JUST missed ... storms in Omaha

[Anita F. Henck]

I was in Omaha, Nebraska for a Gallup conference for a few days this week, flying out on Friday at noon. Some fellow faculty flew out at 4 pm. We are feeling blessed this morning, when we are hearing of the terrible storm that struck that city around 4:45 pm yesterday.

It was going to be a busy weekend in Omaha and neighboring Iowa towns -- an arts festival, several fairs, concerts (Willie Nelson, Kool and the Gang, etc.), fireworks, and Olympic swimming trials. The town was lively and all hotels were full. It really was a great place to be.

Then, a storm hit -- hail, high winds, heavy rains -- with a town overly full of visitors and outdoor events.

The Olympic swimming trials were called off last evening, due to damage at the Qwest Center. The downtown arts festival was affected while concerts were interrupted. It was amazing to go online this morning and see news clips of flooding downtown, arts festival tents upended, and siding off of buildings where I at been out walking at 7 am in the Old Market area yesterday morning -- just 24 hours ago.

A friend from the Kansas City area was staying over an extra day, with her family joining her, so they could enjoy the zoo and weekend festivities. She wrote this to me -- "We ARE safe but WOW!!! It was down right scary! I have NEVER, ever been in such a frightening storm. And fast moving!! Tornado sirens were blowing for quite a while. We stood at the window and watched as the sky went from clear, bright blue to black as night in seconds it seemed like; the wind blowing like I have NEVER seen, siding blowing off the building and flying past the window and a tree just fall right over right in front of us. ... The Qwest center had some pretty serious damage - some of the side blew off, down to the rebar. ... There really isn't any way to adequately describe it...it's stuff you read about or see on the news happening somewhere else. Glad you got out before it hit!"

I'm glad I made it home safely, too. It was a sunshine blue, moderate temperature day when I left. But, air turbulence was very high -- all the way to Denver and from Denver west a bit.

We're blessed to live in a day of early tornado siren warnings. They are credited with saving lives yet again!

==anita==

[Michael B. Ross]

I can't remember a summer like this one. It seems we are having weather alerts every day, including today. We were struck by lightning two nights ago, and we had two of our grandchildren spending the night.

I just bought another weather alert radio. We have two, but one does not have SAME capabilities. We basically ignored it, because it would sound for any alert anywhere in Indiana.

SAME allows us to program by county, so if those radios sound, we know it is pertinent to us. We now have one upstairs in our bedroom and one downstairs for the living area.

BTW, Anita, I was scheduled to return home from KC Tuesday night, but the weather was terrible--high winds, lightening, etc. I canceled my flight, checked into a motel, and flew home Wednesday morning.

I was in Omaha, Nebraska for a Gallup conference for a few days this week, flying out on Friday at noon. Some fellow faculty flew out at 4 pm. We are feeling blessed this morning, when we are hearing of the terrible storm that struck that city around 4:45 pm yesterday.

It was going to be a busy weekend in Omaha and neighboring Iowa towns -- an arts festival, several fairs, concerts (Willie Nelson, Kool and the Gang, etc.), fireworks, and Olympic swimming trials. The town was lively and all hotels were full. It really was a great place to be.

Then, a storm hit -- hail, high winds, heavy rains -- with a town overly full of visitors and outdoor events.

The Olympic swimming trials were called off last evening, due to damage at the Qwest Center. The downtown arts festival was affected while concerts were interrupted. It was amazing to go online this morning and see news clips of flooding downtown, arts festival tents upended, and siding off of buildings where I at been out walking at 7 am in the Old Market area yesterday morning -- just 24 hours ago.

A friend from the Kansas City area was staying over an extra day, with her family joining her, so they could enjoy the zoo and weekend festivities. She wrote this to me -- "We ARE safe but WOW!!! It was down right scary! I have NEVER, ever been in such a frightening storm. And fast moving!! Tornado sirens were blowing for quite a while. We stood at the window and watched as the sky went from clear, bright blue to black as night in seconds it seemed like; the wind blowing like I have NEVER seen, siding blowing off the building and flying past the window and a tree just fall right over right in front of us. ... The Qwest center had some pretty serious damage - some of the side blew off, down to the rebar. ... There really isn't any way to adequately describe it...it's stuff you read about or see on the news happening somewhere else. Glad you got out before it hit!"

I'm glad I made it home safely, too. It was a sunshine blue, moderate temperature day when I left. But, air turbulence was very high -- all the way to Denver and from Denver west a bit.

We're blessed to live in a day of early tornado siren warnings. They are credited with saving lives yet again!

==anita==