Mid-western Members Check In!

[Evelien]

I'm happy to hear everybody is okay so far <3

[absynthe1972]

The storm is 2 miles out.

That is way too close! Stay safe!! HUGS!!

Illinois is so weird. Sometimes we have nasty tornadoes. Other times, straight line winds. Last night we had about 4 hours of 50-60 mph winds and a boat load of rain, along with a very awesome light show and accompanying sound track. I'm glad a tornado didn't form but the winds were bad enough. I lost some flowers I just planted but whoop te doo. I can get more at the high school. The roof started leaking again so I need to call the landlord but other than that, the Sangamon/Menard/Macon counties got lucky that the storm didn't develop into anything worse. There's always later on this week.

Thanks. *hugs*

I'm glad to here that everyone rode through the storms. Stay safe everyone.

[Kae915]

So this morning it was announced that the media waaaay overestimated the fatalities from the tornado yesterday. The media originally said there were 90 deaths, 20 being children. So far, the REAL count is 20 and like 7 or so being children. It is a much better number than 90, though still sad. I believe they are going to look at it again through the next couple days.
AND some good news, my little brother still has a house! apparently, almost their entire neighborhood was demolished and his mom said that there was MAYBE 10 houses still standing and of the 10, theirs was in the best shape. There is still a lot of damage and their yard is destroyed and they need a new roof, but their neighbors house took most of the blows.

[Greyhaunt]

Kae915 - I'm glad to hear your family made it through safely - this whole thing was so frightening. I don't think I could ever live in the midwest, the tornado warnings in Denver were scary enough.

I hate how media jumps to quote death numbers without having proper confirmation. After hearing 90 before going to bed it was a major relief to hear 24 in the morning. Not that 24 lives is insignificant - that's 24 families suffering great pain - but it could have been so much worse.

[arrowchild]

I'm glad everyone here is ok at least!

[Kirahfaye]

The house we bought last summer is directly in the Southern Tornado Alley and considering the amount of damage the greatly reduced storm did around us, I can see why. There is only one tree close enough to hit the house (in the front yard) and the rest are behind our fence line, but we had lots of branches, flowers and leaves in the yard. However a tree in the back of the empty house next door snapped in two about 6 ft above the ground. It's a tree that two people couldn't wrap their arms around and touch hands so that's kind of scary. Luckily it was too far from the house to do any damage. There were lots of trees with huge boughs cracked and apparently even a utility pole since there's a new one up a mile from the house. Some houses just a few miles from us were damaged and a couple had trees come down on them.

Tame compared to Moore, OK, but like I said - the storm had calmed down significantly by the time it got here. That makes what they went through in Moore all that much more scary.

[Kae915]

Kae915 - I'm glad to hear your family made it through safely - this whole thing was so frightening. I don't think I could ever live in the midwest, the tornado warnings in Denver were scary enough.

I hate how media jumps to quote death numbers without having proper confirmation. After hearing 90 before going to bed it was a major relief to hear 24 in the morning. Not that 24 lives is insignificant - that's 24 families suffering great pain - but it could have been so much worse.

I agree, I mean if there had to be any fatalities, i would take the smaller number over anything else. Apparently they double counted some of the deaths or something. Either way though, I think oklahoma is going to be sore for a while.

[Faydreams]

I am glad everyone is safe and sound but still saddened at all the loss this storm caused. It could have been worse and I am ever so grateful it wasn't.

[Jany]

Good to hear everyone's okay!

[DollyKim]

If there is any donation information I can pass on, please don't hesitate to share! I hope everyone is safe.

American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and AmeriCares will take money donations then go shopping for supplies in local areas. This helps those who need help and the local economy at the same time. They never want stuff because they'd have to pay to store and ship it, I suppose it's different for large scale corporate food companies. If they ever need anything they will specifically ask for it.

As always keep an eye out for scammers.