Seize the storm

Thank you - Many sincere thanks go to the Baumbergers for allowing me to come into their home and share from my perspective.   My heartfelt prayers go out to you and your family throughout the cleanup, harvest, and rebuilding.   If there is any aid that can be offered by myself, through my website, or the chaser community - please let me know.

-The Baumbergers-  

A simple cloud turns into a storm, and that storm can turn from peaceful sunshine to chaos in an instant.   This tornado was on the ground less than a minute and 15 seconds after it made havoc on the Baumberger’s farm, it disappeared into the clouds with intense damage in its wake.   As it left, a family taking shelter in the basement wondered what they would find when they went out.   That is all I can imagine how it was yesterday afternoon.

Amy and I left early this afternoon to go meet the family.   We didn’t know them and it felt pretty awkward to show up at a stranger’s farm and tell them you watched it all happen.   I feared the potential ruthlessness it might be deemed as.   Not knowing exactly where the farm was, we meandered in the general area of where it happened.   We came upon many pickups lined around the corner of a section of gravel road.   I knew that there would most likely be people there helping out, but I was amazed and touched at just how many people were there.   I later mentioned my amazement to one person helping out and he replied, “You should have seen how many were here last night.”   Again, I was touched by the generosity and true care exhibited by the neighbors near and far.

I introduced myself and told them where I was in relation to their property.   They said they lost four buildings - a garage, a beautiful barn, machine shed, and another shed or coop.   Expressing my regrets, I handed them a  picture I took  of the tornado about 30 seconds before it hit their property.   No one was hurt, and that’s what  mattered most.    ”The rest can be rebuilt, but the trees will take some time,” said Judy, one of the owners.   After talking with them a bit, I told them that I had  video of the event if they wanted to look at it - they agreed.    Walking back to the car, I felt  very nervous because I didn’t know the effect would be watching part of  their lives blow away.  

They viewed the video and talked about it for awhile.    I did my best to answer the questions that they had and  they thanked me for showing them the video.    I downloaded my pictures onto their computer and told them that I would get the video  to them as soon as I could.   They allowed me to take a picture they had of the farm about a year ago.   We walked around a bit taking some damage photos and just looking in awe at the power of nature.

The video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4oYGrQVxLk

Damage Path

Background image taken from Google Maps.   Magenta is the approximate path of the tornado.   Red dots signify buildings that were destroyed.   My damage “survey” is not official or tied in any way to any official organizations.   These are simply my deductions.   This tornado was rated as an F1.   The house is the northeast building on the property.