1/11/08 Tornado Hits Close to Home

Submitted by Brian Smith on January 11, 2008 - 9:41am.

Comments Below: 4

Literally… Yesterday afternoon around 1:45pm an apparent tornado ripped through the small town of Caledonia, MS, my hometown. While video and pictures continue to trickle in, my mother went down the road to snap a few photographs moments after the storm hit. Several buildings were damaged or destroyed in this small town.

The tornado hit Caledonia High School just before classes where let out. Buses and cars where tossed around, but thankfully no injures were reported at the school. There were injuries at a mobile home just down the street.

More pictures from Josh Ward and alabamawx.com. You can see a school bus on top of the Caledonia High School. He writes “Sorry about the quality of the pics taken w/ cell phone.It is amazing none of the kids were hurt.The most amazing pic is the bus on top of the school.It ripprd the chassis out from underneath thebus and it is sitting on the other side of the buliding on the roof then a dodge truck on top of the chassis.”

My parent’s house was just to the north of the path and took a hit from large hail and strong outflow winds. I am amazed at the technology we have today. While the storm approached Caledonia, I called my mother who was at home sick. She had no idea a storm of this magnitude was moving in. About 15 mins. after the phone call, the power went out as she hunkered down and the powerful storm passed through.

Only minor reports of damage locally. Getting the 1-2" of rain was a blessing.

See you soon,

Brian

» Brian Smith's blog | email this page | printer friendly version

Small World

Submitted by WillT (not verified) on January 12, 2008 - 3:53pm.

Hi Bryan, I've read your blog off and on for a while now, but I had no idea you were from Caledonia! I actually grew up just down the road in Starkville! I'm glad to here your family is ok, that must've been quite a storm. Did you get your meteorology degree at MSU?

» reply | email this page

Willt

Submitted by Guest (not verified) on January 14, 2008 - 12:07pm.

Yes, I did my degree at MSU. Great campus. I had a wonderful time there.

Thanks for the post. I will have more photos soon.

Brian

» reply | email this page

I pray for all the people

Submitted by Jordan on January 12, 2008 - 12:36pm.

I pray for all the people that had to go through this severe weather outbreak. Having gone through an F3 Tornado, I know how terrifying it can be...and how tough the clean-up process can be. Hopefully we don't have another outbreak like this again until Spring.

But wow, what an exciting week to watch the weather! The GFS keeps going back and forth between a raging snowstorm and nothing. The difference maker this time around is that the cold air WILL be around...just a question of whether or not the storms gets "squashed" to our South or not. The good ole' fashion setup for snow is there...but can all the ingredients come together?? wow oh wow...i can only hope and wish at this point since we all know how terrible the models have been the last few weeks. This coastal storm for tomorrow into MOnday is a perfect example of why NOT to trust computer models with full confidence. They are all over the place, and it took 2 days before the event to even come to a concensus. The models have been a headache this week to say the least!
Fingers crossed! (again...)

» reply | email this page