WHAT! TORNADOES IN ELKMONT?

Hill Spirit has been asked, "What happened? I thought we weren't supposed to get tornadoes." We are indeed blessed to live in the safer part of Limestone County and still are.  However, tornadoes can happen anywhere.   There seems to be a golden zone but it is contained within the Elkmont town limits (white dotted line). There has only been one official touchdown in that area and that was in 1982 and was a F1(green line) at that.

click on photo to make it larger

The tornadoes that do set down in the higher areas of Limestone County, west of I-65, have been the garden variety ones between F0 - F1. Yesterday's may have been an F2. Our major storm damage is usually done by straight line winds which are more dangerous than people realize.

As our community clears away the structure damage, the downed trees and restores power, think about our county to the east and south.  They face this much more often than we do and the damage is greater. We are indeed fortunate to live in the Elkmont area.

Take stock of what happened yesterday and start to plan for the next time.  It could be tornadoes, straight line winds or ice storms but it will happen in our community at some point. Take advantage of the resources available (the internet is your library) and get started now for the next time.

Links:
Tornado Tracks since 1951
April 14 -How to Be Prepared Event 
My Family Won't Go Hungry


There are some sub-sections on this blog that can be of help. Look under labels for Being Prepared and Provident Living.  However, one of the best ways is to know your neighbor and be there to help.  It was fantastic seeing how many people were checking on others within an hour of the storm. Local chainsaws, equipment and manpower has been working to help their neighbors since yesterday.  They didn't wait to see what official organizations or government would do.