PSA on behalf of izzy - Safe and sound after a tornado touchdown near his home

[mitunnelrat]

I just got a call from izzy, his area is experiencing a series of tornadoes and I was the first person he was able to reach after the closest one to him passed by, he's estimating about a mile from his home. He and his family are currently without power, and he's figuring it'll be a day or two before he's back on grid, but he and his family are ok. They rode it out in his bunker all afternoon. He did try to get out and survey the damage in his area, but emergency vehicles have things blocked off.

Since I've started typing I've gotten a text in as well, bacpacker has also had a touch down in his town. I don't know anything further yet.

I'll update as I can.

[mitunnelrat]

and just got word that bp is ok too.

[bacpacker]

Thanks for posting MIT. I spoke to Izzy about 10 minutes ago and they are fine, but their whole county with the exception of the county seat is without power. I have heard reports of at least 1 dead and several hurt about 20-30 miles south of Izzy.

We had a report over the ham radio weather (WX) net that there was a tornado alarm going off about 10 miles from us about 20-30 minutes ago. Seems they get hit everytime a storm goes thru. We got over an inch of rain and winds approaching 50 mph before the main cell came thru, which went 5 miles or so south of us. 2 of my friends got hit with 60+mph winds and pretty good hail, up to golf ball size.

I've been almost reliving last April when we got hammered. Glad the garden isn't started yet.

[Taz Baby]

glad to here you guys are all ok.

[helomech]

glad to hear everyone is okay, man I hate those things.

[Gunfixr]

Glad to hear everyone is ok.
Time once again to repair and rebuild.

[mitunnelrat]

I'm glad to hear things are good so far too. Do you know if LHK/ bwrr's area was affected at all, bp? They're the last I can think of in TN at the moment.

[apssbc]

I was talking to Izzy earlier. Good to hear everyone is ok. Heres to a speedy recovery to the area. Prayers out for the casualties.

[Taz Baby]

lady and bwrr are ok. Just heard from them

[ladyhk13]

We're ok down here. Izzy called on his way out to Wal Mart to get a charger for his phone so he can use it for an alarm clock in the a.m. (darn....would be a good excuse to miss work! haha). News said 3 dead now and another band of bad storms are going to be going through. Hope he doesn't get hit again. Might go just north of him (fingers crossed). Thanks you guys for checking on us. Such a wonderful family. We were actually out of our town all day until tonight and only got home about an hour before Izzy called and only got hit with tons of rain. We were lucky. Not like last year when we got hammered...think this is going to he one hell of a summer.

[Evolver]

I'm glad everyone is ok and High Five to the Ants (MTR, Izzy, Apssbs, Bp, Taz and Lady) that was able to make contact, collect info and passed it along. I bet Izzy was glad that he had the storm celler to hunker down in for him and the family!

[LUNCHBOX]

Glad everyone is ok there.

[RedJohn]

There will be a few good things coming out of this. A few good stories, a few adjustments in the prep section (like already having a solar charger for the phones) and some valuable input for everybody.

Glad that all you guys are OK!

[Sniper-T]

WOW. somehow I missed this whole thread!

Glad that everyone is alright. Tornados are a hazzard around here too, and they are nasty beasts.

Thanks for the reports to!

[Stormfeather]

To echo everyones comments, glad to hear all are OK. I was working last night so was out of the loop as far as weather. If anyone down there needs anything, please do not hesitate to ask!

Izzy, solar chargers or wind up chargers and a great addition to the bug out gear bro, exactly for this reason!!! :)

[bacpacker]

Thanks to all for the concerns and prayers. I heard this morning of 3 dead, 2 of them south of Izzy. In that same incident (building collapse from a tornado) there were 2 others airlifted out with severe head injuries. At least 2-3 others with other injuries.

Glad ladyhk and bwrr are in good shape.

It wasn't to bad right at the house, just kept us on eddge for a few hours. The solar chargers are a great call. I will be adding them soon.

I'll try and reach izzy later this morning and report back if there is any news from him.
Thanks again to everyone!

[eagle326]

Been busy here finishing up mom's business. Only had time to glance a boards.
Am glad that all of you are okay. As stated in other post ; please let us know if you need anything.

[Grumpy Old Man]

I was traveling all day yesterday to Orlando so I missed all this until late last evening when I contacted some of my family in the Ozarks to see if they were OK. Glad to here that all our TN colony came through relatively unscathed. I'll put you all in my prayers. Let me know how I can help. Grumpy

[Katrina]

Glad you are ok. Prayer going out. Not sure what I can do but holler!

[bacpacker]

I just talked to izzy. They are all good, just no power. He's got a bunch of stuff plannin due to lessons learned.
Thanks again everyone.

[Zombiehuntereky]

Glad to hear their ok.

[Sniper-T]

I'm looking forward to his gear review after this!!

[izzyscout21]

Hey guys!!

as of about 1:30 today I have power again.

Thanks to everyone for the calls, texts, and just answering the phone when I called. It was rough getting any info out last night. Coms are still sketchy here today. Lots of busy signals and dropped calls.

I was a little off in my distance estimate as far as proximity to the house. The roads were blocked off last night, so there was no way to no for sure. Touchdown was about 5-7 minutes south of my house. Several homes destroyed, and so far, loss of life is confirmed at 3, possibly 4.

I learned a lot yesterday and was able to put into use some of the things I had been putting away for preps. Most of this was lighting. I plan on doing a good AAR with gear reviews as soon as I get a moment to sit down.

I have got to get a solar charger for the phone. Ran out to Wally world during one of the lulls so I could get a car charger. I needed an alarm clock so I could get up for work this morning.

More to come. Stay tuned.

[Gunfixr]

Definitely need a solar charger. Me and my wife each got one last year, a small compact unit with a solar cell, battery and quite a few adapters, all in a self-contained unit.
Actually looking into a larger unit to charge the laptop with.

[Stormfeather]

Izzy, Ive got a couple of these, and they work great! Plus they are inexpensive!!! Makes all the difference in the world when you dont have power!

SOLAR Charger & Battery: Iphone Torch MP3 1350mAh battery USB 5.5V LED light | eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/SOLAR-Charger-Battery-Iphone-Torch-MP3-1350mAh-battery-USB-5-5V-LED-light-/110833924608?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item19ce377a00)

[The Stig]

Hey guys!!

as of about 1:30 today I have power again.

Thanks to everyone for the calls, texts, and just answering the phone when I called. It was rough getting any info out last night. Coms are still sketchy here today. Lots of busy signals and dropped calls.

I was a little off in my distance estimate as far as proximity to the house. The roads were blocked off last night, so there was no way to no for sure. Touchdown was about 5-7 minutes south of my house. Several homes destroyed, and so far, loss of life is confirmed at 3, possibly 4.

I learned a lot yesterday and was able to put into use some of the things I had been putting away for preps. Most of this was lighting. I plan on doing a good AAR with gear reviews as soon as I get a moment to sit down.

I have got to get a solar charger for the phone. Ran out to Wally world during one of the lulls so I could get a car charger. I needed an alarm clock so I could get up for work this morning.

More to come. Stay tuned.

Glad you are safe brother...

[TEOTWAWKI13]

Had one roll through Chattanooga today about 1pm. Hit a few miles north of my wife's Vet Clinic where she works. I haven't heard details from the storm but damage was sustained and pretty severe. They've blocked the exit off on 75 so you can't get in or our that area. Wife's fine and currently at a Mexican restaurant while I'm at work. More could come through tonight, so we'll see.

I need to be on the Ant Colony Call list, what with all the tornado activity here in the TN Valley area.

[ladyhk13]

Had one roll through Chattanooga today about 1pm. Hit a few miles north of my wife's Vet Clinic where she works. I haven't heard details from the storm but damage was sustained and pretty severe. They've blocked the exit off on 75 so you can't get in or our that area. Wife's fine and currently at a Mexican restaurant while I'm at work. More could come through tonight, so we'll see.

I need to be on the Ant Colony Call list, what with all the tornado activity here in the TN Valley area.

We were in Murfreesboro again all day today, just got home. Are you guys ok? My friends live in Ootewah and they have damage there as well.

[ladyhk13]

Izzy. You guys ok?

[ladyhk13]

Spoke w/Izzy and they are being hammered but they are doing ok in their bunker. Poor Mrs. Izzy! Sent pm to Taz to see if she is ok, I think her area was hit earlier today...still waiting and saying prayers.

[izzyscout21]

LadyHK,

Thanks for the call earlier.

We are in a pause right now, and remarkably, we still have power. wanted to drop in here and check in with everyone. This whole area has been getting pounded all day. Confirmed tornado touchdown on the other side of town. It looks like a WW3 airstrike going on up there from where I'm sitting.

If anyone is in the path of this system, hunker down. It's nasty. I'm still trying to get a hour by hour forecast. I'd love to know when we will be in the clear, but so far no dice. Anyone have a clue as to when this blows over? If so, shoot me a text. 865-712-5518.

Got to go.

Back to the bunker

[The Stig]

Man, eastern TN and KY look like they are getting pounded. Sadly, that's where a big number of our members reside. Stay safe everybody.

[Stg1swret]

Was just looking at the weather forecast for there , and snow is perdicted on top of everything else, at least for Izzy.

[msomnipotent]

I am glad everyone is safe. We had some hail and a lot of wind, but nothing like a tornado. Stay safe!

[bacpacker]

We had a tonado warning here about an hour ago. Went to the basement for a while. It ended up moving by to our south again. We really didn't get much of anything here at the house from it.
There is another line of storms moving across toward us right now and has just crossed over Izzy. They just called a tornado warning for the next county over from us, but it looks to be moving more to the north. Best i can tell the line of storms should be passed us by 10 or 11 tonight.
I'm getting just about over this crap.

[realist]

Just saw the thread glad all are safe for the time being. I see that you folks may be in for more. Hunker down and be safe. When all this is over you are welcome to move out here with us. All we have are earthquakes and you don't even feel them after a while.

[Stg1swret]

Just finished a little text session with Izzy, he's just waiting it out, all is well.

[Optimist]

Kinda makes a man want to build underground, don't it? Izzy, folks, glad you're okay so far. I went through a hurricane down in South Texas one time, and I've kept a close eye on the weather and the water ever since. BTW, I moved inland, a long ways inland....

[Taz Baby]

lady sent pm thanks. We are in the clear now at 1:15 Am we are fine . Can,t see any damages yet but no trees down on top of us yet.

[izzyscout21]

I'm still alive this morning.

Emergency procedures went much more smoothly here at the house than they did the other night.

Other than some broken limbs, we're good. The bunker flooded after we came out of it last night due to me turning off the pump. Gotta drain it today.

I may cruise into town today and survey the damage,

[Stormfeather]

I'm still alive this morning.

Emergency procedures went much more smoothly here at the house than they did the other night.

Other than some broken limbs, we're good. The bunker flooded after we came out of it last night due to me turning off the pump. Gotta drain it today.

I may cruise into town today and survey the damage,

Sandbags are your friend bro!

[izzyscout21]

aint no room for them and if there were, they only delay the inevitable. I need to get someone to come out and snake the 2 drains. The previous owners neglected them and now they dont work at all

[TEOTWAWKI13]

We were in Murfreesboro again all day today, just got home. Are you guys ok? My friends live in Ootewah and they have damage there as well.

I got a boss here at work from Murfeesboro...we're fine, made it unscathed. Ooltewah is where my wife's office is...the 1pm storm hit hard, and I think they got another round last night. We shut down the dealership early at 6:30 so everyone could get home, and as I was driving south on 75, I ran right into it, saw what I thought was a funnel cloud, but could've been my paranoia, idk.

My hometown of Woodstock, GA, where my kids live unless I have them (which I do this weekend), got hit pretty good I hear too.

[Patmark]

Hi everyone, I just can't tell you guys how sorry I am about not being around much lately. Let's just say that I'm going through a bit of a personal crisis right now and I'm a very sick boy. I heard about these tornado's hitting across the country, but have been in such a fog that I didn't put it all together until this morning. I am so glad to see that everyone is all right. As I was scrolling through some of the pictures of the damage I noticed that many of the pictures seem to be of preppers homes. The way I came to that conclusion was because of the many prepping supplies that I saw laying there ruined and no longer any use to anyone. (You can see the picts that I'm referring to on yahoo)

This started me thinking about how very vulnerable we all are, and how much more I need to do here. It also made me realize all the more how dangerous it is to put all of our eggs into one basket so to speak. As I stated before in previous posts, Rambo will be the first to die, those of us that make it through to the other side will be those of us who band together and help one another out. Obviously I can not afford to prep a place of safety here in Florida as well as places in other states or locations and most likely most of you can't either. Which means that the only way that I can think of to ensure all of our safety and give ourselves a chance regardless of what happens is to do our own thing in our own states but network ourselves together in such a way as to give us alternatives and backup locations that all ready exist. This of course will take a great deal of trust between all of us, and some face to face will be required to get to know each other a bit and become comfortable with one another, but I don't see why it couldn't be accomplished with a little work on relationship building to start with. Think about it you guys and let me know if you want to try to organize something like this with me. I can't do it alone.

Tornado's are bad news and I remember them well from the time that I lived in Tennessee, I watched the entire roof ripped off of a Big K store, taken a mile down the street, and deposited on top of a neighbors house, I was 9 and let me tell you that was some scary shit. Down here I deal with Hurricanes which are almost as bad, I say almost because although they are much bigger storms and most of the time effect a much larger area at least we will get a weeks notice that it's on the way. As I read through this thread I was very heartened to see that many of you had bunkers in place and supplies buried, I of course can't do that here because if I dug a hole it would just fill up with salt water. That's why there is no such thing as basements in Florida. I'm in a bit of a pickle here because I am unable to move because of a whole lot of reasons, I mean I'm smart enough to see that I'm in a very vulnerable location stuck out on this tiny bit of land sticking out into the Atlantic Ocean. I'm 10 miles from a Nuke plant and 15 miles from the ocean for Christ's sake, this is not a safe place to be but what else can I do? Oh Christ I'm rambling again, this is why I just don't post much right now, I just can't get my thoughts clear and in order so I ramble. It's embarrassing.

Anyhow the purpose of this post was really just to make sure all of you guys were ok and to find out if there was anything I could do from here to help anyone. Sorry for the ramble. I'm very glad everyone is safe and I will continue to check in on everyone as I am able. Be safe my friends.

PM :cool:

[Katrina]

Glad to hear all have made it safely, prayers for the casualties. All we had was high winds and a light dusting of snow so far. Neighbors tree blew down last night.

[mitunnelrat]

Izzy! You have broken limbs and things went better!? Lol...

Seriously, bro, I'm again glad to hear the effects were minor

[izzyscout21]

Izzy! You have broken limbs and things went better!? Lol...

Seriously, bro, I'm again glad to hear the effects were minor


well, lets put it in context..........it only affected me in a minor way. I know there are some folks hurting right now.

[mitunnelrat]

On a related note, I'm pretty lucky in my AO rarely having anything more serious than a blizzard hitting it. If we get a call tree running I'd be more than happy to act as a POC on it, as I'm quite likely to be reachable

[izzyscout21]

I think a "text" tree may be more feasible. Texts seem to work better when there is mass hysteria and folks are jamming up the phone lines. Phone calls could be attempted after texts if there is a need for voice coms

[Taz Baby]

I think a "text" tree may be more feasible. Texts seem to work better when there is mass hysteria and folks are jamming up the phone lines. Phone calls could be attempted after texts if there is a need for voice coms

yes the phone lines always get overloaded in a crisic,s. And texting seems to work even when phonelines are jammed. That's a good idea.

[mitunnelrat]

well, lets put it in context..........it only affected me in a minor way. I know there are some folks hurting right now.

Good point, I could have phrased that much better. My heart went out to the communities affected last night as I was watching the footage, and I certainly wasn't trying to ignore or trivialize that in my post.

A text tree does sound like a much more solid approach give your experience and reports from other events.

[bacpacker]

I concur on the testing vs calling. In every exercise I participated in with our county EMA. It was stressed to use text as opposed to trying to call. From what events I have help with that has held true everytime. We also got reports form other areas, including from a close friend that was sent to Southern Mississippi right after Katrina hit. Text were the only public comms that worked for several days and down there they were spotty at best.
We were also told to try and reach someone outside our immediate area, the likely hood of getting thru was much higher that way. So MIT's idea of him being a POC for the TN group is a valid point to be considered.

[TEOTWAWKI13]

yes the phone lines always get overloaded in a crisic,s. And texting seems to work even when phonelines are jammed. That's a good idea.

I can tell you, here on the 2nd, after the 1pm storm, cell phones were nearly useless. Either from storm interference or just sheer quantity, but I'm in on any text chain. Let me know.

[realist]

We had a 4.0 earthquake out here and you would think that the world was coming to and end or it was a slow news day. You have it far worse then most people out here could comprehend. Glad you made it through the second storm. Take care and be safe.