12 days working tornado damage.....

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

We lost ( 8 ) 161,000 KV towers and had ( 5 ) with severe damage. I rolled out at 3:00 a.m. saturday morning March 3. When we cut our way into the right of way they was still pulling folks out of the destoryed homes along the way .



We worked anywhere from 18 to 20 hour days the first three days and was then put on 16 hour days until the lines went hot again ( today 12 days after the tornado they went hot again ). This picture shows what a EF 3 Twister can do to a 140 foot tower.



Under ground tornado shelters are more affordable today than anytime in years passed . You can buy one for around $2,300.00 here in The Great State Of Tennessee and have it installed for around $400.00 to $500.00....I put mine in ,in the late 90's after working tornado damage in west Tennessee that killed over 30 people. My advice if you can swing it , it's some of the best money you will ever spend for peace of mind . The damage below was a EF 3 when EF 4 & 5 come to the hood very little if anything is left standing. The safest place you can be is under ground.

[RainMaker]

Those pictures say a lot about the suffering going on.  Prayers to all affected.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Those pictures say a lot about the suffering going on.  Prayers to all affected.

Agree and this is only a very few that I took along the route to our powerlines....Several areas was hit much harder on March 3 

[Oss]

wow  very sobering

[old2soon]

I had this same question when i drove ambulance in East Texas. How do you keep it together?? I've got one in my head(do not ask cause i won't tell) that still bothers me 28 years later. If you don't want to answer in an open forum-P M me please. Glad yer O K dude. RIDE SAFE.

[HayHauler]

Thanks for sharing the carnage Joe.  Very sad indeed.

Its good work you do.

Hay 
Jimmyt

[Charlie McCready]

Joe, this looks like some of the stuff I showed Big Al up in VA last year. Pure devastation.  We rode down one street that looked like a war zone.....Al said he'd never stop to take a pic with the people standing there looking at their homes scattered for miles.  Hope you get to rest a few days now !!!

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

I had this same question when i drove ambulance in East Texas. How do you keep it together?? I've got one in my head(do not ask cause i won't tell) that still bothers me 28 years later. If you don't want to answer in an open forum-P M me please. Glad yer O K dude. RIDE SAFE.

Pretty sure with me you stay so tired from the long hours that everything starts looking the same. This damage could not hold a candle to what hit Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee back in April 2011. That damage cost the company I work for 39.8 million in powerline repairs. Alot of folks died that day and night back in 2011.

[thumper]

Amazing pics.

Mother nature can be one nasty bitch when she wants to.

Good to hear from you my friend...you've been missed.

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

Good to hear you got through those long days Joe. Hope you can take it easy for a while now.

[Karen]

Thanks for posting and for the work you do. I rode out in Central MA recently where a tornado went through last year and was absolutely stunned at the devastation. Many forested hillsides were scrubbed bare. The cleanup is on-going.

[hotglue #43]

Thanks for posting that Joe.
  I have worked remediation after hurricanes (was south of New Orleans 1 day after Katrina) and have lived for weeks at a time, eatin beanie wienies and sleeping in my pickup trying to get pipelines back up and running.
    It is life changing to see the damage, and the way it effects the lives of the people in the hit areas.  I knew I could start my truck and drive out of it.... But the folks there, were stuck with it and no where to go....  
  My heart goes out to those in harms way.

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

Thanks for posting Joe and glad you are getting back to a normal routine. I'd like to see your shelter in person some time to see how it has held up over time. I'm in the market to get one in the next year or so.   Dave

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Amazing pics.

Mother nature can be one nasty bitch when she wants to.

Good to hear from you my friend...you've been missed.

Thanks for posting that Joe.
  I have worked remediation after hurricanes (was south of New Orleans 1 day after Katrina) and have lived for weeks at a time, eatin beanie wienies and sleeping in my pickup trying to get pipelines back up and running.
    It is life changing to see the damage, and the way it effects the lives of the people in the hit areas.  I knew I could start my truck and drive out of it.... But the folks there, were stuck with it and no where to go.... 
  My heart goes out to those in harms way.

Good to hear you got through those long days Joe. Hope you can take it easy for a while now.

Joe, this looks like some of the stuff I showed Big Al up in VA last year. Pure devastation.  We rode down one street that looked like a war zone.....Al said he'd never stop to take a pic with the people standing there looking at their homes scattered for miles.  Hope you get to rest a few days now !!!

Thanks for sharing the carnage Joe.  Very sad indeed.

Its good work you do.

Hay 
Jimmyt

Thanks everyone for the comments     Sure does seem to me that in my 25 years of working these that today more and more tornado's are coming ( Maybe Al Gore was right about the global warming deal     ).   Seriously folks if possible buy and install a under ground shelter as stated this was EF3 damage when a EF 4 or 5 comes to the hood you can't hide in a closet they leave nothing standing.

[Rams]

Or, maybe with the immensley improved communications, we know more about what's happening in the world. 

Regardless, thanks for doing your part in cleaning up the mess so folks could have power again. 
I've seen a bunch of tornadoes in my life and you are correct, an underground storm shelter is the best defense. 

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Or, maybe with the immensley improved communications, we know more about what's happening in the world. 

That's a good point however I still think they are more tornado's and they are more violent even more so in Dixie Alley.