Heard on the news: big storms in Col. and Ok. Is everyone doing ok?

-- Joanne (ronandjo@sisna.com), April 11, 2001

Answers

With peak wind gusts at 67 mph where I live, I've been busy all day hanging onto the flag pole.

A tornado struck Plainville, KS, and while homes were damaged as well as new mobil homes, no injuries were reported.

The state has been under siege from high wind all day. Roofs are gone off of several schools, business buildings, and homes have lost shingles, etc. Plate glass windows have broken under the strain of gusts. Of course tree limbs are down. Power poles have snapped and thousands of customers in the state are still without power.

Semi trucks have been overturned, with at least five of them in the Wichita area. Some they can't upright until the winds subside.

Cell towers have also snapped. Now maybe some drivers can drive instead of yak. (Pet peeve, I like the bumper sticker--hang up and drive.)

Did I mention the hail that was nearly 2 inches in diameter? It was nearby, but not here. I dont know how much of it they received.

While Hutchinson had 68 degrees in one part of the state, Goodland in another part had wind chills of 4 degrees with blizzard conditions expected. After just a trace of snow fell the warning was cancelled.

Yes, it has been a fun day in Kansas and it is still not over. I'm okay, but havn't seen my roof since dark, nor have I been to my farm to check on sheds there. As Scarlett would say with a sigh, "I'll think of it all tomorrow" "After all, tomorrow is another day."

I hope that everyone else has escaped harm, though I have read of two deaths from tornados in other states.

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), April 12, 2001.

I'm currently in Aurora. We had to go to the doctor's in the morning, but we did okay. Two days previously we had taken our four wheel drive suburban into the shop - sure would have been nice to have that!

I thought it was no big deal. Pretty nice snow.

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), April 12, 2001.

We live 30 miles south of Goodland. Cold and windy, but no snow, thank goodness. A lot of minor wind damage here. Apricots were in bloom. No more.

-- Barbara Fischer (bfischer42@hotmail.com), April 12, 2001.

We faired ok. We lost power for a bit, but the one child is on medical machines, so we are top priority to get it back on. (one blessing for having that beeping machine! ) ;-) We lost part of the roof to the old little barn that we are replacing, so that wasn't a big deal. I plan to store hay in that, so will put something on that spot to cover it up, but I can't really complain. I was afraid to look out at the new barn, no roof on it yet...but it was fine!!! My 14 and 13 yr old daughters and I are making it, so I was a bit nervous. It is still standing strong! YEA!! We have been patting each other on the back a bit. ;-) (small brag) We have never made anything before.

-- Cindy in Ok (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), April 12, 2001.

Tornadoes crossed Missouri just south of I-70 Tuesday night. When one got to Callaway County where I live, a mobile home rolled over trapping the family living there inside. The husband died Wednesday afternoon of his injuries and the wife and their son are still in the hospital.

The building where my husband works as well as some others were damaged as were vehicles but there were no other deaths of serious injuries. We live about 15 miles north of where the damage was and didn't even have high winds during the storm, just a lot of rain.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), April 12, 2001.

We had high winds take tin off of a roof of an outbuilding and shingles off the garage here in NE. We were supposed to re-do the garage roof anyhows, so glad the storm came first, before the new ones were up! :) ~ Brenda

-- Brenda (brenclark@alltel.net), April 13, 2001.

K-State had some wind damage, took a shed that the rowing team had and throw it around . banged up some boats and took out a couple billboards but wasnt to bad up this way. Sure was interseting sitting in my 12 ton mixer and having it rocking from the wind.

-- MikeinKS (mhonk@oz-online.net), April 13, 2001.

We are north east of Denver. We went w/o power for almost 2 days. A real problem since it was pretty cold & we didn't have heat. We've only been here about 1 & 1/2 years and haven't gotten a wood burner yet. Told my hubby that is TOP priority for next winter!

-- elle (eagle-quest@juno.com), April 13, 2001.

East of Colorado Springs about 30 miles, and we are still here! Had a horrendous blizzard, reportedly 70-80 mile an hour wind gusts and a really hard wind the rest of the time, blowing snow all day. Lost power and phone, power poles snapped like match sticks along almost every road. Guess we were lucky to have the wood stove for heat, and water stored in the basement. Hubby got stuck in a ditch on the way to a chimney fire, so missed the call--had to wait 3 hours to be pulled out. Glad to hear no one was injured in the beastly storm! Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), April 14, 2001.

I volunteer with a great organization that does rehab for wildlife critters and due to severe winds here in NE Kansas over 120 baby squirrels (blown from their nests) were brought in. (And, six of the little guys are nestled on my lap right now. . .and improving with every feeding.) Blew the doors off our chicken house, but the hens survived. Just lost some barn siding. Over all, we were fortunate. Thanks for asking.

-- carolyn roe (macnroe@hotmail.com), April 18, 2001.