WOW Massive Tornadoes in Central Fla

[cheropride]

Wow, I just saw this on internet, I hope no-one on this site was affected.  They say like 20,000 w/o power. Here's the news clip:

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/powerful-storms-kill-at-least-14-in/20070202103409990001

Makes me think the next time I go camping to have a weather radio.  That would be like the worst, to be sleeping at camp and something like this come through at 3 in the morning....  Pretty scary....

So far 14 people have died, I just pray again, no one on this site was affected, or no-one that I ride with....

[garym]

Dont we have some members in the Lake Mary area??

[VForcedave]

Several members in that area. We should hear from them soon.

[Loven It]

Several members in that area. We should hear from them soon.

Hopefully, w/o power it might be longer than people expect before they start hearing from anyone.  Keep that in mind before people get to worried.

I hope everyone is alright!

[americanhighlander]

It was pretty bad last night up here in live oak area last night,
We just got lucky last night.

[Jeepin']

It was crazy here.  We got the rain too fast and flooded.  Our street was a river, and our neighbors were tearing up river rock from their pool and now its all up and down the street because it floated away.  They denied it being theres when a mean neighbor asked them even though he saw them hauling it out there other day.

[LostCause]

I have seen the devistation first hand. And it is bad.  They say that the Paisley area was hit the hardest.  In Lady Lake, the church that they keep showing on the news, looks like wet noodles.  I had to drive through it twice today and got lucky both times.  I knew the back roads so I missed a lot of the trafic.  Hwy 27/441 was backed up about 5 miles this afternoon. 

Has anyone heard how big it was F?.

Keep everyone in your prayers.

[MadMudder]

It was probably close to an F3 because F2 is about 110-150mph winds. That church was built with steel reinforced beams and it was rated to stand 150mph winds and it was flatened. So it was pretty severe. I just hope everybody is ok there. I know that 14 people didnt make it. Most of them from pasiley.

[greenmachine]

Saw the arial footage on the news tonight, It was BAD & totally unbeleivable. It was huge & it started in Wildwood & traveled N.E. all the way to DeLand over by Daytona. The Paisely area was hurt bad, it showed dozens & dozens of places where homes used to be, but they were obliterated.  A 100+ft. wide swath of land was tore up & all the trees were broke off completely about 15' high. Good luck to all in the area & according to the governor, help is on the way. I have a marine weather handheld radio & sometimes in the middle of the night if a storm is approaching it will come on & scare the shlt out of ya, but it plays the immediate bad weather warnings so it is worth it.

[Jeepin']

Saw the arial footage on the news tonight, It was BAD & totally unbeleivable. It was huge & it started in Wildwood & traveled N.E. all the way to DeLand over by Daytona. The Paisely area was hurt bad, it showed dozens & dozens of places where homes used to be, but they were obliterated.  A 100+ft. wide swath of land was tore up & all the trees were broke off completely about 15' high. Good luck to all in the area & according to the governor, help is on the way. I have a marine weather handheld radio & sometimes in the middle of the night if a storm is approaching it will come on & scare the shlt out of ya, but it plays the immediate bad weather warnings so it is worth it.

We have the exact samething.  During hurricanes we use it to track the storm, great investments.

[pochop7]

Lady Lake got hit hard....its weird seeing before and after because  I was there a few hours before the tornado and had to go back the next day......tragic loss of life

[bmd11]

I know that everyones thought and prayers are going out to residents of the damaged areas. I could not possibly imagine the thoughts they are trying to process right now, with all of the death and destruction. I wonder if there is anything we could do collectively from this website to help out.
Maybe we could start a fundraiser for the victims. It might not be a huge help, but I'm sure that collectively we could make a difference. Maybe we could help just one family get back on their feet, or plan a day where all of the handy people go and help out with housing or something.
I don't want to interfere with anything the government may be trying to do, but I think the residents would appreciate anything. Plus it could be a way to help promote the site and maybe help get some positive publicity for us ATV riders.
What do you guys think?
BMD

[americanhighlander]

I know that everyones thought and prayers are going out to residents of the damaged areas. I could not possibly imagine the thoughts they are trying to process right now, with all of the death and destruction. I wonder if there is anything we could do collectively from this website to help out.
Maybe we could start a fundraiser for the victims. It might not be a huge help, but I'm sure that collectively we could make a difference. Maybe we could help just one family get back on their feet, or plan a day where all of the handy people go and help out with housing or something.
I don't want to interfere with anything the government may be trying to do, but I think the residents would appreciate anything. Plus it could be a way to help promote the site and maybe help get some positive publicity for us ATV riders.
What do you guys think?
BMD

Your right about that..

Well they said it on news today it was like 5 tornados touchdown in same area
a 70miles strech. Yeah these people are just going through hardtime down there and some of
damage brings me back some memorys of hurrcaine andrew where hit in homestead many years ago,
some of damage from that area looks like hurricane andrew days just reminds me little bit of it.

Well i'll say in 6 or 7months from now things will get back to normal
thats why i always listen weather radio and tv and look at live raders on net when theses
storm comes in my area around here plus in moblie home it's kind of scary sometimes
but my parents always have backup plan run to lake city to rideout storms in case storms get worst if
we get alot of warnings on weather radio in our area around here,knowing in suwwnnee county they don't have much a hurrcaine sheter system around here .

that same storm system had alot funnel clouds on thurs and around 9pm or 8pm
hour i saw alot blue lighting and even dark black clouds behine it and we had alot rain the other night. 
Crazy Weather events happing around here in florida.Whats Next? LOL

At least everybody made it alived down there,Thats one good reason about that. 

[cheropride]

Heard this morning that it might of been F3, people in Lady Lake appear not to agree, the Pastor from the Lady Lake Church insist that their Church could withstand 160 mph, kind of like when Wilma came through and they kept reporting it was a Cat 1.  Cat 1 my butt.... 

Have we determined yet if any of our members had damage, or injury? I really feel for all those involved, you  have to admire Floridian's strength. I see all the interviews, and all of them are thankful and ready to rebuild, and ready to help their neighbor, even though they lost eveything.  I also am proud of Governor, from all appearance, he is really trying to help these people.  I don't think he has left since the storms hit, appears to be a hands-on type of Governor, another thing I liked about his approach, you don't see political bull... Hopefully, he will be able to get assistance to these people promptly. 

I saw on one report, they said look how fast these residents put up their blue roofs, I said to myself, no those are left overs from the last storm.  It is wild what this State has been through in past years...

If we did start a drive to help, count me in.  If anyone heres anything, let us all know.

[bmd11]

I broke off an email to my local Red Cross to see if they could give us some direction. I haven't heard anything yet, but I hope to soon. I'll let y'all know as soon as I do!
This is our chance to make a positive difference in someone's life. Come on guys, let's get involved in helping these poor people out! If anyone has any ideas how we can help, please post or shoot me a PM.

BMD

[Ida_Mann]

OK, I'll chime in here.

about 5:05am I was woken up with some loud rain,,,,so I listened a little while and it kept getting louder by the 1/2 minute, so I got out of bed and took a look.  I went through hurricane Charley in downtown Orlando and the winds were just the same(my guess about 90mph) for approximately 2-3 minutes and then all of a sudden,,,,,gone and nothing but a sprinkling rain left over.

The only damage to the house was a few shingles that took off for someone else's house and my plastic furniture in the back yard was all on one side of the yard.  Didn't lose power, neither did any of the neighbors, so I count myself lucky.

I can only deduce that it had to be a tornado that went through my neighborhood, but there was no report of any in the city of Deltona.

Id@

[LostCause]

Well I got to talk to some people that went through the storm first hand today at church. 

One was an elderly man that said he moved from his bed to the closet like a teenager.  Showed pictures of his house.  A lot of damage.  His car in the garage lost both side windows and windshield.  Garage door sucked in.  He said the whole thing lasted 20 to 30 seconds but seemed a lot longer. 

The other person is about 20 - 21 years old.  Said he could feel the roof start lifting.  The pressure was intence. 

The last one was from a young couple.  They said that it is hard to believe that a storm and winds like that can cut such a path.  It passed 600 yards south of their house.  They were one of the lucky ones cause that 600 yards away is the moble home park that was taken away.

Just thought yall would like some first hand information.
 

[Loven It]

I broke off an email to my local Red Cross to see if they could give us some direction. I haven't heard anything yet, but I hope to soon. I'll let y'all know as soon as I do!
This is our chance to make a positive difference in someone's life. Come on guys, let's get involved in helping these poor people out! If anyone has any ideas how we can help, please post or shoot me a PM.

BMD

Why not go in with the atvs and clear the debris (that seems to take the longest)...take the aluminum and bring it to the scrap yard and give it back to the community...

[bmd11]

Great idea! I'm checking it out!

[Loven It]

Great idea! I'm checking it out!

Let me know... When we were headed to Ocala Saturay I joked and said we should just pull up (into one of the areas) unload the trailer and start hauling trash. If I was in that situation I would love to see some ATV's come and haul stuff. There are plenty of us - what better way to help rebuild a community then get the trash out. Keep in mind though we could get some flat tires out there with all the debris. I think the ATV's could put a pretty big dent in getting debris outta there though. Those folks are exhausted, why make them pay for tree services and such to remove the debris when they have lost everything and our quads are capable of doing a lot of stuff that needs to be done.

Clean up ride at the Villages and all other area's affected.

[bmd11]

Ok, now I'm thinking on a bigger scale, but more time consuming. Since I work at a Honda car dealership I'm thinking about promoting a car show here in Cocoa. Of course I'll have to get the blessing from the owner, but he said he'd support in trying to help.
One of my guys here is into the import scene and thinks this could definitely work. ESPECIALLY FOR CHARITY! A show and shine, different classes, trophies, entertainment, models, catering, discounts on vehicles, service & parts, etc... Of course we'll need volunteers.

The one thing we're thinking would really help would be a MOBILE DYNO. If anyone knows someone with one of these, please have them contact me ASAP!
Of course, the proceeds will go to help out the Tornado victims.
What do you guys think? Please let me know if I'm on track...