Hope any posters who live near that area are doing ok...

CNN's Link

-- Deb M. (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com), March 29, 2000

Answers

[Fair Use, for Educational Purposes]

"Search and rescue operations begin after deadly Texas tornadoes" "The Cash America building in Fort Worth, Texas, was hit by a tornado on Tuesday" "FORT WORTH, Texas -- Emergency officials are assessing damage and injuries, and beginning to clean up after two tornadoes slammed into the downtown area, leaving four people dead and at least 50 people with non-life threatening injuries."

"Mayor Kenneth Barr expressed doubt about whether the downtown district would reopen for business Wednesday."

"I would urge companies in the downtown area if at all possible to hold off on bringing people in, to fully access what the situation is. We don't want anyone else to get hurt," Barr said."

"Members of the Texas Urban Search and Rescue Team based in College Station, Texas, were expected to arrive early Wednesday morning to help search for any victims trapped inside damaged buildings and underneath debris, a Fort Worth Police spokesman said."

"Fire Department Lt. Kent Worley told CNN that police had confirmed two deaths on the west side of the city where the twisters first touched down Tuesday evening. Two other people died in heavy flooding in the eastern portion of the county."

"He said the main swath of destruction started just west of the city and cut "right through the heart of downtown."

"It's just been blown apart," Worley said. "You've got buildings with all their windows blown out. You've got curtains blowing in the wind. You've got insulation from ceilings all over the streets."

"He said between 50 and 100 people were believed injured from flying glass and debris all along the tornadoes' path."

"It's mostly walking wounded, but nothing that looks life- threatening," Worley said."

"At one point, rescue units were looking for six people in the Trinity River on the city's east side, Worley said. "Whether they were in a car or not I don't know," and there was no final word on whether they were rescued."

"The tornadoes shattered windows in skyscrapers, flattened stores, overturned vehicles and littered streets with glass and debris."

"Just a block away from one of the tornadoes' paths, the 35-story Bank One Tower suffered extensive damage. Nearly every floor of the eight-story Cash America International Building, which houses offices of the FBI and Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, incurred blown out windows and exposed stairwells."

"The manager of a popular restaurant on the top floor of the building said his business was destroyed."

"Imagine a large bomb going off," he said. "It got pretty hectic in here. We were doing some major yelling to get people out of there."

"Patrons and employees had to evacuate down 35 flights of stairs to safety, he said."

"At the downtown Renaissance Worthington Hotel, windows were broken out in about 12 guest rooms and in the public area, manager Bob Jameson said. The roofs of other buildings were torn off, trees were uprooted, power and telephone lines were downed and traffic signals were rendered useless."

"After the dust had cleared, the city's mayor and municipal department heads met late Tuesday night to assess damage and deploy emergency teams, a police spokesman said."

"In response to scattered reports of arrests for looting, police began evacuating the downtown area, and then started searching damaged buildings for trapped victims."

"Storm also hit Arlington"

"After raking across Fort Worth, the storm system moved on to Arlington, Texas, where a tornado came within a quarter mile of the local airport. There, winds gusted up to 70 miles an hour, overturning small airplanes."

"There was a pretty big tornado coming toward us," said Richard Stout, an airport operations supervisor. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Arlington was hit with flash flooding that trapped motorists in their cars. Eve Gray, a city emergency spokeswoman, urged residents to stay indoors and off the roads. "If they're at home now they need to stay there," she said, late Tuesday."

-- Deb M. (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com), March 29, 2000.

We'll be checking the T.V. today for the final damage reports, Deb, but this one sure had us scared last night. For a while it moved straight west in OUR direction. The rain, lightning, and thunder were frightening, and the winds knocked over a newly planted container of peppers, but outside of that, we are unscathed. My daughter was at work in Arlington when the storm came, and she called to check on us and let us know SHE was okay. My mom's place also got missed. The majority of damage in Arlington was at the south end, along I-20.

-- Anita (notgiving@anymore.thingee), March 29, 2000.

Correction: Straight EAST in our direction.

-- Anita (notgiving@anymore.thingee), March 29, 2000.

Anyone hear from GB? He's around Ft. Worth isn't he?

Anita, glad that you came out of the storm OK. Hopefully your pepper plants will as well. :)

Donna

-- (Donna@Here.Now), March 29, 2000.

Anita,

I'm very glad to hear that you and your family weren't hurt by the storm - from the web pictures I saw this a.m., Ft. Worth looked like Beirut...

Do you know if the Red Cross is asking for any specific supplies for those in need, please?

-- Deb M. (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com), March 29, 2000.

Deb:

Several folks we know still had work today in Fort Worth. I suspect you only saw pictures of the worst locations.

There are requests for bottled water and canned goods on the news...to be delivered to the Salvation Army in Fort Worth or Dallas. Of course those who had their HOMES destroyed, who had these items previously, no longer have them.

It looks like we have MORE storms coming this weekend.

-- Anita (notgiving@anymore.thingee), March 29, 2000.

Anita,

Glad to hear you came out OK!!!

How about Billy Bob's?

-- Beer Drinker (beerdrinker@billy.bobs), March 29, 2000.

Beer Drinker:

Billy Bob's is a LOW establishment compared to the high-rises that were hit in Fort Worth, so I SUSPECT it's okay. My neighbor owns it, however, as well as several other restaurants in Fort Worth. I'll toss him an e-mail and ask.

-- Anita (notgiving@anymore.thingee), March 29, 2000.

Oops...sorry, beer drinker. I was thinking of Billy Miner's in the reference to my neighbor. However, Billy-Bob's is ALSO "low to the ground", so I suspect it survived.

Funny that you'd mention this today [well....not funny after the tornado hit, but funny that my daughter turned 21 today and will be out drinking tonight, I'm sure.] She's headed in the direction of Dallas, rather than Fort Worth, or I'd ask her to check on Billy Bob's for you.

-- Anita (notgiving@anymore.thingee), March 29, 2000.

Hi Anita,

Congrats on surviving! We actually had a couple of small ones in Sunnyvale and Mountain View California (northern Silicon Valley) a couple of years ago that knocked down a few trees and tore up some roofs, but nothing like your show. Tornados are truly scary.

I know about your famous thunderstorms down there! I used to have to go to Carsewll about once a month back in the early mid-70's and it was white-knuckle time when we had to land in a T-storm. Didn't the head of IBM's PC division get killed down there in a wind-shear at DFW a number of years ago?

Do you live anywhere near the Green Oaks? I doubt it, but that and lots of Bell Helicopter plants are about all I remember about the area. We used to stay at the Oaks and enjoy symphony of B-52's roaring overhead. Do they still have B-52's out there?

Best Wishes...

-- Flash (flash@flash.hq), March 29, 2000.