Lehigh Valley Living

Cold Streak Coming

>> Monday, July 11, 2011

Just got home close to 11:00 at night and the heat index is currently 91. The Weather Channel says the high temperature tomorrow will top out at 99. Please let the air be filtering through the office tomorrow. Sweating at my desk with long pants, a dress shirt and tie on is not pleasant. But I don't think anybody summed up the forecast better than Accuweather. This is the actual forecast for the next three days. I'm not going to point out what I find amusing. I'm pretty sure you will see it.

Video: Remembering Joplin

>> Sunday, July 10, 2011

Very eye-opening video of a likely routine drive for most residents in Joplin. Take a look for yourself and catch up with the rest of my commentary below. You also might want to turn the volume down unless you are a Linkin Park fan.

I often here or read after a tornado that the area is unrecognizable to locals. This video at least helps to understand why that is. To think every landmark that you have been use to seeing for the last 10 or 20 or 40 years has been removed in the matter of minutes is unimaginable. To see the all the foliage along side the road turn into nothing but giant oddly shaped twigs is bizarre.

The second thing that stands out is what you see towards the end of the video. After minutes of driving passed flattened homes and buildings and piles of debris, you start to see buildings still in tact and trees with leaves. It's like driving into a completely different area.

Very very strange and sad that this happens to so many places every year. But it also shows that life is slowly moving on for the community even with all the fatalities. I still keep myself updated through various pages on Facebook (the one awesome thing that site is good for). Yesterday I saw a post that said the city manager has said that 60% of the debris has been removed. Think about that. We are approaching two months after the tornado hit and slightly more than half of the wreckage is gone. What a long process.

I said it before and I probably haven't stuck with it enough, but I plan on continually posting news, videos and pictures from Joplin and one of the worst tornadoes in recorded history.

Video: Why You Go Inside During A Storm

>> Saturday, July 9, 2011

Catching Up

>> Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Been a little while since I've gotten a chance to post something. Oddly enough now that the hockey season is over, I am busier doing stats now than I was during the season. That's the way it goes.

Going to make this pretty quick today.

Flooding continues in North Dakota. It seems like this is a yearly occurrence for residents as snow melts and spring rain begins. This time Minot is in the thick of things. Residents are being forced to leave due to the rising Souris River. If like me, you are unfamiliar with this river, check out a map. It is one of the strangest flowing rivers I can recall seeing.

Wildfires have been tearing through the southwest where conditions have been extremely hot and dry. What's worse? According to some, the fires that burned thousands of acres and dozens of homes was caused by Mexican drug smugglers. Seriously.

Things got a bit hairy at the College World Series in Omaha yesterday. The central plains were hit hard by storms yesterday that also rolled across the baseball field. Here are a couple pictures that would have surely freaked me out.