Talked to Dennis and they were hit by a tornado last night.

Winds so high it lifted him off his feet, trees down on the house, roof damaged, Gene's truck was damaged, fences down, power lines down and crackling, tents smashed... the J Jon was the only thing still standing.

No one hurt!

I know my friends will pull on their boots and get working.

I hate this for Ed, he's one of my best friends here.

Kent

Damn, hate to read that. At least all are well.

Wow. Hate to hear that but glad all are safe.

Spoke to Gene and they were eating breakfast. Said he should make it home a bit faster since he now has an Ackley Improved hood on his truck.

Thankful no one was hurt.

Wow! Glad everyone is O.K. God was watching over them that is for sure.

Bad news.

We could live without that type of excitement... Glad everyone is OK.

That is horrable, I hate to hear this. Glad everyone is ok though.

Glad to hear no one was hurt.

CCCC - posted this on the other two threads.

Just talked with dennisinaz on his cell phone. No one injured and animals all OK, but it's a mess and main damage seems to be on Ed's home and Curdog's truck. Power is out - no well pump - someone went to Gilmer for water - they all need coffee this morning. Thank goodness the gang is there to help Ed and Barbara with the house and other cleanup.

Dennis said that, as usual, the guys are of great attitude and everyone is pitching in heavily. Clearly not going to be anything like a typical Campfire gathering Saturday, and all of those shooting plans may have been for naught. If you know more - please post. Thanks.

I sure am sorry to hear of this. Glad all are OK.

I was hoping to start seeing photos of the good time being had. Very sad to hear of this news, and thankful that none are hurt.

Appreciate all the prayers. We are all safe, including the critters. Too many trees down right now to count.

One big oak on the front of the house, big limb ripped power line from the house, tearing the service box off, so we have no power.
The road is now clear, Birdwatcher made a drinking water run, we have a Porta Potty as well as two 1+ acre ponds, so flushing toilets is still an option.

electrician and tree cutter on the way to get the tree off of the house, breakfast is cooking, and spirits are high.

We are still going to hold the shooting matches and fully intend to have fun.

Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers.

Ed

Glad to hear, Ed!

You guys stay safe!

I know these guys, they will be in good spirits, use this to work together doing all they can, even make jokes, help Ed and Barbara, make it a positive event we all wish we would have been a part of.

Kent

BTW, Seafire and others have taken a bunch pictures, so y'all can see what fun we've had.

Weather forecast just changed, high winds forecast again this afternoon, so some shooting events may not happen. We'll see.

I'm going to be offline for a bit, taking care of stuff.

Ed

Wish I was there to help, Ed!!!

Glad to hear you are all okay, I am praying for all of you, be safe. I know you will all look after each other because that is what friends do, and Campfire friends never miss a beat when it comes to helping another

Yep, these are all my friends that have attended Greg's, Quemado and Az events. I'm pacing around wanting to be there.

Kent

Power box ripped off by a limb.

And a tree that almost got Dennis as he was hanging on to the metal poles when the wind took him off his feet.

Where is this? I drove through a bad cell between Deridder, LA and Dequincy, LA (just on east side of the Sabine River) yesterday. It was pretty wicked.

Gilmer, Tx

Kent

Glad everyone is ok.

Ernie

Glad to hear all are okay. Godspeed in getting things back to order.

twofish

Wow. Really sorry to hear about this, but glad everyone is safe.

wish i could of made it, would of been one extra hand for the clean up. glad no one was hurt.

Happy to hear all are OK. At least there is a good work crew ready to go.

Wow, glad yall are okay!

Yup, same here, .....pacing.

THANKFULLY not worrying as much as overnight, though.

It's fixin' to blow like crazy here (again) from what my weather nose and bones are sayin'.

Definitely some Arctic air masses involved,....there's a cool edge to it.

GTC

I admit to sitting here reading this and wishing I could help. After thinking about it a while I thought what could be better if you have a disaster at your home what could be better than a Campfire crew, good people you know you can trust and willing to do what needs to get done.

Send it down here, Greg.

I'll trade you some rain for some cool air.

Glad nobody was hurt.

Glad to hear no campfire members were injured in the making of this legend!

It will be a 100 mile wide F-4 tornado by the time they get back online

Mike

I'm betting it was entirely bean related. They ain't called old farts for nothing.

it will be here on tuesday suppose to get lows in the 50s for a couple days

Sad news indeed.

Glad no one was hurt.

Praise the Lord all are unhurt. STUFF can be fixed and replaced, people not so much.

If that happened about midnight, the same storm just moved across Savannah and out to sea. Was a lot of rain mostly when it got here.

Glad all are well.

I guess you should look at it like, at least there is a silver lining. All those folks there to help you Ed, that is strait from the throne room brother!

Now that is not only funny but probably extremely accurate.

Good news that none were hurt.

I am with ScottF. What better crew to have around in a crisis? Campfire members ought to be about the most resourceful and helpful that one can find. I am sure all will be well, and a great story will be held among friends for years.

Glad no one was hurt.

Glad no one was hurt.
I'm not too far Northwest of there and it missed us. Rained very hard for a little bit.
Best of luck on the clean up and repair.

Another voice expressing gratitude that no one was hurt. There is nothing like the support of friends when things are difficult - glad so many were there.

funny yes, accurate no. One of the first things I was informed of when I joined the fire and ED spacificly told me, Texans don't put beans in chilli! grin

That the J Jon remained unscathed was an indication of the weighty BS already piling up...

Kent

I don't need no beans it fart!

NO BS there, just S.

That's how it's done! Sorry to hear of the damage, but damned glad all are OK, and my best to you and the other good folks down there, friend Ed.

Ed

Glad to here you are well. Best wishes/

Jeff

To quote Dennis, he became "A human wind sock!"

Sorry for the carnage, Ed!

Sort of like the Wyoming wind gauge--an anvil on a chain!

Damn...what horrible news. I too am grateful no one was hurt.

If it had happened to me, I'd take solace in knowing who was there and had my 6 during the before and after.

I'm truly sorry for all involved. Grateful the lot of you got to see what the majority of the 24H membership is really made of.

Glad to hear every one is OK!

How do you not have a generator to run the well pump?

I'm home currently. Storm kind of took the wind out of me. When I saw the trees down the next morning I just got this feeling we were real lucky.
My story, Ed's place has an outside covered cooking area. Miles and Ed added a 20 x 30 tarp to the end of that. Pat put up his canopy next to the tarp. We were all watching the storm approach on I phone radar. Now understand, we had dinner out, cooked and ready to dig in. Puff of wind, so I started putting stuff up cause we all knew it would be windy. Next instance all heck broke loose. I didn't even hear a tree fall. Just this big rush of wind. Tarp of course broke the poles holding it up so it started beating me on the head, I grabbed the tarp and said to my self I think I'll go over to the house porch and walked over to that area. Several were already on it. That's when I saw the down tree on the house. The ladies had saved some of the dinner food, so the whole group met inside Ed's house and ate under Coleman lantern light. Then I went and crawled into my Jeep and went to sleep. My canopy was no longer in the same shape it started, seems a big tall TV antenna fell on it. Tent/cot made it but was kind of wet. So the reason for sleeping in the Jeep. The Jeep is 1 1/2 foot to short and hard floor too.

Wow! I am sure glad to hear that everyone is okay. Needless to say but it sure could have been worse.
You folks take care, and I hope it's not too bad a clean for you Ed.

Ed and his wife are troopers for sure. You have 20 or so people and your house, no power, no water, electric lines and many trees down, what are you going to do? They and the whole group just kept going and started the clean up on Sat morning. Picking up stuff, trying to see what is broken etc. Heck even had a tree limb caught in the electric line. Electric guys came out Sat morning, tree cutters came out Sat. mid day. We found another big old Oak tree was split down the middle Sat. Morning. Had to be cut down for the house safety. Would of crushed the other end if it had fallen. No electricity until a new service box is install in the house. Barn was supposed to have power sometime today, not sure if that happened or not. That's a barn/shop/ bedroom with bath building.

Well labarr and I are back home safely.

It was freakish thing this storm. We knew the rain was coming, and Sponxx & his family had just arrived. We went over to the barn to help them unload, and it was sprinkling. Two young kids and some gear were successfully unloaded. A second later WHOOSH the rain was suddenly torrential, and sideways. We stood in the barn, in shock, especially when the tree fell and hit power lines, causing a big arc. One kid was still in the car, and Pablo braved the wind & rain to retrieve the last child, but a few moments later all were safely out of the weather.

This photo is pretty telling:



The tent in the distance was originally pitched right next to the nearest one. The windstorm picked it up, including ~70 lbs of gear inside, and took it over the shed, over/through two 20 foot tall trees, and dumped it about 30 yards from where it was originally staked down. I straightened up the tent the next morning, and took the picture. The rain fly was ripped off, and there were numerous tears in that tent.

If it was not a tornado, at a minimum it was a microburst, with hurricane force winds. And when Dennis says he turned into a human wind sock, I believe it. It was like flipping a switch, an instant on hurricane.

But the most remarkable thing about the event, to me was how calm everyone remained, and once the violent wind died, how much everyone pitched in to help one another. People were still looking out for one another, continuing to serve the dinner that was interrupted. It looked like Ed was also getting a good response from his insurance people. Electricians and tree trimmers were hard at work by afternoon.

It truly was a terrific bunch of people at this gathering, and I look forward to attending next year.

Good folks always hold it together when things go wrong. If this was on the Democratic Underground people would be bitching that there wasn't enough warning from the government, suing NWS and expecting someone else to pay for everything.

What happened to Gene's vehicle?

I had planned on being at this event and was saddened when something came up that prevented me from driving down. Looks like I was fortunate but hate it that I wasn't there to help with the aftermath. So happy that nobody was injured.

Glad everybody is ok and I hope the damage is not too extensive/expensive to put right...

Pete, you folks ever have bad winds ot tornados on your side?

A fair sized (maybe 8 feet log, 3" diameter at the base) tree limb fell on his hood. The hood is dented but still driveable.

I was coming southeast from Sherman that evening, that front was doing 50 as it crossed east, sparked a tornado warning south of Dallas, one of them "brrreeeeepp.....brrreeeeep.....brrreeeep" radio interruptions from the National Weather Service, I caught up to it when I was going eastbound on I 30, found myself white-knuckling it, zero visibility, constant lightning, looked down and for all of that risk we were all only going 40 so I pulled off for a bit to let the front get another 30 miles along past Mt Pleasant where I would turn south fer Gilmer.

That front was running at an angle so that Gilmer was getting hammered as I came south from Mt. Pleasant. I had the phone turned off to save batteries so the first I knew anything serious as up was encountering fallen trees on the narrow road to Ed's place about 100 yards from his front gate. It was all over by that point, the storm and rain had passed.

Walked in with my dog to say hello and see if there was anything I could do, random trees and branches still falling heavily off in the woods, and then slept out the rest of the night in the laid back driver's seat of my car by the roadside, door wide open on account of it was pleasantly cool and the wind had sent all the skeeters into the next county. Slept so well the power company came in way early and cleared those trees as I slept right through it not 100 yards away

As I always have been at these things, I was humbled by the caliber of my Campfire friends, both as people and as sportsmen. Ed and Barbara both displayed admirable composure and grace throughout. Seems like in no time the next day the electrician and tree guys were out, the tree guys quickly and efficiently doing their thing.

Very quickly this whole catastrophe became a problem that was in the process of being taken care of and fixed.

I hope I handle it as well if a tree ever lands on my own house, let alone while I got 20+ adults and kids visiting.

Birdwatcher

Ed just back in from the lake for the weekend, if you need anything please let me know.

I'm tied up that I can't get out of Monday, but the rest of the days I think I can make them flexible if need be.

Glad all are ok.

Holy crap! Sorry Ed!!

Sounds like you guys had a interesting get together. I hope all is well with you guys and your insurance company takes care of you guys.

Glad you had some good help around.

Looking forward to hearing how the shoots went.

Jon

Glad everyone's ok. I'm sure you guys will make the most of it though.

Wow that sucks so sorry but glad all are well and in true campfire fashion persevering and carrying on

Terribly sorry to hear of such tragedy, but dang glad to hear all are well.

Seems Ed throws a heck of a shindig!!

Best to all.

We get high winds/storms ect from time to time, but nothing like the frequency you guys get..

Tornado's are virtually unknown, although they do happen, but only once in a blue moon.

Even when we do get high winds, the damage to property is generally minimal because we build mostly with brick/blocks rather than wood as in many places in the US...

We have snow here in the Rincons and up on Mt. Lemmon. It was a good storm that blew through last night.

Interesting to look at snow in late April in So. AZ.

Hope all is well, cross.

Ho Li... Wow!

You boys be lucky!

Thanks for all of the well wishes and prayers.

I'm going to ask for more as we are expecting another severe T- storm to hit here in about two hours. There is a tornado watch in effect for it as it is passing just south of Ft Worth.

Ed

this is it passing over my uncles place SW of Fort Worth Ed. this is what my aunt had to say about it.
"This is at ranch we hauled A to 15 miles west Waco. Still here n Clifton"

Lucky here, bad stuff went north and south of me. Some rain, about it. Heading EAST, don't know where but heading EAST.

This one has a tornado on the ground near Rio Vista. I hear thunder so the power should go off any minute. Keep your heads down.

Very glad to hear that no one was injured, and property damage only minimal as compared to what it could have been. It should make for some good "campfire" stories in the future. Again, it good to hear that all are safe! memtb

I am curious as to how Ed will top this, next year. miles

Glad all are safe. Wow. On the up side, no injuries and reckon that crew took it in stride as well as any.

It was a total mess when I arrived at Ed's place about 11 am Sat. morning. The campers were working to do what they could to get around and make things safer such as, chain up the 2 halves of a tree that was split down the middle so it would not split any further and fall onto Ed's house. Others were clearing the roads to what else, the shooting range. I had to leave about 2 PM but from what I saw everyone was enjoying the event even with the conditions. It was just because of GOD'S hands that no one was hurt of killed. If you could have seen where the campers were relaxing and what it looked like after the storm (2-4 minutes of time), you would know exactly what I mean.

Miles, Ed's gotta think of a snappy new name for this gathering. Something involving wind !!! Like the annual tent launching competition!!!

The wind sock fandango...

Kent

So glad to hear there were no injuries..could have been worse I guess but its that time of year for all of us in Tornado alley to watch our six.

It is that time of year, unfortunately, for violent weather in the Heartland

Sounds like Wind Sock should be the new handle for Dennis.

Glad everyone is okay.

Ed,
Just seeing this now. So sorry for the damages done, but glad you are all OK. Prayers offered.

Damn storm picked out the only uninsured vehicle on the place to damage, but that's alright.

I've done got a brand new junkyard hood and grille installed on my old pickup. Cost me 300 bucks.

Most of the rigs there would have cost a good deal more than that.

Mama told me, when I was about thirteen, that it was obvious I was headed out to be an outlaw. Her advice to me was that in any gathering, I ought to pick out a righteous man to stand next to. It would be hard for God to take me out without harming one of his chosen.

I figured Miles come as close as any, so I stayed next to him.

Besides...... he was the closest thing to a windbreak I could find.

Damn that's funny! and anyone that knows you two knows the truth of it...

Kent

just reading this now, glad to hear all are safe. Couldnt have had better folk there to help though I'm sure!

I just got home an hour or so ago; about 2500 miles round trip with the detours. Load of hogs and all. I am much more religious than I was a week ago

I had crappy weather almost all the way. Had torrential rains at times and just steady at others. Heavy wind most of the way. This morning it was snowing on I-40 at Cline Corner in New Mexico. What a trip! Blue skies and sunshine here in Mesa, however.

Hope Ed's electrician showed up and got his well up and running.

Ed's well is pretty deep and 220V. He had no way to run it with a generator. He may make some changes to that once this is behind him. Two separate electrical services to the property. The one to the barn was on and we had lights and coffee pot over there. Pablo and family had a bathroom in there that still worked as well.

There were trees down blocking both lanes to the shooting range. We had to have a work party to make a path. Shooting was not as heavily attended as anticipated.

Not sure what Ed is going to order for next year to out do the past two??

Oh yeah, the Yeti coolers were unscathed. Nor could the wind pick them up.

I still don't know how that chitter managed to stay upright and trees were down everywhere??

How did that little vent arrangement in the canopy work?

I do have a picture of how the vent system worked on Pats canopy. Just have not figured out the posting part.

I do. Ten days ago we had another storm that knocked out the power for almost ten hours. When I went to fire up the genset, it wouldn't produce any electricity. It is sitting in my garage/shop with a tarp over it, waiting on the parts to get here. What I get for hanging onto an older model.
I didn't mention it because I knew it wouldn't work.

Ed

It didn't

The electricians showed up about noon today, electricity restored at 4:00PM.

We walked the property and have discovered about 500' of fence down, dozens of big trees uprooted, and more snapped off.

It has been officially certified as an EF-1 tornado.

I haven't thought of the new name for our Gathering, but the "East Texas Gathering" is far too mundane.

"Climate Change Calamity Convention? East Texas Weather Workshop? Ed's Surprise"?

Ed

Bare minimum...

Glad you have power back on though.

Me and Dennis were talking about the weather before it hit.
I said don't worry about it Dennis, we get those all the time.
Dennis worried.
I said no big deal Dennis. This went off and on for about 30 mins.
The storm hit.
Ed said it was certified

Damn I'm a weatherman now.

Im glad everyone was Ok.

I looked at the RADAR map on the phone and said something to the effect that " we are fixin' to get are arses kicked by this storm any minute." I had no idea how prophetic my words were!

Neither did I. If I ever see you again I will take your weather reporting to heart.

The only sure thing is, give this thing a weather-related handle and its GUARANTEED there'll be nothing but blue skies and gentle breezes from here on in.

Birdwatcher

"Dances with tornadoes"?

All joking aside, we were very lucky to have no injuries.

We were very Fortunate to not have any injuries!

I'm really looking forward to seeing pictures that were taken, not only of the damage, but of the shooting events. I know Seafire took some, I took a couple with my phone, maybe someone else did too?

Thanks again to all who came and participated. It was still fun, particularly watching the kids enjoy themselves.

Thanks to all for the prayers and good thoughts.

Ed

It was indeed a blessing that no one got hurt!
Ed and Barbara were so kind that they had offered us to stay in the barnhouse with the kids, so that pitching a tent in the rain at night wouldn't be a problem.
We got there and it was sprinkling as we unloaded the car, 2 kids out and I saw the transformer far out sparkle and then explode... lights out and someone somehwere turned on the wind turbine.

It was puring sideways and Randy commented "they are getting wet out there with wind like this"... I'm sure those who helped us unpack were glad to be in the barn and not departing with Miles and Curdog

I had to go and unload the little one still strapped inside the car and got her back.
Kids were more concerned about the bugs chasing them because of the flashlights than the thunder, rain and wind.

They enjoyed jumping in the puddles the following days, as well as climbing in fallen trees, roasting marshmellows, sleeping baags on the carpet, watching muzzleloading guns as old as their owners :D, eating bacon, playing with dogs, horses, guns, riding the haystack tram and the Kubota UTV, they even "helped" clear the downed tree obstructing the way to the shooting range, but I am sure the high for them was not having to take a bath for 3 days! (Denisthewindsock: we had a bathroom, but no water)

Everyone was wonderful and helpful, enjoying time with friends and making the best of it and having a great time. Can't wait for the April polar vortex and snowman shooting competition Ed will have to arrange for next year.

I can't even imagine a storm like this in New Hampshire. I will join all others and say that I'm happy everyone is Ok. Everything else can be repaired.

Storms like this are scary for adults, but on the bright side those kids will fondly remember this family experience! (

(I can see it now: "Make another storm, Daddy!"

Really glad nobody was hurt!

John

Blow Hard Convention?

Best yet!

John

Maybe it should be The All Wet and Hard Blow Convention.

So, ........I reckon a "campfire" was out of the question.

Scott! You show and that would be it! LOL!

There was one burning quite well in anticipation of roasted marshmallows and S'Mores when the storm hit. Nothing like a good, old-fashioned toad strangler to put out a fire.

Ed

I know that you got more rain after we all left, so did the tarps keep your roof from leaking? miles

I resemble that! No wait, I think that is the wrong word....

Bump for seafire. He's home and has pictures.

Guess this thread ran out of steam on Tuesday, but thought I'd add to it as I finally got home this morning from this event...

We certainly had a good time, all things considering, and despite the Fun Floor Show Friday night...I am proud as punch to meet a bunch more Campfire Members.. not a bad one in the bunch and certainly a bunch of real keepers... some folks I sure hope are new found friends...

But since this is about the Wrath of Mother Nature on Friday night, thought I'd throw in my 2 cents...

Whoever said " its going to be on top of us in a minute or two", made the understatement of the year....

When it hit, I thought someone had playfully shoved me out from underneath Ed's Covered Outside "porch"... I didn't feel the "push", but I was moved about 50 feet or more instantly...I started running to keep up with the momentum and to keep from doing a face plant in the grass....

I turned to see who was standing there and laughing about pushing me... instead I turned my head and had canopy and canopy frame raining down on me, and food and everything that had been on the table flying all around me, like it was in a slow motion explosion.....

It was then I knew we were in danger ( make this a total of about 3 to 5 second since the wind first hit)... I stood behind a post to the sun porch to just try and block a blow from flying debris....

The initial burst of wind had slowed from 100 MPH plus to maybe 75 or so, enough you could at least move in a direction...

at that point my Military Training as a Medic immediately kicked in, and I start making sure people were okay and was busy looking to see if anyone needed immediate medical attention...

I didn't see any of that... I remember seeing people moving in every direction quickly, but it was happening quick enough it wasn't being recorded in your mind...

In the lightning flashes I looked over toward where my Honda Pilot was parked and I had set up some of my gear....I saw both my stuff and Miles Patton set up had been totally wadded up and destroyed...

Tree were breaking all over the place, so my next thought was to get my vehicle moved before a tree fell on it...I remember running toward Ed's Front Gate there, and seeing someone just standing there, almost frozen... I rushed and stopped by them to see if they were okay instead of in shock..

I remember the hair going up on the back of my neck, and you get that feeling of danger...I took that person by the shoulders and moved them to their left and I took a step to the left in doing so...

Then there was another big "crash" sound, and I got clipped by a large piece of wood coming down....not hit, but clipped is the best way to describe it....

laying next to me was a large tree trunk, and the upper end had smashed against the roof of Ed's house and knocked a batch of that to pieces...it the dark, it blocked my access to the front gate, so I took off to the gate besides his back barn... I remember stopped in and making Sure Pablo's Wife and kids were okay... his wife was shaken up, and the kids were really scared, but I let them know it was going to be alright and to just stay in there until it quit raining and the wind blowing...

I made it thru that gate and got to my vehicle. the top of the tree I was concerned about had been knocked down, but in the opposite direction of my truck. I remember seeing Randy's family's two tents, that seemed to be alright.

I jumped in my Pilot and started it and pulled it out into the driveway to Ed's place, got the end of his drive, and then turned it around... I parked it in the middle of there, where I was sure it was away from a tree or phone pole falling on it...

I left it running and the headlights on, pointing at the house so that we had some sort of lights to see what was happening, as it unfolded...

people were coming out from cover as the intensity was starting to slow down some, so others were busy checking on significant others, and making sure no one was hurt... I rejoined the fray...


we had dinner in Ed's house, with lamps etc.. everyone at least got 'enough to eat' considering... the jokes already started coming out...

the next morning was dominated cleaning up Ed's Property with everyone pitching in... there was talk of just going home, but no one seemed to want to leave Ed and Barbara to deal with the damage on their own.... we were all just with a good set of folks that is for sure.


flash to when it was time and people were going home on Sunday afternoon.... the last two guys there were Miles and Me....we all were hanging loose to see if Ed and Barbara needed any thing else...in their graciousness they declined... they had insurance people to contact on Monday, who would take care of what needed taken care of...

As I was leaving as the last one there, since I had the furthest to go, I wasn't in a rush to get home, having a 3 day drive home...

I was thanking Ed for his hospitality and was saying I was glad that no one got hurt.... Ed told me He was glad I hadn't been hurt... AT first I didn't quite understand the personal attention, until Ed pointed out, when that tree fell, if I had been one step to my right, that tree would have fell on me...
and that they wouldn't have been calling an ambulance, they would have been calling the coroner, to pronounce me DEAD....

it was then and only then, that it dawned on me that I HAD missed being killed by about a foot...

Ed pointed out that it was not branches falling, it was the entire tree trunk, that was knocked out of that tree that fell right next to me and took out his porch roof...

I drove home sort of in a solemn mood...all the way to Oregon.

Thoughts abound....

It never dawns on you on how quick death can come or how close it sometimes "just barely misses us"....There truly was a guardian angel watching over me... no other explanation for it..

goes to show how when you get in a certain mode, that you focus on things and are oblivious to some of the dangers around you in situations like that.... certainly my military training kicked in immediately, and you function more like a robot than a human being, in a panic etc...

and I have no idea who it was that I moved out of the way... it was adult and a female, that's all I remember... I was behind her....

I certainly saved her life... because that tree would have killed her... but my mind is trained to think like that in those situations, so I don't give it much of a big deal or credence...

but whoever it was that I pushed out of the way, by taking a step to the left, as if something was directing to move in that direction, whoever I saved, they in turn indirectly saved MY Life...

if both of us had never moved, that tree would have claimed two people....and it wasn't a small tree at all....

and the top of it didn't topple off there, it was blown out like the hand of God had slapped it...

don't know if we had any other close calls, but I for one and glad I made it thru that storm and am still here....

I thank both God and whoever my guardian angel was....

I am really glad you were not hurt my friend!

Seafire,

Thanks for sharing your story and experience! Holy Cow!! Once again, I'm so very glad everyone came out of the episode unharmed.

Glad you were there, along with all the other Campfire stalwarts! Probably just as well that I missed this one.

As my friends in the dakotas and minisoda would say...UFFDAH!!!

Sure am grateful that no one was hurt.

I wasn't surprised in hearing how the event unfolded and folks helped out, having met many of these members of the 'fire it was what was expected.

Good folks indeed.

Me and Ol Miles grew up being told;" Hide will grow back, but clothes cost money", so I reckon our instincts kicked in an we just held on to that big old high dollar tarp while trees was blown down all around us.

We saved that sucker, too. It was quite a learning experience, also.

I discovered that it CAN rain straight up.

That's some bad stuff!!!! Still happy y'all made it out with no one hurt!

I was pretty amazed, and very thankful that no was hurt, given the sudden high winds and flying debris.

I didn't think about it until a couple days after the fact, but in May 1970 our hometown got hit hard by a twister. My brother was renting an old house with a couple of other college students, on the other side of town, near the university. He returned home after dinner to find the place flattened. They got with my Dad, who requisitioned a truck, and they collected belongings as best they were able that night. We were miles away, and only suffered minor inconveniences. As a ten year old, it was spooky seeing the damage around town. 26 died in the storm, though no one we knew suffered any tragedy.

When I was in college there was a rock group named Texas Weather. I always thought that was a good name for a rock group...

I probably would not have held on to the tarp, but my friend Gene is from the dry part of Texas, and there is no telling what a lot of water at once, would do to him. It could be like a raisin or something, soaking up a lot of water, and could be dangerous. miles

Should we be calling you two the Mary Poppins Twins?

Seafire this may seem strange but the lady you saved may not have been even an get together attendee but may well be the guardian angel who was sent to save your life.

I know that may sound strange to you but one night years ago I had an experience near Twin Falls, ID very similar while driving a semi. When the event was over and I got stopped there was someone was sitting in the good buddy seat to the right of me. I know I saw him and I was driving solo and had not picked anyone up before the event happened.

Chauk it up the Good Lord has other plans for you it wasn't your time to go.

I hate that I missed Ed's gathering, but I am glad that I missed the big blow out.rio7

Blue, you were missed, but that wind was scary for a few minutes.

Hey Blue, Remember Gene indicating he might 'get behind Miles'...
well, that's what happened, when the wind started blowing!

Blue.... Peggy told me to be sure and say hello to you on her behalf.

She didn't mention anybody else.

Tell her I'll need to fill out an accident report since she hurt my feelers.

Gene, ain't no dummy, you couldn't find a better guy than Miles, to stand behind when the sch!!t hits the fan. Ms Peggy, is a sweetheart, give her a big hug for me. David, eat your heart out--he-he-he. rio7

I was watching the weather closing in on Gilmer when my computer died(not weather related) and just got it back up. Glad no one was hurt.

When I pulled my phone out and looked at the RADAR map I knew were were going to get slammed but I didn't know how soon and how bad

Certainly the most crazy storm I have ever been in. I wondered who had pulled out and turned on their lights, now I know- the rest of the story!

That's as good an explanation as any.

Barbara, Hunter and I were talking about that night and we were trying to figure out who it was you were talking about. The only person it might have been was Oldman03's wonderful bride, Jo, but she was inside the house with Hunter and Barbara. There were no other females at the gathering yet.

Ed

We are finally going to get to clean this place up. The insurance adjuster was here late Friday morning and stayed here for over four hours, cataloging the damages.

We got the go-ahead for the contractors to start fixing things and for the trees to be cleared. We actually had four of the five roofed structures on the property damaged. They will all get new roofs and the "Little House" will get the porch replaced.

600' of fenceline will be cleared and repaired, plus I'll get enough settlement to rent a bulldozer to repair the horse training areas where trees were uprooted.

We are going to get serious about cleaning up this coming weekend, but the Nat'l Weather Service is calling for a 40% chance of T-storms.

Ed

I wish that I could come and be of some help but I am afraid that I would be more in the way, than help. You do have my moral support and best wishes. miles