago, that will go down in my mind of being something I never want to go through again. On March 2nd, 2012..every parameter (winds aloft/temperature/mega-powerful cold front) were ‘pegged’ (aka, as high as they could go); surface winds were coming from the South and Southeast, and extremely strong winds a mile above the ground were coming from the Southwest. The insane twisting in the air, is what made this day possible once every 50 years.
Hell, The Weather Channel’s own Jim Cantore(Mr bad news) was in Louisville on the eve of March 1st. Seeing him there, I knew we were screwed.
The next day, I remember the line of storms entering the viewing area. Every. single. one of these cells were rotating and tornado warned. Around 3-4pm’ish(if I remember correctly), two lines of powerful storms, one having a “large and extremely dangerous” tornado… looked like it was heading right for my city, which was sending me into a panic. Yet it decided to kick up north and run right through Henryville. I was hearing the initial damage reports, that “half of the city is gone”…FUUUCKING hell!!
I still remember an image someone took of an EF4 preparing to cross over I-65. What was..so unnerving about that image was a sign pointing to I-65 South to Louisville. The fact it was that..close to us, oh god. That thing, was a monster.
The second storm behind that one, was ALSO “large and extremely dangerous”..and this one was a bit further south, almost following I-64. I’m moving my finger across the TV screen and I freak out as its path would take it right through our city. …….But thank GOD it too went north of us, ..but it too went through Henryville. Those poor people!!
Though that line wasn’t done, as the warnings got closer and closer. But it was like the hand of God was right there, protecting me and saying “everything will be OK” as the tornado warning that was heading for me, turned into a Severe Thunderstorm Warning. We survived “the big one”.
My nerves were understandably shot after that day. And as for Henryville, boy did they get hit bad. But it could’ve been a lot worse if it wasn’t for the quick thinking of people knowing where to go during an event like this. A lot of lives were saved, including several school children. The storms were moving in about the time school was being let out. One school bus driver was leaving Henryville Elementary with a bus full of kids, when she decided to turn back around and get the kids in the school and hunker down. That split decision, saved a LOT of lives. And the bus driver was seen as a hero.
As for the bus, it got picked up by the first tornado and was sent into a convenience store. The tornadoes continued on past Kentucky and West Virginia before finally dying out. A week later, family albums, pictures and other stuff of the Henryville residences were discovered hundreds of miles East… all the way to Washington DC. ..WOW.
Again, I pray we’ll never…EVER have another ‘March 2nd event’ like what happened on this day, 5 years ago. One local meteorologist says it’s something you would only see every 50 years. Yet what happened last night and in the morning, if that happened during the day… some say it could had been exactly like it.
This is why preparing for Severe Weather is ohh so important (which is why this is ‘Severe Weather Awareness Week’). Do I believe we’re in for a dangerous 2017? It’s really too early to tell. Some say it could be more active (with the severe lack of snow we got during January-February).
.
March 2017 also marks the 20th anniversary of “The Great Flood of ’97”. I remember that day all too well, as it was the first time in my life that the flood walls were closed, and the Ohio River was actually nearly up to the bottom of the wall. I remember (with my parents) actually being up on the Indiana side of the wall and watching the river’s edge hitting the bottom of the flood wall.
The Ohio River crested at 38.8 FT on the McAlpine Upper(it’s a dam we have on the river).
Downtown Louisville was flooded. That was a pretty crazy flood, but I’m glad I got to see it.