Death and Destruction in the Heartland After Tornodoes Rip through the Mid-West & South (Update: 31 Dead)

Tornadoes, twisters, hail and sever lighting and thunder storms ripped through the Mid-West and the South Friday leaving devastation and many dead it its wake. For those who witnessed the tornadoes and severe storms first hand, if you did not see the 80 to 90 tornadoes that touched down, you witnessed golf ball size hail that fell so fast that it accumulated like snow on the ground. To date, 14 people were killed in Indiana, 12 died in Kentucky and two people were killed in Ohio. The property damage spanned from the Midwest to the gulf coast. Out prayers go out to those affected by these terrible storms.

A swarm of tornadoes tore through the U.S. midsection on Friday, splintering homes, damaging a prison, overturning trucks and killing at least four people in the hard-hit state of Indiana, officials said.

At least one person died in the southern Indiana town of Henryville, where television images showed homes blown apart and vehicles including a school bus thrown into buildings. Three others died elsewhere in the state.

The town of Marysville, IN, population about 1,900, was “completely gone” and nearby Henryville also suffered extreme damage.

UPDATE I: 31 people confirmed dead after the severe weather … 31 victims, 15 were in Indiana, 12 in Kentucky, three in Ohio and one in Alabama.

The tornado outbreak, unusual for this time of year, killed at least 31 people. Saturday began with large swaths of the South still battered by heavy rain and under tornado watches — and a real fear of the death toll rising.

Of the 31 victims, 15 were in Indiana, 12 in Kentucky, three in Ohio and one in Alabama.

Piles of debris littered land where well-built homes once stood. Tall trees bowed to the winds and lay horizontal with the land. Churches turned into shelters and thousands of people began a weekend unnerved bynature’s fury.

Golf ball sized hail in Tennessee

Missing 8 Year Old Girl Wati Thought Dead Swept Away by 2004 Indonesian Tsunami Turns Up 7 Years Later

Call it a Christmas Miracle  … the following story is almost beyond believable …

Flash back to 2004 and the Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated Indonesian and left death and destruction in its path. The 8.9 earthquake triggered tsunami killed more than 150,000 people. One of the individuals that was missing, swept away by the waves and thought dead was an 8 year old girl known as Wati. She was only 8 years old when a wall of water crashed through and erased her village of Ujong Baroh in Aceh, one of the hardest hit provinces in Indonesia.

The 8 year-old was clinging with her two siblings to their mother Yusinar as they tried to escape the unforgiving waters.  The force of the waves proved too strong and Wati was ripped from her family, consumed by the water, never to been seen again.

Until this week.

Seven years later according to the Indonesian news agency, Antara, Wati found her way back home to her family. Simply amazing. Initially she was thought to be a homeless beggar when she showed up in the nearby city of Meulaboh.  However, Wati’s parents were able to confirm her identify by distinguishing features; a small mole and a scar she got above her eyebrow when she was six. One can only imagine what Wati has been doing the last seven years?

Read more

20 Year Old NJ Woman Missing, Confirmed Dead as Car Swept Away in Flood Waters from Hurricane Irene

A 20 year old Salem County, NJ woman was first considered missing and now is confirmed dead as her vehicle was swept away by flood waters from Hurricane Irene. Sadly, authorities would later find the Salem County woman in her vehicle dead. She is considered the first confirmed casualty of Hurricane Irene in New Jersey. The woman’s name has yet to be released.

A Salem County woman called 911 at around 1:40 a.m., saying her car was filling up with the water, State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes said.

A State Police SWAT team later found the woman dead in her car at 9:30 a.m. at 849 Route 40 in Pislesgrove, Salem County, State Police Spokesman Brian Polite said.

The winds of Hurricane Irene may not have been the story of this storm, it most likely will be the heavy, continuous rains that have caused flooding and erosion of damns and sea walls. As per ABC News 6, heavy rains caused three nearby lakes to overflow. The dams that separated each lake broke during the storm, forcing large amounts of water onto Route 40 near Kings Highway.

N.J. storm update: One dead, thousands without power.

A Brief Streaker Interruption from the Weather Channels Coverage of Hurricane Irene

Oh the dangers of live TV. It wasn’t just North Carolina citizens that were blown away by Hurricane Irene, but weather Channel execs after this little streaking incident during Live coverage.

Hat Tip: Gateway Pundit (content warning)

And they thought all they had to worry about was an embarrassing moment like Geralda Rivera getting knocked over by a wave during hurricane coverage in Galveston, TX.

Brian in a Blue State

Obama Leaves Martha’s Vineyard on Separate Plane from Michelle … “don’t let the hatch door of Air Force One hit you on the way out of Massa-tu-setts”

President Herbert Hoover, oops Barack Obama leaves Martha’s Vineyard the same way he arrived, on separate planes from his wife and family. As Howie Carr of the Boston Herald says, “Hey, it’s only money, our [the people's] money.”Although Howie said it with a much thickah Boston accent.

And so farewell, Barack Obama, don’t let the hatch door of Air Force One hit you on the way out of Massa-tu-setts, as you pronounce it.

The first family came in separate planes, and they’re leaving, ditto. Hey, it’s only money, our money.

Even before Irene, this wasn’t much of a presidential vacation compared to the earlier ones. An Obama vacation on the Vineyard has been downgraded from Cat 3 to tropical storm. It’s hard to get excited about the arrival, yet again, of the second coming of Herbert Hoover.

Of course Obama had to leave the golf course and Martha’s Vineyard early. Not even Obama has the audacity to stay in the lap of luxury while Americans are getting pounded by Hurricane Irene and eight people were confirmed dead. Sadly, the death toll is now at 9. Let alone the hurricane was coming that way which meant his golf game would have been interrupted. The President left the friendly confines of “Life styles of the Rich & Famous  to try and act presidential.  However, it seems like more of a shameless photo-op. Maybe Barack can use Irene in his next economy speech and blame this hurricane as well for the bad economy.Just like his economic mouth piece did when Austan Goolsbee blamed the bad US economy (VIDEO) on earthquakes, tsunami’s and hurricanes, oh my. You really can’t make this crap up.

Thursday night, Austan Goolsbee was on Fox trying to blame the cratered economy on the “earthquakes out of Washington, D.C. I mean, we’ve had a series of things that have put some heavy blows and slowed the economy back down.”

I’m not making this up. The “earthquake” is causing the double dip.

Now that Obama is back in charge and not on vacation, America don’t you feel better? Who can wait for his jobs and economic speech he is supposed to give in September? I know I am on pins and needles, NOT!