{"id":21145,"date":"2022-05-22T12:32:20","date_gmt":"2022-05-22T16:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=21145"},"modified":"2022-08-30T18:28:46","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T22:28:46","slug":"episode-588-inside-a-tornado-and-afterward-may-21-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=21145","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 588 INSIDE A TORNADO…AND AFTERWARD, MAY 21, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODE  588    INSIDE A TORNADO\u2026.AND AFTERWARD, May 21, 2022<\/div>\n

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alan and marjorie and molly skeoch<\/div>\n
may 21, 2022<\/div>\n

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\u201cMarjorie, get the hell into the house now\u2026tornado\u2026TORNADO!\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMy tulips\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cTo hell with your tulips\u2026the dog and I are safe in the house\u2026you are out there in a tornado…you are<\/div>\n
worried about your goddamn tulips\u2026\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m soaked now\u2026may as well move the truck away from the trees.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMarjorie, Woody and I are safe\u2026you are in the eye of the storm\u2026get in here.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWind so strong\u2026hard to walk\u2026rain gusting with the wind\u2026everything loose <\/div>\n
is flying.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo power\u2026dark as a dungeon in the house.:\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the rattle, sounds like an electrical short\u2026dangerous\u2026rattle sound..\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMouse\u2026alive , caught with one paw in one trap\u2026his tail in another\u2026I\u2019ll let him go.\u201d<\/div>\n

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OUTSIDE THE WIND WAS ROARING LIKE THE MGM LION<\/div>\n
INSIDE THE HOUSE WAS AS DARK AS NIGHT\u2026NOISE WAS<\/div>\n
FEARFUL OUTSIDE..STILLNESS INSIDE WAS OTHER WORLDLY.<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat can we do?  Molly is alone down on the other farm mowing the lawn. In danger!\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cShe will find safety in the barn.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cTake the ETV down snd get her.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWait until the storm eases a bit.\u201d<\/div>\n

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THEN IT WAS OVER.  NO SOUND.  NO RAIN.  NO WIND.<\/div>\n

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OUTSIDE WAS RUIN\u2026HUGE TREES DOWN EVERYWHERE.  <\/div>\n
THE FIRST WE SAW WAS AN ANCIENT 70 FOOT POPLAR THAT <\/div>\n
HAD FALLEN ON MARJORIE\u2019S TULIPS\u2026NARROWLY MISSING MARJORIE.<\/div>\n
SHE NEVER HEARD A THING WICH IS LIKELY HOW 5 PEOPLE DIED IN THIS STORM.<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe did not hear this tree fall\u2026missed the truck\u2026but got Marjorie\u2019s tulips\u2026could have hit her\u201d<\/div>\n

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FIVE PEOPLE WERE KILLED BY FALLING TREES IN THE MAY 31 ONTARIO TORNADO<\/div>\n

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\u201cThat tree fell just as you left the tulips, Marjorie.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNever heard a thing\u2026.only the sound of the wind roaring.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u2018Could have killed you\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cShort life for the tuiips.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cAlan, go out to the road\u2026looks like trouble out there.\u201d<\/div>\n

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FIFTH LINE OF ERIN TOWNSHIP, WELLINGTON COUNTY, WAS NO LONGER<\/div>\n
A ROAD.  IT WAS A TANGLE OF HUGE TREES EVERYHERE WE LOOKED.<\/div>\n
AND AMIDST THE TANGLE WERE THE POWER LINES.  TWISTED LIKE SNAKES.<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe power line posts have shattered.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLines are down all over\u2026.woven in a tangle in the trees.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDo not go near\u2026could kill you.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCould\u2026but power is off and the lines are broken\u2026but could be live I guess.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u2018Alan, try to get to Molly on the other farm.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo rain, no wind now.  But hydro wires ripped from posts by the falling trees\u2026insulators<\/div>\n
shattered\u2026.lines broken\u2026.dead line for hundreds of feet\u2026broken at both ends.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t do something stupid.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cCall Andrew on cell phone\u2026tell him to get up here fast.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHow can he reach us?  No way a truck can get here the road<\/div>\n
is blocked by fallen trees everywhere we look.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI hear a chain saw going at Tim and Valerie Rock’s place.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMaybe they will cut our way through to 50 sidereal\u2026tell Andy to try that route.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cForget about coming up the Fifth Line.  I can see downed trees<\/div>\n
as far as Fabers\u2026past Kerrs\u2026looks like a road was never there.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Some people come alive when disaster happens.,,Molly and Marjorie for instance.   (The rats! See them? A pair\u2026made of rubber.)<\/div>\n
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It will take weeks to clear up the mess\u2026.<\/div>\n

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This giant spruce tree has survived a century\u2026then was gone in an instant.<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis section of the power line had been ripped from the posts \u2026both ends torn clear\u2026no danger\u2026but, even so, Andrew<\/div>\n
was super careful.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy do it?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMust get clear.  Jaimie has had a serous heart operation \u2026 must have access to hospital if something<\/div>\n
happens.  Worried\u2026really worried.”<\/div>\n

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The force of falling trees and hundred mph wind shattered the electrical insulators and ripped the electric wires into great swaths of<\/div>\n
unattached wire curled around tree branches.  The same was true on other roads.  There was no way hydro crews<\/div>\n
would reach us.  So neighbours with chain saws and tractors and trucks with winches began to clear the debris.<\/div>\n
One car at Valerie Rock’s farm was crushed.  But no one near our section of the Fifth line was hurt.<\/div>\n

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Jim Costello, across the road from our farm, used his flatbed  truck and chains to clear his maple tree<\/div>\n

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\u201cStrange thing\u2026.our ancient oak and maple were untouched.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cLOOK through the branches and leaves\u2026look down the Fifth line\u2026trees blocking the road at Saunders farm\u2026and distantly<\/div>\n
at Fabers farm as well.  No way anyone could get through to our place.”<\/div>\n

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ON one side of the house, our farm looks intact.  Lilacs greeting the rain.  On the other side the giant poplar fell and<\/div>\n
wiped out Marjorie\u2019s tulips but missed three things\u2026.Marjorie, our truck, and the farm house.  All is well.<\/div>\n

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Now here is something for readers to ponder.  This is the last apple tree in what was once<\/div>\n
Edward Freeman\u2019s orchard.  It clings to life by a fragment of trunk. ..  it will<\/div>\n
come down with a push.  We have considered removing it for years. Can you explain<\/div>\n
why this near dead tree survived when other healthy giant maples and sprue and<\/div>\n
poplar did not?\u201d<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
May 21, 2022<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE  588    INSIDE A TORNADO\u2026.AND AFTERWARD, May 21, 2022 alan and marjorie and molly skeoch may 21, 2022 \u201cMarjorie, get the hell into the house now\u2026tornado\u2026TORNADO!\u201d \u201cMy tulips\u201d \u201cTo hell with your tulips\u2026the dog and I are safe in the house\u2026you are out there in a tornado…you are worried about your goddamn tulips\u2026\u201d \u201cI\u2019m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21145\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}