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Any Tornado Stories Out There? Minneapolis...

Posted by freeatlast • 8/19/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: minneapolis, tornadoes

I live near where ONE of the Minneapolis rain-wrapped tornadoes touched down today. Once the monsoon like rains subsided, I went out to take pictures - the people I ran into along the way were as interesting as the damage. Somehow it morphed into a blog post that touches on the ELCA convention which was debating whether or not to allow gay clergy into the denomination... the tornado touch down right between the Convention Center where they were meeting and a Lutheran Church across the street. My story took me further south - where I randomly ran into a friend who not only saw the roof bounce up and down above him at work, but watched the tornado head straight toward the City.

hotforjesusformerfundie.blogspot.com/2009/08/prairie-god-of-destruction-vis...

It's the 2nd tornado I've experienced up close - and they've always fascinated me. I'd love to hear your tornado stories - and I know they sometimes are tragic - but sometimes they are just the most amazing freaks of nature out there... please share!

User Comments

8/19/09

annz

Very good post. I live about a mile from where the tornado touched down in south Minneapolis, but where we are, you wouldn't know there was anything other than a rain storm. Tornadoes are just so crazy in how they can destroy one thing and leave places near by completely untouched. I agree with your thought that tornadoes are reminders of chaos and chance and mortality.

I've grown up in areas that got plenty of tornado warnings, but I've never actually been close to one, but I do have a favorite story. I live near Lake Harriet in Minneapolis and heard the story of the 1981 tornado that swept through that area. It went through a part of a park that had been neglected and over grown with pine trees. All but one of the trees were uprooted, and as they cleaned it up, they found remnants of a rock garden. Apparently it had been created 1929, but fell into disrepair in the 1940s and then left to be taken over by the trees. They reconstructed it to be the Lyndale Peace Garden, which is one of my favorite gardens to visit.

[reply]
1. 8/19/09
  
  freeatlast
  
  WOW! that is an awesome tornado story - and especially because I know where you're talking about... And thanks for reading the blog - didn't expect to write about anything today - but life is unpredictable.
2. 8/20/09
  
  annz
  
  I figured since you lived in Minneapolis, you might appreciate it.
8/19/09

roguedeals

I met a tornado. Her name was Maggie. She went crazy and proceeded to wreck other regions, entire counties, and then changed her name to Rachel and moved to SC. Weird.

[reply]
1. 8/19/09
  
  freeatlast
  
  and you lived to tell the tale - excellent!
8/20/09

LaurenM622

i'm from cincinnati, and we have lots of tornados... when i was small (like... 2-3) i never understood exactly what a tornado was. after one, we came outside to see the damage and i tripped and fell and ran over to my mom crying "mom, i just tripped over a tornado!"

it turns out i'd been thinking we were hiding from giant bugs all the time!

[reply]
1. 8/20/09
  
  freeatlast
  
  Giant bugs- ha! - of course this is totally logical
8/20/09

ckent27

Hey. Great to see another MPLS blogger! I work just a few blocks from the convetion center. We had no idea what was going on. Could see the wind and rain, but didn't realize a tornado had touched down. We heard sirens, but we thought they were related to all the construction being done on the streets downtown. By the time we figured out what was happening, it was over.

[reply]
1. 8/20/09
  
  freeatlast
  
  Glad you, and all others, were safe! This could have been absolutely bananas. The Sirens tipped me off - I turned on the radio (mpr)- nothing - went online - Nothing - twitted the sirens - finally got a link from mpr acknowledging the sirens.
  
  I remember being told as a kid - when I had an irrational fear of tornadoes everytime it rained - that tornadoes rarely occurred after rain started to fall. It had been raining all day yesterday- so it was a surreal experience for sure... and it blew the theory of "rain = no tornadoes" right out of the water for me. I'm going to have call my mom and set her straight:)