Tornados

Ragman

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Several tornados hit western Kentucky last night, including near Turtle.
Prayers for those affected.

If anybody hears from Turtle, please post how he is.
 

muttly

Veteran Expediter
Crazy weather. Damage looks real bad. I think we had remnants of that system in Michigan. Just strong wind gusts though. Nothing like down there. Glad ok.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Ragman and blackpup

danthewolf00

Veteran Expediter
Mayfield was shown on the weather channel tonight and wow I thought perrysburg/rossford area got hit bad a few years ago....
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
It's likely the worst tornado strike ever in Kentucky. For those who remember it, it's Joplin-level bad. Mayfield is only about 10,000 people, though.

The TVA transmission lines got damaged. 60 of them in KY and TN. The TVA Kentucky Lake area dams, KY Dam, Barkley Dam, Pickwick Dam, is where we get most of our electricity. So both Murray and Benton (and I think Calvert City, there's a Loves there) have no power.

IMG_20211211_230334.jpg
IMG_20211211_230312.jpg

So they have to fix those structures and redo the lines. Some people are saying 2 days. I dunno.

I decided to DoorDash in Paducah today, because Murray and Benton have no electricity, and Mayfield has no buildings. I ran into a lot of people from all three towns who were in Paducah just to get something to eat. Some are getting motel rooms. The Walmarts and grocery stores in those towns are closed, too. I ran into one lady from Mayfield at Chick-fil-A who was waiting to pick up 100 sandwiches and 100 salads and other stuff to take back to feed her family, and friends and neighbors who need something to eat. Maybe just as impressive as her generosity was the fact that Chick-fil-A refused to take her money.

That tornado will set records. It hit the ground and stayed on the ground for more than 250 miles.

tornado-path-1639219029(1).jpg
 
  • Wow
Reactions: muttly and Ragman

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
This morning I went to Paducah and drove through Mayfield to get there. I got to the bypass on the east side of town and everything looked normal. So I decided to go on ahead through town. In the south east side heading in, Restaurant Row where Walmart and Kroger is, everything was fine. No. Power so almost nothing was open

Then a few blocks later, a quarter of a mile, it looked like the place had been carpet bombed. Kind of the way a tornado will take out a house but the house next door is untouched. On the northern edge of town everything is normal. But downtown and back to the southwest, it's a lot to take in. If you don't already know the streets, well, there are no street signs anymore.

All the major and minor networks are there. The Weather Channel has at least 3 trucks or vans there. Reporters and cameras out doing reports. Verizon has several emergency vehicles with cell service towers up. National Guard is there. An army of people are handing out coffee and sandwiches to people as they walk or drive by. Tree service and utility vehicles, and heavy earthmoving equipment are ubiquitous. I didn't go down to the south and west side of town where the tornado came up through, where the candle factory is, figured it was best to just leave rescues recovery efforts alone and not add to any congestion.

It's a lot to take in and process. I was born there are have family there. Everybody is on it, though. It's gonna take a long time, but they'll rebuild.
 
Last edited:

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
I'm doing DoorDash, and I went over to Paducah to do it today. After touring Mayfield, my very first delivery was to the hospital. Someone had ordered food for the lady I delivered to. She was there visiting her husband, who had been transferred from the Murray hospital to Paducah just this morning. He was unconscious, but he had a cast on each leg and on his right arm. He was in the candle factory when it collapsed.

She was barely holding it together. I paused my Dash and stayed with her for half an hour while she ate, and we just talked. I think he's going to be OK, but it's going to take a long time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ragman and muttly

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
I heard that initially they thought 60 people didn’t make it from the candle factory, but many were found to be alive.
Something around 94 out of 110 or so according to news report.
Took a few days because no cell service, but they now officially have all 110 accounted for. Astonishingly, 102 are alive, most of whom are well. I don't know how many are in hospitals but it's not very many.
 
Top