sooth Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 (edited) I was on a nyc bus travelling along jewel ave (harry van arsdale jr blvd) in queens, nyc, september 2010 when we got hit by a macroburst (downward winds and rain of over 100miles per hour, a mile wide) https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/national-weather-service-to-assess-queens-storm-damage/ the outside of the bus blacked out for about a minute, you can just hear the roar of the wind and rain, when the storm cleared, there were many trees snapped in half, downed light poles; fortunately, the bus was heavy and with the many people on board, it stayed motionless. unfortunately, a few blocks away on the grand central parkway, a woman was killed when a tree toppled onto her car. while this was happening, about a mile away, a EF1 tornado touched down, and another separate tornado hit brooklyn. Edited February 5 by sooth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 5 hours ago, gvallee said: LOL!! I was actually thinking about offering Bryan to come and fix his butt. 😀 Butt hopefully fixed Gen, although I used too much water in the mix so only time will tell. I admire your sense of adventure, but wouldn't want to swap. I've used up a few of my lives in camping incidents in Germany, Poland and France, involving gale force winds, torrential rain and trees down. Then there was the road sign that became detached, flew through the air and embedded itself into the front of our car. So no more excitement please. Stay safe ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 7 hours ago, gvallee said: I can honestly say I just spent the scarriest night of my whole life. We've been caught in the desert in cyclonic winds and downpours from ex-tropical cyclone Kirrili, still lingering overland. We knew about the coming rain but nobody mentioned the winds! We left at 5am and drove in the dark, something we never do because of wildlife and cattle on the road, to reach a tiny community before the rain. The desert tracks are impassable when wet and we could be stranded for a month like people further north at the moment. We chose an elevated spot to avoid being flooded. Ha ha said the ex-cyclone, I will blow you off instead then. A sheer night of hell ensued. Defeaning thunder, lightning over the whole sky, and skies are big in the desert, torrential rain coming through a jammed window soaking my bed and curtains, wind howling through the opening. But most of all, oh the shaking. Any minute I thought our bus would be toppled. Nothing could be done, we might get toppled if we tried to move it. Plus we're parked in a sea of mud. I will swap for the wet UK weather or the US freeze. Just for one day OK? Any takers? No swaps, Gen. So glad you made it through. Weather really can unleash your worst nightmare on you. I’ve been through a tornado, & many very high-wind thunderstorms with hail as big as golf balls. Some bigger. And ice storms that put people without power for weeks. The ice took down trees or broke off large limbs which made them appear they’d been hit by a tornado or bombs. Living in the southern midwest USA isn’t for sissies. Just 3 years or so ago, a hailstorm destroyed my roof & siding. I thought house was coming apart, and all the while the tornado sirens were screaming. I sheltered in my finished basement after bringing Echo down & my daughter’s dog I was watching for her. I’d get the danged dog downstairs & she’d run right back up the stairs. The noise of the hail pummeling the house was driving her out of her mind. I had to go up & get her several times until my brain finally kicked in & I shut her in the downstairs bathroom. Here you two were going through an ordeal with not a house around you but a vehicle! Beyond scary. Obviously, from reading some of your other stories, you are in a country that can unleash devilish weather against you. I hope the ground & roads dry up soon so you can be onto new adventures. If they don’t try to kill you. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 The situation is worsening. 'Because of severe weather event, the pub is closed for at least two days' ! What a sadder message on a door? They have a famous song here in Australia, The Pub with no Beer. We've been drooling about a bottle of wine for days now. We are stuck with quite a number of road trains that damaged the road. We were hoping for some good yarns down the pub, won't happen. The Cooper Creek we crossed for fun yesterday has risen 6m overnight, we can't even see the crossing today. Yikes! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 Yikes, Gen -- you seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And wine is better than mud. 😧 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 3 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said: Yikes, Gen -- you seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And wine is better than mud. 😧 The fun is not over Edo, red dust storm forecast for Wednesday. C'mon Australia, throw everything you have at us! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VbFolly Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 7 hours ago, sooth said: I was on a nyc bus travelling along jewel ave (harry van arsdale jr blvd) in queens, nyc, september 2010 when we got hit by a macroburst (downward winds and rain of over 100miles per hour, a mile wide) https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/national-weather-service-to-assess-queens-storm-damage/ the outside of the bus blacked out for about a minute, you can just hear the roar of the wind and rain, when the storm cleared, there were many trees snapped in half, downed light poles; fortunately, the bus was heavy and with the many people on board, it stayed motionless. unfortunately, a few blocks away on the grand central parkway, a woman was killed when a tree toppled onto her car. while this was happening, about a mile away, a EF1 tornado touched down, and another separate tornado hit brooklyn. Wow, I've never heard of a macroburst. There's some crazy weather around now - I think it's quite tame in the UK by comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 Yes, just a little nippy here on Merseyside. When I zip up Mister Puffy, I'm fine. Be careful, sooth -- it's The Year of the Dragon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 4 hours ago, VbFolly said: Wow, I've never heard of a macroburst. There's some crazy weather around now - I think it's quite tame in the UK by comparison. Oh, those. We call them microbursts. Have them occasionally with our thunderstorms. When my son was in college, I took him back to school in our van one day because he had to haul something big that wouldn’t fit in his car. Oklahoma is windy, especially in the spring. We were tooling along; he was driving. I looked across the plowed field beside us and spotted a way larger-than-normal dust devil. A dust devil is like a baby tornado, spins around sucking up stuff into its vortex. Caused by high wind. Nothing dangerous at all but not fun to have one hit you, especially if you are unprotected. Feels like being sandblasted. It made a turn & came right at us. When it it hit us broadside, it was like having a charging Rhino slam into us. It knocked us into the other lane. I screamed, then was scolded for the next couple of miles by my son for adding to his fright. If Down Under is windy, I’d think those flat expanses would be perfect for creating dust devils. I’ve never seen one form in hills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 Never had to do with this garden butt thing in NYC. In my city world, there were cigarette butts, what a goat might do to you if it got angry, and what I'm sitting on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 8 hours ago, Betty LaRue said: Oh, those. We call them microbursts. Have them occasionally with our thunderstorms. When my son was in college, I took him back to school in our van one day because he had to haul something big that wouldn’t fit in his car. Oklahoma is windy, especially in the spring. We were tooling along; he was driving. I looked across the plowed field beside us and spotted a way larger-than-normal dust devil. A dust devil is like a baby tornado, spins around sucking up stuff into its vortex. Caused by high wind. Nothing dangerous at all but not fun to have one hit you, especially if you are unprotected. Feels like being sandblasted. It made a turn & came right at us. When it it hit us broadside, it was like having a charging Rhino slam into us. It knocked us into the other lane. I screamed, then was scolded for the next couple of miles by my son for adding to his fright. If Down Under is windy, I’d think those flat expanses would be perfect for creating dust devils. I’ve never seen one form in hills. They are common in the Outback. Here they are called a Willy-willy. Many dust storms are caused by deforestation for agriculture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I will write this in the bad news thread for continuity of the story but I must emphasize straightaway that we are not at all unhappy. A new Bush experience for us! Our situation today, not looking too good. The helicopter has been flying low again today to assess conditions. There is heavy damage on the road to the State border (our road), 19km of mud half a metre deep. By chance, one of the road trains stranded with us was carrying a low loader. It got offloaded and used to remove half a metre of sand/mud off the road. Cooper Creek, which we crossed two days ago, is today at 5.8m and still rising. The neighbouring Cullyamurra Billabong flow (wetlands) went from 12,000 litres per second to 450,000 l/s. This morning, we went for a long walk through the mud to see the local highlights: the cemetery, the pile of old bottles behind the pub. Unfortunately, most of them were swept away in a previous flood. Bottles that is. We cannot stop being amazed at our little home on wheels. We have everything we need. We always expect the unexpected and are well prepared. Our solar is currently taking on 850W, so aircon, laptop and internet are available. That's in addition to the usual fridge/freezer, etc. Last but not least, we managed to get hold of two bottles of excellent Shiraz. It might be another week wait but things are peaking up! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 3 minutes ago, gvallee said: I will write this in the bad news thread for continuity of the story but I must emphasize straightaway that we are not at all unhappy. A new Bush experience for us! Our situation today, not looking too good. The helicopter has been flying low again today to assess conditions. There is heavy damage on the road to the State border (our road), 19km of mud half a metre deep. By chance, one of the road trains stranded with us was carrying a low loader. It got offloaded and used to remove half a metre of sand/mud off the road. Cooper Creek, which we crossed two days ago, is today at 5.8m and still rising. The neighbouring Cullyamurra Billabong flow (wetlands) went from 12,000 litres per second to 450,000 l/s. This morning, we went for a long walk through the mud to see the local highlights: the cemetery, the pile of old bottles behind the pub. Unfortunately, most of them were swept away in a previous flood. Bottles that is. We cannot stop being amazed at our little home on wheels. We have everything we need. We always expect the unexpected and are well prepared. Our solar is currently taking on 850W, so aircon, laptop and internet are available. That's in addition to the usual fridge/freezer, etc. Last but not least, we managed to get hold of two bottles of excellent Shiraz. It might be another week wait but things are peaking up! Did you get your bed & bedding dry? We were in a large stand-up-in family canvas tent by a lake once. Hubs & I had gone to bed but I was reading a book by flashlight. I do love my books. Our cots were on opposite sides. A huge storm came up & the tent started billowing in & out. It was like a huge animal that was breathing after a hard run. You guessed it. My side collapsed & the collected rain poured through the window flap & soaked me, my book & the cot/bedding. Thank heavens my sis & brother-in-law were next to us in a small camper. We slept on the floor of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 2 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said: Did you get your bed & bedding dry? We were in a large stand-up-in family canvas tent by a lake once. Hubs & I had gone to bed but I was reading a book by flashlight. I do love my books. Our cots were on opposite sides. A huge storm came up & the tent started billowing in & out. It was like a huge animal that was breathing after a hard run. You guessed it. My side collapsed & the collected rain poured through the window flap & soaked me, my book & the cot/bedding. Thank heavens my sis & brother-in-law were next to us in a small camper. We slept on the floor of it. I love travel stories, in particular mishaps 😆 Yes, all dry now and more decent temperature at 32C/89F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 3 minutes ago, gvallee said: I love travel stories, in particular mishaps 😆 Yes, all dry now and more decent temperature at 32C/89F. What made me mad was generally, I love storms as long as hail or tornadoes aren’t a part of them. Love the sound of thunder rolling and nothing is a better sound than rain pitter-pattering on a tent or something metal. Camping out in nature, tucked in my cot, listening to that lovely thunder & rain (until it grew teeth) & reading a good mystery…perfection. Until it wasn’t. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 2 hours ago, Betty LaRue said: What made me mad was generally, I love storms as long as hail or tornadoes aren’t a part of them. Love the sound of thunder rolling and nothing is a better sound than rain pitter-pattering on a tent or something metal. Camping out in nature, tucked in my cot, listening to that lovely thunder & rain (until it grew teeth) & reading a good mystery…perfection. Until it wasn’t. That brings back memories of times spent going to sleep to the sound of rain on the tent canvas or caravan roof. We rarely properly experience the weather in our permanent home, double glazed windows cut out the sound, while a nearby streetlight spoils any view of the sky. We were once camping above a deep valley in France during an overnight thunderstorm, it was pitch black outside until a flash of lightning briefly lit the entire scene, magic. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 7 hours ago, Bryan said: That brings back memories of times spent going to sleep to the sound of rain on the tent canvas or caravan roof. We rarely properly experience the weather in our permanent home, double glazed windows cut out the sound, while a nearby streetlight spoils any view of the sky. We were once camping above a deep valley in France during an overnight thunderstorm, it was pitch black outside until a flash of lightning briefly lit the entire scene, magic. When we moved to Oklahoma City, the first thing I did was buy a large galvanized tub. I turned it upside down & placed it outside our bedroom window. When it rained I cracked the window just enough to hear the rain hit the tub. The window faced the east which almost never was the direction the wind blew from. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 Once again, not a bad thing, but for the sake of continuity, I will post in this thread. Day 5 in Innamincka, South Australia, waiting for the roads to re-open. Cooper Creek is going down, the wind is slowing drying up the roads. The dirt now creaks under our feet. Finches drink from the pools, frogs croak at night. The weather is sunny but not too hot (34C). The helicopter from the nearby cattle station patrols along the creek all day long to check if any cattle got bogged in the mud. The helicopter was used to fly out stranded truckies. So there are lots of driverless trucks around us. Tomorrow, a team is coming to survey the road back to the Queensland border and assess what repairs need to be done. A definite proof that things are improving: the pub has re-opened! Now trying the Merlot! We enjoy long walks, Innamincka sights, one being… the rubbish tip…. Why? As many as 20 dingoes were once spotted foraging in it. Unfortunately (for us), the tip has now been fenced in. Oh well, it was a nice long walk carrying our bin… 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 (edited) Over here, we lost an iconic country music singer, Toby Keith, to stomach cancer 2 days ago. He was an Oklahoman through & through, and an avid superfan of Oklahoma University sports. We had season tickets for 10 years, & enjoyed watching Toby roam the sidelines at a football game. He set up a charity for kids with cancer & held golf tournaments to help fund it. Toby’s dad was in the service & lost an eye. Toby was about as patriotic as they come. He wasn’t political, but as a registered independent, he voted for who he thought would do the best job. Toby Keith had hit after hit in the top 10. It’s hard for me to pick my favorite song. In December, 2023, Toby played 3 days in Las Vegas. He was but a skeleton of himself by then, and singing mostly sitting on a stool, he sang this song standing up which he wrote & was in the Clint Eastwood movie “The Mule”. This came about from an interview of Clint Eastwood Toby saw where Clint said, “I try to get up & be productive, and don’t let the old man in. Toby wrote the song & sent it to Eastwood, who put it in the movie. In Toby’s 3-day show, he sang it, & people felt it came from his heart about himself. This video was from an awards show, maybe. The woman in the audience wiping tears was his one & only wife. Edited February 8 by Betty LaRue 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hyde Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 (edited) 2 hours ago, Betty LaRue said: Over here, we lost an iconic country music singer, Toby Keith, to stomach cancer 2 days ago. That’s really sad news. His performance of ‘Stays in Mexico’ at Live 8 in 2005 was one of the days highlights for me 🙁 Edited February 8 by Steve Hyde 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 1 hour ago, Steve Hyde said: That’s really sad news. His performance of ‘Stays in Mexico’ at Live 8 in 2005 was one of the days highlights for me 🙁 That’s wonderful, Steve! So glad you got to hear him live! I never did, but still enjoyed seeing him on the sidelines. My time was spent watching him as much as the action on the field, because there were a lot of time outs & media breaks to watch him. He never distracted the coach or players, he just soaked up the atmosphere around the team he loved. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCat Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Love him. Paulette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted February 9 Author Share Posted February 9 American Country Music is very popular on this side of The Pond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hyde Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 (edited) 12 hours ago, Betty LaRue said: That’s wonderful, Steve! So glad you got to hear him live! I never did, but still enjoyed seeing him on the sidelines. My time was spent watching him as much as the action on the field, because there were a lot of time outs & media breaks to watch him. He never distracted the coach or players, he just soaked up the atmosphere around the team he loved. I watched it live on TV but it made an impression on me. I bought the Live 8 DVD when it was released and had a play list from it I ran to. ‘Stays in Mexico’ was on the play list and came on after Green Day performing ‘American Idiot’. Quite a contrast in genres there 🙂 Edited February 9 by Steve Hyde 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 17 hours ago, Betty LaRue said: Over here, we lost an iconic country music singer, Toby Keith, to stomach cancer 2 days ago. He was an Oklahoman through & through, and an avid superfan of Oklahoma University sports. We had season tickets for 10 years, & enjoyed watching Toby roam the sidelines at a football game. He set up a charity for kids with cancer & held golf tournaments to help fund it. Toby’s dad was in the service & lost an eye. Toby was about as patriotic as they come. He wasn’t political, but as a registered independent, he voted for who he thought would do the best job. Toby Keith had hit after hit in the top 10. It’s hard for me to pick my favorite song. In December, 2023, Toby played 3 days in Las Vegas. He was but a skeleton of himself by then, and singing mostly sitting on a stool, he sang this song standing up which he wrote & was in the Clint Eastwood movie “The Mule”. This came about from an interview of Clint Eastwood Toby saw where Clint said, “I try to get up & be productive, and don’t let the old man in. Toby wrote the song & sent it to Eastwood, who put it in the movie. In Toby’s 3-day show, he sang it, & people felt it came from his heart about himself. This video was from an awards show, maybe. The woman in the audience wiping tears was his one & only wife. Very sad for sure. I have an appreciation for country music. Not what I grew up on, but it grew on me over time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts