Tornado Damage

[rat31465]

I thought I would share a couple of pics to help show why I wanted to join a Forum such as this one. For anyone who is interested of tornado damage done to my residence back on 2/10/09. This was in Springfield Missouri.

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/picture.php?albumid=101&pictureid=796

My Wife, Mother and I were home when the F-1 Tornado hit and tore the roof from our side of the Duplex we lived in. My Brinkman Smoker all 175 lbs of it....came through the sliding glass back door and ended up in my living room floor about two feet from where I was standing at the time it hit. 10:50 P.M.

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/picture.php?albumid=101&pictureid=797

We came back in the following morning and found the inside of the house in almost pristine shape other than a little water spotting on the ceiling...We were inside for about ten minutes looking around and had just walked back outside when we heard a crash..turned around and opened the door to find this....nearly all the drywall ceilings in all the rooms came down at once.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/picture.php?albumid=101&pictureid=798
I ended up tearing a ligament in my left knee a couple of days later while trying to salvage what we could from the house...but otherwise no one was injured. There was no warning sirens or even notification by local Television stations...as it came in so fast and developed on the leading edge of a squall line. Luckily no one was hurt.

[rat31465]

The biggest problem with this ordeal has indeed been the clean up and sifting through the 18-24 inches of blown fiberglass insulation, drywall, comp roofing and 2X4 lumber that has covered and encrusted everything inside the house. I managed to get the last of it out just yesterday. Thank God because I am still itching from that damn blown fiberglass insulation.

I wanted to share a few last thoughts and observations that stand out in my memory from the last few weeks in hopes that the next guy might learn something and be better prepared from my experience.

Remember that your safety and awareness is your responsibility and don't rely too much on the media and technology to tell you what to do.
We had absolutely zero warning this was about to happen. There were no Severe Weather alerts on the local Television Stations. No Tornado Sirens ever sounded. And it wasn't until the following day it was officially labeled as an F-1 Tornado. A very light rain was falling, with a light wind..No thunder or lightning or any other signs that severe weather was coming in. I just heard the wind come up things started flying.

Immediately after assessing the damage to the house my wife and I implemented our (EPP) Emergency Preparedness Plan and readied ourselves to evacuate as there was another super cell moving into our area and we were told we had about an hour to get whatever we could before the next storm arrived.

It was somewhat amusing to see the looks on the faces of the neighbors when I began hauling out firearms and Ammunition. Thirty-Five Rifles, Shotguns and Pistols in all.
I do not currently own a gun safe (I have a Steel Cage) non-waterproof, or in this case I probably wouldn't have felt compelled to secure all my firearms during this scenario.
We packed up our camping/survival-gear, clothing and a few other essential valuables into the SUV and were ready to travel in a little under 45 minutes. We could have been out in less than 30 but a couple of the firemen were shooters and kept asking me questions about a couple of the older guns I brought out.

For the most part...getting the emergency essentials together and out went quickly and smoothly....
I did identify a couple of issues which I will be addressing in the very near future.

First...My Bug Out Bag wasn't complete as some of the items had been removed and were scattered throughout the house. I had the week before unloaded the bag with the intention of doing an inventory and replacing a couple of the perishables, and had put off repacking the bag that day. I managed to get most of it together but the bag was very unorganized and it made finding things within it more difficult than it should have been.

Secondly...my primary sidearm got separated from the (BOB) and upon arrival at the motel that night I had to partially unload the SUV to find it. (This wasn't quite as huge an issue as it seems since I had a secondary handgun readily available as well as the LMT Defender 5-loaded P-Mags in the case I bought back in Nov 2008.) My wife even made the comment that it felt very good knowing that this carbine was there that night.

Thirdly...Since the death of my Father last fall my Mother has been living with me and I haven't made extra provisions for the addition of a third adult in the household. Luckily my younger sister was able to take her in that night and keep her safe until we can get settled in the new place.

Lastly...I found that neither my wife nor I had any cash on us that night. Between the two of us we had less than $5.00. Not a real problem since all we had to do was make a stop at the nearest ATM...But the tornado hit at 10:50 p.m. so many of the places of business had already closed...had this storm been (the Big One) it could have been very hard to get to the funds we had in the bank at the time. I intend to make it a priority to keep an emergency stash of cash on hand from this point on. A minimum of $100.00 in small bills and change for vending machines etc...

I always try to keep a positive attitude towards diversity when it hits and even though this is the third time we have been hit by a tornado, and the second time we have been displaced. I learned that while we are perhaps better prepared than many households are...there is always room for improvement. If you live near the ocean you have to expect that eventually you might get hit by a Hurricane. If you live on the West Coast...Earthquakes. I have never been one of the types to go crying and asking, Why me? Instead I ask what can I learn and do to prevent this in the future?

When I decided to post this thread I had a specific goal in mind...as a heads up call to show that disaster can strike unexpectedly and does so on small scales everyday...as well as larger scale like Katrina etc... Lightning can strike more than once...(as stated this is my third time being hit by tornados and the second time my home has been destroyed in the last decade.) My wife and I also rode out the 2007 Ice Storm without Power for 15 days.)
And to show the value of having an Emergency Contingency Plan in place...it made this experience a little easier to handle on the night it occurred. My wife and I both had specific responsibilities assigned to complete. It kept us busy and our minds occupied on the tasks at hand and off the (Ohhh Woe is Me) mentality. We evacuated in less than an hour with enough gear to survive for more than a week should the need have arisen.

[Rick]

Man! I'm glad no one was injured but that's nasty. I've done my time with twisters and clean up can be pretty tough. I hope you had good insurance and they treat you fairly. Thanks for sharing. Those pictures are a perfect reminder of why we worry the way we do over planning preparations.

[rat31465]

Rick,
No one was injured and when the dust had settled we were very lucky that we lost only a few items. Our new (Less than 3 months old) couch was destroyed. We lost a recliner as well. Other than several boxes of papers...old tax returns etc... We managed to salvage and clean up just about everything else.

By the way this was a rental and our land lord did is right..And I now have Renters Insurance which is suprisingly very affordable.

[Rick]

Your write up was excellent. I was writing up my initial response as you were writing up part 2. Isn't it amazing how we can put off some simple things and then have them come back to haunt us? First, I think it's great that you two have a plan in place and know it well enough to enact it. Second, even though your BOB was not up to snuff you still did a great job of pulling everything together. Folks don't realize just how huge an effort it is to gather everything up and get out of dodge.

A couple of thoughts for you.

1. A check list of those items NOT stored in your BOB should be included in your BOB. Then if you have to leave you know what to look for. This would be very important for medical items that have to be refrigerated for example. Things that you just can't store in a BOB but want to take with you.

2. A communication plan will allow you to make the critical contacts that need to be made. A list of all the phone numbers that are important to you. Include you doctor, you insurance agent, your lawyer, etc. and of course your family.

I'm glad mom and everyone is safe. That wood and glass can be replaced. Lives can't. You have a great attitude and mindset!

[crashdive123]

Glad everybody is safe.

[rat31465]

My response to Quotes from Rick

1. A check list of those items NOT stored in your BOB should be included in your BOB. Then if you have to leave you know what to look for. This would be very important for medical items that have to be refrigerated for example. Things that you just can't store in a BOB but want to take with you.

I don't currently have a list stored in the BOB but instead have kept it in my wallet, a copy in the bag is a good idea as well.

2. A communication plan will allow you to make the critical contacts that need to be made. A list of all the phone numbers that are important to you. Include you doctor, you insurance agent, your lawyer, etc. and of course your family. These are some of the things that are part of my wifes area of responsibility..and like most Women she has a veritable Library in her purse at all times. I keep a card roughly the size of a buisness card in my wallet with important numbers.

I'm glad mom and everyone is safe. That wood and glass can be replaced. Lives can't. You have a great attitude and mindset![/QUOTE]
Thank You...Mindset is everything and I believe that the most important piece of Survival Gear anyone can have is located within their Cranium.

[mountain mama]

rat31465,

I am so glad everyone came out of this unscathed. I lived in Texas most my life and have survived many a tornado either camped out under an overpass (when stranded in the midst of the storm) or hauled up in a bathtub with a mattress over my head. I even lived through "the BIG ONE" (F4) in Wichita Falls in 1979, inside a storage room in the mall. I do know what y'all are going through right now and sympathize completely.

One thing that I have added to my BOB after reading, "Organize for Disaster" by Judith Kolberg, is a file folder with the following:


ESSENTIAL DOCUMENTS
• PROOF OF YOUR IDENTITY
1. Driver’s License
2. Birth Certificates
3. Passport
4. Social Security Cards
• VITAL CONTACTS AND VITAL CODES
1. Employer
2. Banks, investment institutions
3. Credit card companies
4. Insurance agents and appraisers
5. Power, light, gas, and other utility companies
6. Dept. of Motor Vehicles
• IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS
1. Trust records, originals
2. Copies of the first two pages of your state and federal income tax returns for the past two years
3. Copies of your credit cards (both sides) or the most recent statement from each credit card company
4. Deeds, titles, escrow, mortgage notes, or other loan information for real estate
5. Stock and bond certificates
6. Vehicle titles and registrations including automobiles, motorcycles, boats, campers, recreational vehicles, etc.
7. Appraisals for rare, collectiblem or expensive items such as artwork, antiques, and jewelry
• Unique family documents
It's always so much easier for me to have everything centrally located and ready to go.

[Rick]

Transfer those documents to a three ring binder. It will be easier to handle and you'll stand less chance of loosing any of the documents. Include a copy of your credit cards front and back (the back has the banks customer service number).

Check my signature for information on a Family Disaster Plan.

[Old GI]

As a new County EM Director in the FL panhandle, I went out on my first tornado/micro-burst damage assessment. Only one mobile home in a very rural area was hit. It peeled the roof back. Rookie Mistake: I told the young man that owned it: We were lucky (referring to only one touchdown in the county). He shouted: NOT IF YOU WERE IN BED WITH YOUR GIRLFRIEND WHEN THE ROOF LIFTED UP!!!!!! Lesson learned.

[crashdive123]

I guess he really did feel the earth move.

[Pal334]

All excellent advice. I took mine one step further. I took the three ring binder, scanned everything and burnt a CD. The CD resides in my sisters Bank Safety deposit box ( and hers in mine) We live about 250 miles apart. Down side, it only gets updated once or twice a year when one or the other visits.

[Old GI]

Great idea!!!!!




All excellent advice. I took mine one step further. I took the three ring binder, scanned everything and burnt a CD. The CD resides in my sisters Bank Safety deposit box ( and hers in mine) We live about 250 miles apart. Down side, it only gets updated once or twice a year when one or the other visits.

[Rick]

I have a safety deposit box in Illinois where I grew up and one here in Indiana. I keep a data DVD of information in the Illinois box and update it a couple of times a year. You just never know.

[equus]

That was very informative.