Tornadoes, round 2 for 2011

I was getting ready to go to bed when I heard the sirens.

I flipped on the TV, and yes, there were tornadoes on the way.

We escaped damage again, as often happens with tornadoes. I don’t know if we actually got an official tornado in our area–I’ve heard reports both ways–but there are trees down a couple of blocks away, and houses on the nearest cross street have visible roof damage. Then again, back in 2006 we had worse damage than this just from severe thunderstorms. In St. Louis, a strong thunderstorm can topple trees and utility poles.

There was damage and a reported tornado in Concord Village’s business district, a nearby town. That’s where the closest movie theater is. That sign is still standing, but damaged. Badly enough that I wouldn’t walk under it.

Big Bend Road, a crucial road through Clayton and Richmond Heights’ business district, sustained considerable damage. Downed trees and snapped utility poles rendered the road impassable today, and likely into tomorrow.

There was damage in the city limits of St. Louis as well. A friend who lives in the city limits basically experienced the same thing we did. Warning sirens, then a storm blowing in seemingly from out of nowhere with strong winds, lightning, and everything else scary, and 5-10 minutes later it was gone.

We get them in the summer a lot, but when it gets unseasonably warm during the winter, we get them sometimes too. This year, it seems like it’s been more often than not, so far.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.