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On the night of April 25, 1994, a storm produced two tornadoes in the DeSoto/Lancaster area south of Dallas. An F2 tornado hit DeSoto and came within approximately 1.5 miles of the apartment complex I was living in. Our area was spared, but I do remember taking cover in the bathtub and being scared (I was eight years old then). Seven people were injured and DeSoto's town center suffered structural damage. The same storm moved through the neighboring town of Lancaster, where it produced a violent F4 tornado that killed three people and leveled most of its historic town square.
My second encounter was more direct. On April 3, 2012, there was a tornado outbreak in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. One of the strongest tornadoes of that event, rated a high-end EF2, struck my Lancaster neighborhood. I was at home when the storm hit and saw the massive debris cloud heading straight for my house before retreating to a closet for cover. I heard things hitting the house and once the noise stopped, I came out and made it to my front door in time to see the tornado heading away from the area. Other than a blown-down fence, my house received no damage. My yard was littered with shingles, insulation, and wood planks. Only a block or two away, the damage was much more extensive. The same tornado would later strike a truck stop, tossing 18-wheelers around like toys on live television. Considering the strength of the tornadoes produced on April 3 and the highly populated areas impacted, it is a miracle that there very few injuries and no fatalities.
I have seen a waterspout over the ocean about 5 years ago while watching a cold front come through. While tornadoes are quite common here, often embedded in cold fronts they rarely exceed F2.
It happened around 7:00pm. Shortly after Vilonia, AR got hit by an EF2. Thankfully, we had a storm cellar to go to. Not too much damage other trees, powerlines and some minor damage to homes or other property. A few pictures i took.
On average we'll have several Tornado Warnings here a year as they seem to go right up the 67/167 interstate.
Finally there was the May 31st 1985 outbreak which started in Portage County near the Ravenna Arsenal and proceeded to devastate Newton Falls, and Niles with F5 damage, and then moved on to cross the Ohio/PA line and virtually destroyed Wheatland, PA.
I was getting ready to go out to a bar in Niles. My power went out, started to hear siren after siren. My phone rang.(had phone the whole time) It was my sister. She told me that there was a tornado. Listened to radio. One station just took calls for people looking for other people. Next day drove to Youngstown to get food. Route 11 had things hanging intrees, Hoped I wouldn't see a body. The day after I drove through Niles. The National Guard let me in for my car appt. The dealer was open and buildings all around were gone. When I got home the power came on, tv was still on and Connie Chung was talking about the tornado and showing the damage in Niles. A book was written about those tornados. Tornado Watch 211.
The next weekend I was in a bar when the EBS came on the TV. Never saw a bar get so quiet so fast.
Yesterday there was a tornado in Portugal, this guy was standing behind his window and filming it instead of hiding somewhere The sound and noise is really scary...
when i lived in arkansas at LRAFB, we got hit by an EF2. this was april of 2011. we has a 2 story home on base. we lost the roof, all the windows and doors (even closet and interior doors), all 3 trees in our backyard and 3 in our front yard 1 of which landed on my brothers nissan and my mitsubishi. garage door was blown in. house was flooded. it was a mess. we lost everything we owned.
I just discovered this older thread but, between 1950 and 1995, a total of over 5700 tornadoes have struck Texas. Since I live in one of the counties that has gotten a great share of those, and since I have a tornado shelter in my yard, I thought I would comment.
Yes, I've seen tornadoes. I've seen them in eastern New Mexico west of Clovis, several times on the Texas south high plains and, in the early 1980s, even saw a small one in the Mississippi River across from Jackson Square in New Orleans. I've never been in the middle of one but the one near Clovis, I was as close as several hundred yards. It was a double-tailed funnel moving NE alongside me just off the highway. I pulled over and watched it rip up fences, a small barn, plants and a lot of dirt.
In about 1986, my daughter and I were in a small cafe in Lubbock, Texas when we heard the local radio announcer, say something about, "one on the ground." We quickly paid out and, on the way back to our home in the southwest of Lubbock, we saw two huge white funnels tracking each other just west of the City. I believe Reese Air Force Base received substantial damage from those tornadoes.
I've come close twice, really close one of those two times but so far, no.
I do however want to see one, just don't want the damage that comes with it.
Never seen one but I've been in countless tornado warnings as a kid and as an adult. Overall, I've been quite fortunate so far.
During Hurricane Charley in '04 my neighborhood was spared twice by tornadoes that touched down. Other than my backyard fence, my home lucked out.
In the summer of '09 my house had a huge tree fall through my garage and kitchen. It was supposedly a tornado that never touched down that brought around 80 mph gusts.
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The sound and noise is really scary...
