Lightning, Thunder and Tornado Storm Cause of Death and Destruction in Chicago, Midwest
Last night was the end of my Midwest vacation, and I was happy to be heading back to the San Francisco Bay Area, flying out of O’Hare Airport in Chicago, IL. Right before we were supposed to board our flight, it started raining hard outside and before long we realized we were in the middle of a huge storm. I took the above picture from the waiting area in front of our United flight. We were delayed 4 hours and even then had one of the most turbulent plane rides I had ever been on.
After I woke up this morning I checked the internet for information about the storm and found out it was even worse than I thought it was. Here are some links with information about this storm.
Chicago Tribune report
This link provides information about the storm, as well as user submitted pictures and videos of storm damages and lighting.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-chicago-weather-webaug06,0,3572630.story
NBC report
Talks about tornadoes, fires caused by lighting, and airline delays at O’Hare
http://www.nbc5.com/weather/17102554/detail.html
CBS News 2 report
http://www.kgan.com/template/inews_wire/wires.national/37535df8www.kgan.com.shtml
Has information on death in Indiana
Some YouTube Videos
The AP report:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkzZ8LFg_Z4
This video shows some sweet lightning shots:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMQ2grfv8gY
This video has funny music, but also a map of the storm:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TqjyrqHyaw&watch_response
What are some other peoples experiences in this storm?
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- sowamazing
- added this
- added August 05, 2008
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The thunder and lightening show knocked us around at O'Hare last night! Seemed like it would never end. Constant lightening flashing through the skylights, lighting up the inside of the airport in an eerie way. After a 3 hour delay the crew finally got 3/4s of the uneasy passengers loaded on our plane, only to feel the second wave of the storm hit, at which point they stopped allowing more people to board. This is the only time I've been kind of freaked out inside a plane while it is still sitting at the gate! The winds were buffeting the parked plane and lightening was flashing all around- then torrents of rain came down. It was pummeling the top and side of the plane and it was LOUD. So much water flooded on the tarmac that the wind was creating small crested waves in the flood! After we finally took off, we climbed up through the storm. Lots of rocking of the jet, hanging on to the arm rests to keep from bumping into each other and then a huge jolt of pressure slammed into the plane. Don't want to think that it was lightening that hit us, but it doesn't take much imagination in that situation to think that it could zap ya! Darn scary. Not an experience to be repeated...
The next day we read about major damage to the neighborhoods surrounding O'Hare, including underpass intersections we had just crossed on the way to the airport an hour before the storm hit. These underpasses flooded fast and submerged cars; trees were ripped out and roofs on houses and shopping malls were ripped off! Wow, timing is everything. Even if we had to sit in O'Hare for hours, at least we were dry and not swimming our way out of underpasses...
Sending out beams to the Chicago folks who are digging their way out of mud and debris today... We sure did enjoy your city and museums during our visit. Chicago showed us her stuff in more ways than one!
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I flew in that night and was so nervous I completely ran out of drink coupons. Here are phrases you don't want to here when in an airplane:
“super cell” (a brutal form of thunderstorm apparently)
“flight attendants, please suspend service and take your seats immediately”
“folks, midway is closed and the control tower at o’hare has been evacuated due to this weather, so we’re going to be a little delayed, and we’ll need you to stay in your seats for the duration of the flight.”
