Tornado strikes my hometown

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dream echo

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I live in Merrill, WI, USA. On Sunday night (April 10, 2011), around 6:30 pm, a tornado touched down on the western end of the town.

There has thankfully been no loss of human life, but there have been some serious injuries, and livestock that was killed outright or needed to be put down later. (Remember the movie Twister and the part with the flying cows? Yeah. That happened here for real.)

The city has been declared a disaster area. There were over 6,000 homes without power, with our population being around 10,000. About 65 homes were damaged; some far worse than others.

Sound quality is bad, but this video I found shows a good deal of residential damage.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBi97W2m4s4"]YouTube - Merrill WI Tornado 4 10 11 Hillside Drive 1[/ame]


The hardest hit area was the Industrial Park. This is where the majority of the manufacturing jobs are. Merrill has always been a manufacturing town; the recession has already hit us hard. Now there are hundreds more people out of work and likely to remain that way for some time. Damages are in the millions of dollars.

Again, sound quality is bad, but shows some of the factory damage.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzHrSA_Mu_A"]YouTube - Merrill WI Tornado 4 10 2011 Industrial Park[/ame]

This one has still photos of the same area.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMN2y3i500k"]YouTube - Tornado in Merrill WI - Photo Video[/ame]
 
Blind Bandit said:
Sorry for not saying much but I assume you needed some support and me blabbing would have just got in the way. If you need to talk my pm box is open.
Click to expand...

[MENTION=630]Blind Bandit[/MENTION]
Lol, blabbing is good; helps me feel a little more normal.

I know my family and I are okay, but I still feel awful...especially with so many out of work. Unemployment is already high here, about 7%, and jobs are down 96% since 2009. It's hard to wrap my mind around it.
 
Very powerful things tornados...We can predict when they may arrive and we can see them coming but that's about all that can be done when such a force of nature arrives at your doorstep. It's...strange to me. People live in this safety bubble they make around them and the next second mother nature just goes crazy and tears everything apart.. o.o I would feel very uncomfortable in that situation. I'd feel a little lost about what to do I think. It does put things into perspective for who is in control.

Sorry this happend dream echo. I am glad everyone is ok. May you recover soon. :hug:
 
I'm sorry about the tornado damage [MENTION=3817]dream echo[/MENTION]. In '88, my country was hit directly by a Cat 4 hurricane. Entire forests were flattened. My house lost its roof. The country looked like it had been bombed. Basically, back to the stone age in a few hours. I know what it is like to open your door, step out and see total devastation. It's lonely and terrifying and I'm sorry you are experiencing it. I am also grateful that you faired better than others. Be strong. Your hometown will recover and one day it will only be an exciting story to share with younger generations.
 
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wow that all seems incredibly scary!
glad you're ok though.

I count myself very lucky that I don't live in an area where things like that happen...
 
thank you [MENTION=3710]kiu[/MENTION]

Stone Age indeed. It's easy to forget how dependent we are on running water, refrigerated food, and a source of heat. Thank the stars for bottled water!
 
thank you [MENTION=3230]Galileo[/MENTION]

I was always glad to be living where I do. Merrill is located in a slight valley, and tornados seemed to usually be diverted around or "jump" over us.

The path of this storm curves around the west and northern boundaries of the city for the most part. Eerie.
 
Here's a video of one of the window plants my dad maintains.

This is the one where they do production. My husband worked here until he was laid off in October of 2008, when the recession started affecting our area.


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2V7zYI8A4Y"]YouTube - Merrill WI Tornado 4 10 2011 Lincoln Windows 3[/ame]
 
Did you video these?

EDIT: Guess not, I read the op. xD

That is some extreme devastation....All those trees. o.o
 
Nope, none of these vids are mine, as I don't have the equipment, nor am I allowed in the area.

Here's one from CNN iReports with some eyewitness statements and surveys of the destruction.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGzobjmlITc"]YouTube - Tornado strikes Merrill Wisconsin footage 04/11/2011[/ame]
 
Local news... the governor comes to Merrill to survey the damage.
According to this vid, the tornado was an F2 or F3.

[FONT=&quot][ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpjPWH2Fsyw"]YouTube - governor walker tours merrill[/ame] [/FONT]

Because of privacy laws, I'm not sure about which injuries they are talking about.
One I'm certain of is a 67 year old man, who was later airlifted to another hospital.
I also know my cousin's wife's grandmother was hospitalized due to a fall down
the basement stairs as she attempted to seek cover. Roads had to be cleared for
the ambulance to get through. I've not yet heard how badly she was injured.
I also know that a security guard my father supervises was caught in the building
shown in the video from my previous post. He ended up breaking his leg and somehow
made it to his vehicle with its windows blown out and called for help. He's also in the hospital.
 
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Hope things get back to normal as soon as possible and glad you and yours made it through such a bad time.
 
Thank you [MENTION=680]just me[/MENTION] for your kind words.

Normalcy seems far away now, but in time we can rebuild and repair.

My biggest worry is for the future...I don't know what this town will do if the company owners decide to shut down or move elsewhere. With the recession, that was already a concern, and we've had several plants permanently close their doors or relocate. I know I shouldn't "what if...?" so much, but those factories are our mainstay.
 
dream echo said:
Thank you @just me for your kind words.

Normalcy seems far away now, but in time we can rebuild and repair.

My biggest worry is for the future...I don't know what this town will do if the company owners decide to shut down or move elsewhere. With the recession, that was already a concern, and we've had several plants permanently close their doors or relocate. I know I shouldn't "what if...?" so much, but those factories are our mainstay.
Click to expand...

I hope the people that make decisions for those factories have big hearts and understand human life and needs. There was a local fire that took out a local business a couple of years ago. The small business rebuilt and put the employees back to work. They even helped them to find temporary jobs.
 
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