Barnstormed! ~ Harrod Twister 2013 ~ Storm Damages Barn,Trees

Barnstormed!

Harrod Twister 2013

Storm Damages Barn,Trees

Wednesday July 10th a powerful storm blew through our area, causing some damage to our property. Several trees went down around the house, but save for one upper window being sucked out, the house was spared. Our big old barn was not so lucky.

I was inside Walmart when the storm hit, so did not see whether it was actually a tornado. Driving home, heading east on 309, I could see that the corn was bowed over a bit, and there were some branches down, but I was surprised to see as much damage at our place.

" ...the National Weather Service to visit the area to determine what — a tornado, straight-line winds, or both — caused the damage. Agency Director Russ Decker said damage in eastern Allen County looked as if multiple kinds of weather blew through, and while people reported seeing funnels in the sky, no one reported any touching down."

Of course we are glad it wasn't worse, and happy no one was hurt. I know that many people had severe property losses.

Here are some photos:

A really tall tree fell across the driveway and into the back yard. Fortunately it missed the buildings and did not take down the power line. But you can see by how far back it went into the yard, and by the comparison shot below, that this was a really tall tree. 

Another large tree went down in the back yard, falling out into the corn.

Another damaged tree.

Fortunately, only a small patch of the corn was flattened. You can see it is swirled about, so I think the tornado touched down here, if momentarily. This flat-corn is next to the tree that was swirled/ripped out leaving such a dramatically twisted trunk.

You can see that the "touchdown" spot was on the NW corner of the yard. Then the wind must have risen up, sparing the house, just breaking some upper branches in the trees in front of the house. Then going on, up high, to hit the big tall tree, knocking it into the driveway, while also swirling around the big barn (to the south of the house).

The wind took a door off the barn, which landed in the back cornfield (you can barely see the white door in the corn photo).

Besides the lost door, you can see that the wind/tornado tweaked the entire building -- apparently lifting it up and moving it over several inches. Now the building is leaning. The insurance folks say it is "totalled". Certainly not safe as is. Whether it is reapairable, or will need to be dismantled, is still a question.

Here you can see how far the building was pushed and bent.

The barn moved but the low attached block building stayed in place. See the arrows above to see the outline of where the building was.

In these photos you see a small opening/window at the center -- well, that was covered by the block building. This shows you how far the barn actually moved.

Like I said, we are glad it wasn't worse, and very sorry for all the people who had greater losses. But this is still a bummer. Thank goodness for insurance.

___________________________________________

"It Happened In Harrod"

or

" 'Nuff New 'Nados! "

'Nados are multiplying. As if tornados were not enough to worry about? Now you can be on the look-out for Sharknados and Gustnados!

One of those is a real thing! And it happened in Harrod.

Damage in eastern Allen County... was caused by “gustnados,” Allen County Emergency Management Agency Director Russ Decker said. The National Weather Service confirmed the cause Thursday afternoon.

Gustnados are associated with shelf clouds on the forward side of a thunderstorm; they can cause damage similar to an F0 or F1 tornado, according to the National Weather Service. They are short-lived shallow vortexes that may extend only 30 to 300 feet above the ground with no apparent connection to clouds above.

“They are these little down-bursts that create some rotation,” Decker said. “That clicks with the damage we see on the ground and our witness reports. They have a lot of power when they hit, even though they’re on the ground a short time.”

[And don't worry, if you missed the cheesy movie ''Sharknado'', the syfi channel will rerun it next week. Link]