They Call the Wind Tornado

image borrowed from niltoid.com

They Call the Wind Tornado

“Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed

shaken in the wind.”--Johannes Brahms.

Granted          there a lot of ways        one can be

        an adrenaline junkie,

                        can court danger, but         being a storm chaser,

        especially playing tag or hop scotch with a tornado

                        always seems to top the list for me. 

You are hip to tornadoes, right?

       a violently rotating whirlwind bitch

                     column of rogue air extending from

                                   fecund storm clouds all the way to the ground,

                     like Satan’s whores whelping

        wind demons, whipping up turbulence

up to, or even exceeding 300 m.p.h.

We often hear about                 Tornado Season,                  usually

                during Spring & Summer, when the hot gas warriors

         get romantic with the cold air maidens,

but the truth is               there is no set date or end date

               for these hellish whirling behemoths, because

         if the conditions are considered “just right”,

a tornado can occur

anytime of the year.

The Storm Lovers & Chasers,

both professional & amateur,              will be on alert continuously,

                ready to run north & south,

                               up & down the Midwest within

                                                 the parameters of Tornado Alley,

from North Dakota south to

        the edge of Minnesota,

                           South Dakota,

                           Nebraska,

                           Iowa,

                           the edge of Colorado,

                                              Kansas,

                                              Missouri,

                                              Illinois,

                                              Indiana,

                                              Ohio,

                                              Kentucky,

                                              Tennessee,

                                                Oklahoma,

                                                Arkansas,

                                                Texas & Louisiana.

I once was in Louisiana           during a zero visibility       thunderstorm,

                      when a EF3 tornado touched down

                      only a half mile away, as it became

                                                 midnight at noon, & the wind howled

                                                 like a vicious pack of banshees.

                      Luckily we outdrove it, but the nightmare memory

                                                                                           persists.

For the hardy macho Storm Chasers,

                      their achievements & bragging rights

                                         relative to specific tornadoes, ranging

                      in width from a few meters to more than a mile,

                                         deal with their ferocity, which

                      is measured in EF levels.

                         EF0

with winds ranging from 65 to 85 m.p.h.,

doing minor to no damage;

maybe tearing off a few shingles 

& some siding, 

                            maybe breaking off some branches, or

                            knocking over some small trees.

                        EF1

with winds ranging from 86 to 110 m.p.h.,

doing moderate damage;

downing power lines from fallen trees,

              severely ripping up roofs,

                          overturning mobile homes,

                                   while tearing off roofs, exterior doors,

                                                     & breaking out every kind of glass window.

                        EF2

with winds ranging from 111 to 135 m.p.h.,

doing considerable damage;         tearing roofs completely off,

                                                      shifting foundations,

                                                      mobile homes completely destroyed,

                                                      snapping large trees in half.

                                                      toppling commercial 18-wheelers,

                                                      lifting cars off the ground, &

                                                      turning light objects into missiles.

                         

                        EF3

with winds ranging from 136 to 165 m.p.h.,

doing severe damage           tearing the top story off of houses,

                      damaging large buildings,

                      derailing trains,        tearing trees out of the ground,

                                              lifting up cars & tossing them around.

                                                      

                         EF4

with winds ranging from 166 to 200 m.p.h.,

doing devastating damage,

completely leveling houses, with

cars & trucks & large objects

lifted & tossed about.

                         EF5

with winds ranging from 200 to 300 m.p.h,,

causing complete destruction

hitting like an atomic bomb,       homes leveled,

                                                   foundations swept away,

                                                   collapsing tall buildings,

                         or causing severe structurial deformities.

Damn,

don’t even get me started

on all the other                        Acts of Nature,

                          like floods, hurricanes, typhoons, &

                          volcano eruptions.                    

Glenn Buttkus

Posted over on dVerse Poets Poetics