This is an incredible first hand account of what it's like when the unthinkable happens. It's from my cousin, who lives just outside St. Louis, MO. There are still hundreds of thousands of people without power after tornadoes and severe storms hit on Friday.

The tornado came thru around 11:40 AM on Friday.

"I finished making Thomas' lunch and then Thomas said "Mom, downstairs on the tv they say there is a thunderstorm warning for Clinton County, is that us?" I said "YES! I better go get Robby right now. I flew in the car with no shoes on and started driving toward the park. The sky behind me was getting dark. He got in the van and we turned around to come home and by that point, the sky was dark black and getting greenish.

I said "That looks really bad and then, the tornado sirens started going off. That is a scary scary sound. So loud and wailing. When the sirens started going off we headed straight for home."

The Storm Hits

We got about half way when the wind started blowing really hard. Then the rain.....by the time I got a few blocks from home I could hardly keep the van on the road and there were plastic garbage cans flying thru the air, HIGH that I had to dodge over and over as they flew, windshield high. Then the hail started....nickel size at first. We flew into the garage which I had left open, I hit the garage door button to close it and it came down as we ran in the house..just as we opened the door to the house, the lights went out.......that is when we heard the sound like a train coming.. I started shouting "EVERYONE IN THE BASEMENT" and we all flew downstairs along with Kirby. Then we started hearing these pounding sounds.....and then I heard PAUL come in the house. He said that he was on his way when it hit. He saw wires snapping and whipping in the air and sparks flying and trees snapping in two. He was soaked.

The pounding sounds were golf ball size hail. You couldn't see out of the windows of our house because of the rain and because there was so much debris blown onto the windows., Leaves were plastered everywhere.

Finally, it was over. Aftermath:
It was just so scary. I can't believe our house held....our neighborhood is just devastated with trees uprooted and snapped. There are homes with trees through the roof. A farmer's silo fell on his barn of milk cows...the huge ready to be harvested corn is flattened everywhere around us.

Trees so big around you can't get your arms around them were uprooted and broken. Small trees were snapped in two like toothpicks. There are so many huge piles of branches at people's curbs that you can't maneuver the streets. There are telephone poles in pieces that people sawed up to fit in a pile by the curb everywhere. The city pool is full of debris like icky soup. Fences are down, swing sets are smashed, flag poles are snapped. Windows are blown out. It is just so awful looking around here. It is like sort of sickenly fascinating and people are just out and walking and driving by real slowly taking it all in."

When I read this letter - I could picture it all. How scary to experience the power of a tornado up close.

Bruce

Posted by at 7:15 AM | Permalink

It's hard to imagine anyplace hotter than Hillsboro's 108 degrees on Friday.

But we got lots of calls and emails from people who swear their 100 percent accurate thermometer in the shade said it was hotter than that at their house. And because of micro-climates...they might be right. Here are some examples:

Neil From Amboy:

I'm at 700 feet in Amboy, Washington and it's 112 degrees.

Teryl From Estacada:

According to two thermometers in Estacada today, it's currently 110 degrees. The home thermometer puts it at 109.7 - I love it!

David form Gresham sent this in:

I opened the door to get the mail and was hit with a blast of heat. I checked my thermometer on the deck and at 3:37p.m. it's 108.9 degrees in the shade!

Here's Shandy's email from Forest Grove: 107.8 -- yep, that's all. Just the temperature in the world's shortest email!

Marvin wrote in from Tigard. His subject line said: "109 degrees in Tigard!!!"

Thanks so much to those of you who told us how hot it was at your house - you helped us record history in the making.

Bruce

Posted by at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)

How do you do it? Seriously...when it's 92 at 9p.m. and the house is even hotter than that. How do you get cool and get some sleep?

My advice: wash your hair and keep it wet as long as you can! It might sound crazy, but as the water on your head gets sucked up (evaporated) by the air, it actually cools you down. Let me know what you think.

And what about idea emailed in by Tina:

I need a way to cool off my house. My boss suggested -swamp coolers- in which you take a block of ice and put it in front of a box fan...what else is there?

Yeah, that's a good question. What other tips and tricks do you have that most peole haven't tried?

And what about pets? Here's what Tiffany does for her cat:

What do you recommend for an indoor cat (pet) that is left alone during the day in a third story apartment? I have a little box window unit type air conditioner in the bedroom with the door open, gave her plenty of water, closed up all the windows and blinds around 7:30 this morning, turned off alll the lights and put a larger style box fan in the living room where she spends most of her time. Do you think that's the best I can do?

Any different ideas?

Bruce
(Bruce Sussman)
bsussman@kgw.com

Posted by at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

How do you do it? Seriously...when it's 92 at 9p.m. and the house is even hotter than that. How do you get cool and get some sleep?

My advice: wash your hair and keep it wet as long as you can! It might sound crazy, but as the water on your head gets sucked up (evaporated) by the air, it actually cools you down. Let me know what you think.

And what about idea emailed in by Tina:

I need a way to cool off my house. My boss suggested -swamp coolers- in which you take a block of ice and put it in front of a box fan...what else is there?

Yeah, that's a good question. What other tips and tricks do you have that most peole haven't tried?

And what about pets? Here's what Tiffany does for her cat:

What do you recommend for an indoor cat (pet) that is left alone during the day in a third story apartment? I have a little box window unit type air conditioner in the bedroom with the door open, gave her plenty of water, closed up all the windows and blinds around 7:30 this morning, turned off alll the lights and put a larger style box fan in the living room where she spends most of her time. Do you think that's the best I can do?

Any different ideas?

Bruce
(Bruce Sussman)
bsussman@kgw.com

Posted by at 10:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Let's put it this way: the number of emails we're getting about hot weather coverage is shooting up as fast as the temperature around here! I love email, because it lets all of us sound off on anything we want to, 24/7.

The sounds we're hearing right now? Well, 'twobears' wants us to stop saying anything more than we've said about the heat:

"I personally do not think that 105 degrees is excessive heat."

Hmmm. I'm wondering if 'twobears' just moved here from Phoenix.

Maria's email asked us to say more about carrying your pet when it's so hot: "PLEASE DO AN ANIMAL A FAVOR by alerting everyone that the sidewalks are as hot for the animals, especially dogs, as it is for our feet."

Businesses and PR people email endless story ideas with a hot weather or 'stay cool' twist. An example: "Come to the World Forestry Discovery Museum where the air is cool and the exhibits are too." Notice the weather tie in?

As the weather heads into record territory the next few days, I'm sure there will be more emails on the way. If you have something to say, you know where to find me:

bsussman@kgw.com

Enjoy the heat!

Bruce (Sussman)

Posted by at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

For more than a century, you could always count on one western Oregon city to be dry on a certain day. That city was Salem, the day without rain was July 12th. Since we started keeping records in 1892, it had never rained on this date.

Need to schedule a family reunion? A class reunion? Maybe a wedding? If so, this is the day you knew you were safe to have the event outdoors...even though it's Oregon.

But today, the rain started in the morning and added up to .06" (barely anything!)...still, it was enough. The last holdout for a guaranteed dry day was knocked to the ground. The fight, was over. The rain had finally won.

Is this a good thing or a bad one? Depends on what kind of weather you prefer. But one thing's for sure. The broken record makes for a good story!

Bruce (Sussman)
bruces@kgw.com

Posted by at 10:47 PM | Permalink