[Hallicrafters] Tornado Missed Me

[Duane Fischer, W8DBF]

To the joy of some, and the dismay of others, the tornado hit twelve miles south
of me in Grand Blanc, MI. It adjoins the city of Flint. It made the national
news, caught it on CNN several times today. No injuries reported, but
considerable damage to structures. This ironically happened on the date of the
F4 tornado of June 8, 1953, the fiftieth anniversary.  Fortunately this one was
nothing compared to that one which killed over two hundred and stayed on the
ground for sixty miles all the way to Port Huron. By todays standards, the
damages would probably hit the billion dollar mark.  	
	
Interesting about the NWS, however. This is the second time that because they
did not see what they expected to see on dopler radar in White Lake, MI, they
refused to issue a tornado warning to the county. Yet nine trained spotters
sighted and confirmed the tornado. The Genesee county 911 dispatch center was in
the path and they took shelter in the basement where the emergency gear is
located. They sighted three tornados headed in their direction. 	
	
Six years ago one hit the city of Frankenmuth twenty miles to my north and west.
The same thing then, confirmed sightings by trained spotters, but no tornado
warning issued by the NWS. That twister did serious damage to Frankenmuth,
leveled many buildings and there were injuries. Don't tell the residents of
Frankenmuth it was not a tornado that flattened the entire business district!   

	
Why bother with trained spotters if you are going to ignore them?  Then when
people are killed because no warning was issued, the NWS invents some reason for
their blunder. 	
	
I survived, as did what antennas I still have left after my neighbors pulled
some down with the quadwheeler. 	
	
DBF