The photographic record of the aftermath of the Oklahoma tornado is sobering and thought provoking. From a green and overly damp North Wales, I am thankful for a climate that for the most part only provides a minor irritation to everyday life , when the wind blows and the rain falls.
We are now heading towards June, and there is a risk from frost later in this week. The seedlings and the early veg in bosoms could well be affected, as could the chicks that are about to hatch under the broody gals in their nest boxes.....
But perhaps this one time , I won't bellyache about it
The British Climate?
We are the lucky ones
You can be funny but sometimes you are wise sir.
ReplyDeleteHe's a friend of the original Dorothy.
DeleteThat picture and others from Oklahoma are a stark reminder of how brutal mother nature can be...we should count our blessings...
ReplyDeleteour national weather service is comparing the tornado's force to greater than that of the hiroshima atom bomb. pretty sobering thought. the pix are heartbreaking. no doubt our president will be visiting the area as soon as it is safe to do so.
ReplyDeleteyou could not pay me enough money to live in the midwest nor california with the earthquakes. too damn scary!
It really is a reminder that most of us don't have a lot to complain about - and do have heaps to be grateful for. My heart goes out to everyone affected by the tornado - and other extreme weather worldwide.
ReplyDeletefunny i was thinking the same thing - i think the slight rain and constant clouds is penance for the fact that nothing else happens...
ReplyDeleteWe have a lot to be thankful for.
ReplyDeleteThat's true.
ReplyDeleteLast night I dreamt that I woke to a hard frost. Panic set in at once.
ReplyDeleteIt does put things into perspective doesn't it? I'm grateful that I no longer have to worry about earthquakes.
ReplyDeleteOklahoma is going through hedoublehockeysticks right now...we don't know how lucky we are.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who is with one of her best friends in Moore to give comfort....their 9 year old daughter, Sydney was recovered yesterday morning. The child is at peace now but it will take time for the family. We had cell's over the top of us for quite a few hours but as we are sitting in a valley it is usually just the winds and hail we have to worry about. Hail stones put baseball sized holes in house siding and tore roofs to pieces and the whold town is repairing. We are complete now except for one antique window that I have a fellow working on. Finally some sun is shining today.
ReplyDeleteThat comment brings the reality of the situation right to the fore.....
DeleteKeep safe my friend x
i lived through one twister here (which is very rare) and it was unreal. i feel for those people in oklahoma!
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking just the same John.
ReplyDeleteTotal agreement from here in North Yorkshire John - I shall try never to moan about the weather again.
ReplyDeleteI have lived through lots of earthquakes when I lived in California. We were always lucky that we never had any damage. But lots of jarring shaking but we got use to it. But the Laguna Beach wildfire of 1993 destroyed us completely.
ReplyDeleteEven with all that I live through in California, when I lived in Kansas City the days that the tornado warning came were very strange days.
I worked in one of the top floor of Hallmark and we had a wall of windows. One morning at 10 am I was looking north and I saw the sky go from blue, dark blue, gray, grey/black to pure black and then the darkest strangest deep green. Only a thin line of bright yellow shown at the horizon. Then it slowly cleared up. No CGI movie could have shown the End of Days any better.
I am happy I do not live there any more.
cheers, parsnip
The more I hear these stories.. The more grateful I become
DeleteAnd the wise man speaks.
ReplyDeleteKinda puts things in perspective...
We are very thankful to have heard from our niece who was only five miles away visiting friends from college. She said the aftermath is unbelievable and families have to use GPS to find their homes because all landmarks are gone as well as their houses.
ReplyDeleteAs a kid, I lived through several hurricanes in Florida but luckily with no immediate damage to my home. Later, as an adult, I experienced a few "mild" earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay Area - feeling the earth move under your feet is a very strange sensation. But, again, I missed the really bad ones. In Atlanta, GA I had a tornado streak through the woods behind my house, taking only trees and plants. I was at work in downtown Atlanta that day so saw only the after effects as I commuted home to the suberbs. Since living in Iowa, 1 tornado wiped out most of a small town 10 miles away, about the same time as Joplin, Missouri was hit. We had the horrible, months long floods from the Missouri River 2 years ago. The nearest devastated area was about 7 miles from me.
ReplyDeleteMost areas of the US get hit with some sort of disaster, so I guess I should count myself lucky that I've experienced only minor damages and discomfort. Still, I do worry when I hear the tornado warnings go out. I will be moving to Savannah, GA later this year where the only natural threat will be hurricanes.
In the meantime, all my prayers are with the people in Moore, Oklahoma and their friends and relatives, such as Linda wrote about. I cannot imagine losing a child.
Did you know that Great Britain actually has more tornadoes per year than anywhere else? I heard Christiane Amanpour report that last night. The storms in your area are more frequent, but not as intense, so funnel clouds form but rarely touch down and when they do the damage is not extensive. I live in an area of California that is not subject to earthquakes or tidal waves, but we have rivers that flood in the winter. It's always something. At least we know when the river starts rising. I think the most frightening thing about tornadoes and earthquakes is they're so unpredictable.
ReplyDeleteVery well said, John! What's a little frost anyway?
ReplyDeletethat world wide we are now extremely knowledgeable about each others severe weather is due to our connection to the WWW...I first heard about the Oklahoma tragedy from a friend in Ireland!! there were prayers for the victims and survivors from countries all around the globe...it is indeed a small world...we share each others triumphs and tragedies...dare I say it...could world peace one day come out of this?
ReplyDeleteTrue, very true.
ReplyDeleteWe had a small tornado here yesterday.One house and a farm wiped out. We got away with tree damage and one chimney torn off. As the screaming monster was bearing down on us we both said how very scared the people of Oklahoma must have been,and how lost they must feel now.
ReplyDeleteJanex
I could not imagine just what it is like to live a life WI the awareness that. Everything you hold dear could be destroyed in one fell swoop
ReplyDeleteThe devastation looks like a war zone. It is so very sad and my heart breaks for them. A very active hurricane season is being predicted for the 2013 season which starts 1 June. I evacuate when one is heading in my direction. It's a very bad feeling leaving your home with a few valuables not knowing what you will come home to, but at least you get a warning well ahead of time and you know what's happening. We occasionally have tornadoes, but nothing like those in the Midwest. Now, I am watching the news about the soldier in London that was hacked to death. Will sad, bad news ever end?
ReplyDeleteI feel the same as you, John. We may be subject to nasty snowstorms here in Canada but I'd take them over tornadoes any day.
ReplyDeleteYou live your life with the realization that most of it is just "stuff " and if it all blows away it can be replaced. The important thing is to hold the people you love closely and remember to say I love you every day. And have a basement.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I would like to live in Europe, where there are no tornadoes.
ReplyDeleteDo you sometimes get hurricaines?
Take care, John. ♥
I heard from a reporter on TV there in OK say that he saw a heartbreaking scene of a family weeping as they lifted the body of their pet dog from the rubble. I lived in Atlanta when a tornado tore through my neighborhood. The scariest thing ever.
ReplyDeleteWe get Tornado's here in Canada as well, not often but we do get them. We had one come through Edmonton Alberta Canada in 1987, killed about 27 people. Not quite as big as Oklahoma but close. I believe it stayed on the ground longer.
ReplyDeleteThat was a brutal tornado.I still remember when that happened. :(
DeleteThe tornados do kind of put our weather into perspective don't they. Maybe I won't bellyache so much about the rain again, but probably will, it's what the british do best. Does it always rain in Wales? It always sems to when I go.
ReplyDeleteI could NOT live in a tornado-prone area like that. Blizzards I can handle!
ReplyDelete