Wild night

 

We got clobbered by a major line of storms last night.  On the way through it did major damage to Seymour, TX (report with pictures here) and several other towns.  Two tornadoes passed within a few miles of our home, and a third appears to have passed overhead while it was still forming, touching down a few miles north of us.  It looks like we got hit by a so-called "supercell".  Nearby, parts of Wichita Falls are flooded, and several local rivers will reach flood stage over the next 24 hours or so, in some cases rivaling or perhaps even exceeding previous records.

My wife was working her usual swing shift at a local airport, and stayed there when the shift ended until the worst of the storm had blown through.  She was safe enough there (the nearest tornado shelter is about 25 feet from her office!), but it was "sporty".  She says a local sheriff's deputy parked outside, probably in case he needed to get out of his car and seek shelter in a hurry.  It was that kind of night.  (You can read Old NFO's experiences of it here.)

I'll be going into Wichita Falls later this morning, and I'll look around to see how much damage was done.  The river there should be rising like an out-of-control elevator by this afternoon.  There are really big, deep drainage channels running through town, usually bone-dry or with a mere trickle in the bottom.  I suspect they'll be overflowing by this time tomorrow!

Peter