Tornado Strikes
This evening, Darwin and I went to a movie. About halfway through, a thunderstorm slammed into the theater. It sounded like an ocean was pouring over the roof. It continued until the movie ended. Rain was still pounding down as we left the theater. I could barely see to drive home. Giant thunderbolts snapped across the sky. One bolt was so big it left an after-impression of giant sparks.
We got home safely, and then I checked the weather apps to see how long the storm would be continuing.
The app reported that there was a "slightly elevated chance" of a rainstorm. Not a thunderstorm, mind you. A rainstorm.
Later, we learned a tornado ripped through Union City and Three Rivers (about 80 miles west of us). Videos showed it destroying a big box store and a parking lot-ful of cars. It tore through a series of houses on a lake and filled the air with debris. It was terrifying to watch.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2364027517444219
The app continued to say "slightly elevated chance of a rainstorm."
I check the weather app often. Like a dozen times a day. Not once today was there a single word about a storm. The app reported fog and, later, a chance of rain. No thunderstorm watches, no thunderstorm warnings, no worries about tornados. Nothing.
The earliest tornado watches came 45 minutes before the tornado formed. Only 45 minutes. Usually, we get tornado watches two or three hours in advance, and thunderstorm watches further out than that. Not this time. And this storm was huge. I looked at the radar maps. It didn't spring up out of nowhere. You could see it march across the continent toward us. But watches and warnings weren't issued until 45 minutes before the strike. Four people are reported dead so far, with more than a dozen injured.
How many of those people would have escaped injury or death if they'd had more advance warning? I can tell you that if I'd seen a weather warning before we left for the movie--and I checked the weather, as I always do--we would have stayed home.
Why did this happen?
The baboon defunded NOAA. They laid off dozens and dozens of meteorologists. There simply aren't enough people to interpret weather data and turn it into forecasts--and warnings. This storm was bigger than many states, but it slipped by because NOAA has nothing but a skeleton crew. It's like the police missed an elephant stampede because they only had one officer left on duty, and he was on the other side of town.
But remember--cruelty IS the point.
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We got home safely, and then I checked the weather apps to see how long the storm would be continuing.
The app reported that there was a "slightly elevated chance" of a rainstorm. Not a thunderstorm, mind you. A rainstorm.
Later, we learned a tornado ripped through Union City and Three Rivers (about 80 miles west of us). Videos showed it destroying a big box store and a parking lot-ful of cars. It tore through a series of houses on a lake and filled the air with debris. It was terrifying to watch.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2364027517444219
The app continued to say "slightly elevated chance of a rainstorm."
I check the weather app often. Like a dozen times a day. Not once today was there a single word about a storm. The app reported fog and, later, a chance of rain. No thunderstorm watches, no thunderstorm warnings, no worries about tornados. Nothing.
The earliest tornado watches came 45 minutes before the tornado formed. Only 45 minutes. Usually, we get tornado watches two or three hours in advance, and thunderstorm watches further out than that. Not this time. And this storm was huge. I looked at the radar maps. It didn't spring up out of nowhere. You could see it march across the continent toward us. But watches and warnings weren't issued until 45 minutes before the strike. Four people are reported dead so far, with more than a dozen injured.
How many of those people would have escaped injury or death if they'd had more advance warning? I can tell you that if I'd seen a weather warning before we left for the movie--and I checked the weather, as I always do--we would have stayed home.
Why did this happen?
The baboon defunded NOAA. They laid off dozens and dozens of meteorologists. There simply aren't enough people to interpret weather data and turn it into forecasts--and warnings. This storm was bigger than many states, but it slipped by because NOAA has nothing but a skeleton crew. It's like the police missed an elephant stampede because they only had one officer left on duty, and he was on the other side of town.
But remember--cruelty IS the point.
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