So close and so scary!

Link to news cast

The above video is a newscast from Chicago's WGN. It talks about the storms that ripped through the south west suburbs of Chicago. I lived very close to the area that is talked about. Richton Park, IL is just a few miles south from where I lived just a year ago, and where Tim's Mom still lives. She is okay, thank goodness, but I feel so sorry for those that are not.

The map below shows a red star where the tornadoes had hit and destroyed homes. The town of Frankfort that is circled in blue is where I used to live. It's scary that it was so close to where people I love live and had we not moved, where we lived.



When I was around 12 yrs old or so, my younger brother and I had gone for a bike ride. All of a sudden, we heard the sirens for a tornado. We turned around and were heading back home when about a block away a big gust of wind blew me off my bike. I happened to land in my friend's yard. I got up, grabbed my bike and my brother and I ran for home. We made it, went down to the basement. Luckily we were okay, but last night, after hearing about this, all i could think about was my close call. From what I had heard later, that gust that blew me off my bike? Wind from a tornado that was about a few blocks over, heading my way, but we got home in time. WOW...

I can't even imagine living where tornados hit.

Here we have hurricanes, and while it's no small feat getting out of Florida, we at least have a few days notice!

Glad you're safe!

I happened to be just 30 miles (roughly) north during this the whole time at my neice's birthday party. We got rained in but luckily nothing bad had happened. Just a lot of soaked kids...lol

Today, I woke up to winds being so strong, my doormat was flipped all around and not where it should be and it sounded like the storm door was about to be ripped off.

I am due to still have storms until sometime Tuesday... luckily it is not going on right now.

But hearing these stories and knowing how close I can be to some tragedies, just makes me enjoy and appreciate what I have even more.

missmissylette I'm glad you're ok.
I grew up in Montgomery AL tornadoes were a pretty common occurrence

Definitely scary stuff. I'm in the northwest suburbs and watched the coverage most of the night since my parents still live in Lansing, Illinois. I feel bad for all those that lost their homes, but thankfully no one was killed. Way too close for comfort.

I'm not even going to lie....I'd rather be in a hurricane than a tornado.....I live about an hour from the coast of GA...Not too far from FL, and we always have the threats of Hurricanes....Yes, Katrina and Rita were bad, but those strong hurricanes are rare...Looks like F4 and F5 tornadoes are starting to become the norm. Its really REALLY scary!

Ugh, I hate hearing about tornadoes, they are just horrible! I experienced my first in 2004 I think it was. Two of them hit our city at the same time and I was 2 blocks away from the destruction path. Our town was a wreck for quite some time.

My thoughts and prayers are going out to everyone affected by the tornadoes in the last couple of days.

We are about an hour from Madison in WI and were 20 minutes away from where one hit last night. We have had incredibly strong t-storms for 3 days now - we're flooding like crazy. Hubby and I had to run to the kennels to check on the dogs tonight and were almost swept into the Grand River on our way back. The road was flooded whether we turned left or right, so we picked the least imposing of the two in our Kia Sportage and hit the gas. There was a foot of water with a VERY strong current that almost pulled us off the road and into the river. I can't tell you how thankful I am to be home.

Of course, when we got home we decided to check the basement of this 100+ year old house and found 16 inches of water. The brand new hot water heater is toast, I'm sure. I just hope the furnace will dry out....

So, if anyone needs me tonight, check for me out back. I'll be building my ark.

I'm so glad you are ok, and so are the people you know! How scary!

Well I live where we have tornado's all year long. and Rita's eye went right over my house. literly. Tornado's to me are bad, but not really, I mean, when one hits its a few days and you are back to normal with elec and water and phone (unless you loose your house) when a hurricanne hits you loose everything for weeks and weeks. It brings everything to a screaching halt.

I fiqure its one of those things, what will happen will happen and since I have already lost one house and every possesion I have ever owned, but got out alive with my husband and babies I fiqure that there is not much that can be done, you just pick up and move on.

It does make you appriciate life and the small things though. My prayers and sympothies to those that lost everything they owned, and to thost that lost more than everything they owned.

I have a tornado watch in my area now until 3 am... guess who will not be going to sleep tonite. I reposted the top post in my myspace blog, along with a notation of how freiking scared I feel right now.

It is just me and my 3 yr old son until the hubby gets out of work in the morning. I have neighbors I can always bother, but they work in the morning, so I will not knock on thier door unless it is an emergency and then we can go in the basement together..

I know, a 27 yr old scared of a tornado, but I worry very easily...

the rain is coming down heavy. I wish I had a better camara to record some of what's going on. The wind was really heavy about an hour ago, and then calmed a little, picked up, and now it seems to just be the rain. There was a tornado spotted about a 100 miles south of me.

I am sure a hurricane is horrible. It destroys so much! I feel for the Rita and Katrina victims.

Sounds like now the rain has diminished.. argh

I am sorry you are having to deal wiht it mismissy. and you shouldnt downplay your fears. They are real and you deserve them.

There are times when I am aprehensive. I live in a trailer. There is NO safe place. LOL

And I know what its like to have a hubby that works at night. Mine does. and has for years.

Just stay on the computer and try to get your mind off it. I know its easier said than done, but getting your mind off it for a while is the best for you.

Man oh man, you guys have jinxed us....we are now just east of a tornado watch, which I'm sure they'll alert our county in the next hour.

MrsCuffs wrote:Man oh man, you guys have jinxed us....we are now just east of a tornado watch, which I'm sure they'll alert our county in the next hour.

I am in IL too.... where are you??

I am trying to be on the laptop here.. gonna probably put in a lot of posts just to keep my mind off of it.

Rain JUST NOW picked back up... I had to turn the weather channel off though, it kept beeping because of the severe thunderstorm we are having..

I had to take a quick shower because of the humidity, and the whole time I am paranoid about something happening just as I shampoo up my hair...lol

Tim had me plug my laptop battery cord in a strip instead of the wall outlet so that if there was lightening nothing would happen.

I have to wait until almost 3 am to hear from him again (since he took my cell, I made him promise to call me).

I'm about 8 minutes south of Springfield. The county just east of us is under tornado watch, I'm sure it will hit Sangamon soon. Jeez, night tornadoes are the worst too, can't even see them coming.

MrsCuffs wrote:I'm about 8 minutes south of Springfield. The county just east of us is under tornado watch, I'm sure it will hit Sangamon soon. Jeez, night tornadoes are the worst too, can't even see them coming.

I know. I have my ears glued to the sounds outside... plus now that the thunder has scared my son out of bed and onto the couch, I am prepared to grab him and run downstairs..lol

My fears are getting a little less now. Been listening to everyone's advice and trying to keep my mind off of it.

Okay, bringing it back up because the weather is oh so bad again. I am not as scared as I was the other night though. Tornado watch until 1 am and guess what??

My street is flooding!!! It hasn't gone over the curb yet, but sheesh... what will I do if it starts to? I can't go in the basement... that floods!! and my fiance has the car at work... which I hope is okay and not in a flood area....

I am lucky to have the neighbors home right now, and they are just a quick knock away. I am just going to sit tight and wait it all out. Looking at the radar, shows me much much more coming this way.

And my son is too scared to sleep, so I have him on the couch next to me watching Lilo and Stitch in the hopes that it will calm him and help put him back to sleep. Poor baby.

I hope that everyone else is doing okay. I know there were some members here that live in areas that are looking to flood. I hope that it doesn't. And I hope that everyone else is having a nice evening too.

Oh Missy! I hope everything is going all right. I'm worried for you. But, try to be calm. If the water continues to rise, go to the neighbor's house w/ your son. And call 911 if you need to. I will pray for you and your community.

Hope all is well missy, and everyone else...... weather can be treacherous..
the flooding is horrific right now in different parts of the country....
very scary stuff....

Well, things turned out okay. After I got off the computer and finally put my son down, I checked the street again and it had started to recede. So I felt safe, went to bed. Woke up around 3 am and it was raining hard again, but the water in the street had receded enough where it was not backing up quite as bad.

It is a chilly day today, probably will get some more rain, and will end up ruining the BBQ I have planned with the neighbors, but that's okay. Tonite is planned to be over there while my fiance is at work so at least I will be around people already.

i just am hoping that everyone else is okay. I think it was jeepmom that posted there was flooding near her home too.

Gotta love living in IL, we get it all here.

We had sirens go off last week, the tornado was 2 miles north of my house.

We lived in Morton,IL for a while. We had and appartment, moved but I kept contact with one of our neighbors. Tornado went through the area, our appartment building was flattend. Luckily no one was home in the building when it. Still gives me chills 7 years later.

Thanks for checking in!
Hubby & I were watching the news this morinng & I said "I hope Missy & JeepMom are Ok"
Hubby says "Who's that?
I said "Friends of mine on UB/Myspace friend"
He said "Ummm...Ok...I guess...."

Scar--I used to live in Hope Mills.

Dh was with 528th for a year.

You are kidding me!
I live in Van Story Hills
I moved here to take care of my brother after a motorcycle accident 4 years ago.
He was a Sgt Major stationed at Ft Bragg Special Forces Group he had just been transferred from 5th Special Forces Group at Ft Campbell.
He a drunk driver pulled out in front of him on Santa Fe and All American (I bet you know right where that's at)
Now brother is retired and living in South America and I'm still stuck in Fayetteville

Seriously, all we can do is laugh at this point because things are so bad we'd cry otherwise. The road is closed within 2 miles of my house on both sides. The highway literally washed away during the night, and there are just humongous ruts where the road used to be.

One dam failed so far about 20 minutes north of us. The dam approximately 10 minutes to the east of us is in danger of failing at any time. Our best friend's pond in the backyard collapsed its banks and took out the entire road and bridge next to his house. The back wall in our basement sprung 7 new leaks overnight (and these leaks look like a faucet that is turned on high), as well as the fact that water is flooding in underneath the basement door to the outside at the speed of an overflowing bathtub. Our sump pump can't keep up, and it's rated for 200 gallons pumped out per hour. On top of all of this, the rivers are still rising, and we're scheduled for more rain this afternoon, tonight, and tomorrow.

But still, I am thanking our lucky stars that we are safe. The gentleman that lives just down the road from us had his garage ripped from its foundation and it floated away during the night...people have lost countless cattle to the flooding, and the corn fields here are a total wash (literally!) .... can't wait to see what that does to grocery prices this year.

Sending well wishes to everyone and hoping that you all stay safe and sound...and that it stops raining soon...