Dodging Bullets in Tornado Alley

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Earlier this week the North Texas area experienced some rather severe weather.  It all started with tropical storm Hermine which was largely ignored, at first.  It became apparent to Texas residents rather quickly this was going to be a vicious and deadly storm.

DallasTornadoHermine blew into Texas after spawning in the the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. When it reached Texas, the rain and energy seemed deadly focused on I-35.  I-35 is the North South interstate that links San Antonio, New Braunfels, San Marcos, Austin, Waco and the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

Hermine was mostly a rain event which started on Tuesday September 7, 2010.  And rain it did.  It wasn’t the most impressive rain event I’ve ever experienced but it was right up there.  Anytime you receive 7-9 inches of rain in a small amount of time, bad stuff happens.  The creeks and rivers just can’t handle that kind of deluge so flooding occurred all over Texas.  People lost their lives as a result.

Before Hermine was through with Texas, a number of twisters formed in the North East area of Texas which is essentially the start of a portion of the USA called “Tornado Alley”. 

It’s pretty unusual to catch tornados on film, but the coverage last week was impressive.  The local news stations had their high definition camera equipped helicopters up all day observing the flooding so when the twisters spawned, they were right there.  I literally watched a tornado spawn on my HDTV real time.  It was scary to watch on live TV.

A number of Dallas locals took pictures up close and personal.  The picture above was taken and uploaded to the Dallas WFAA website by pjsokal.  I didn’t see their full name so I can’t fully accredit them for the picture.  The picture is dramatic.  The dark shaded object in the right portion of the picture is the Anatole Hotel on I-35 directly across from the Apparel Mart in Dallas.  For those of you that have been to conventions there, or Nana’s bar on top, this will be an eerie reminder of how close danger can come to any of us, at any time.