Child killed in wind storm Huntsville AL

You can read on www.al.com the main story and blogs about the five year old boy who was killed this afternoon when a sudden microburst storm cell hit an air show that was attended by many thousands. Apparently the tent he was in collapsed, knocking a heavy air conditioner unit onto him. Prayers for him and the family. You think you are going to a nice family event and you suddenly lose your child; it is a terrible tragedy that I sure do well understand.

I mention this because people have all seen how suddenly the weather can change. It must have only been about an hour after this tragedy that I was on the road driving to a restaurant when I suddenly saw a purplish black front bearing down on me with straight line winds. It really seemed to come out of nowhere. I got behind a guy in a black pick up truck and we gunned it to out run the long side of the rectangular shape that it made, driving very fast for about six miles. While I was eyeing the storm wall as it bore down in our direction, I didn't see any rotation (my big concern for a tornado) but straight line winds can be just as sudden and fierce.

By the way, if you are ever in my situation but you actually see tornado rotation commence or straight line winds that can tip over a car, immediately get out of the car and get into a culvert. As I was driving I was watching along side the road for good sized culverts in case I had to make the dive. Cars are great for protection from lightning, and you should stay in your car if lightning is the threat, but if you encounter a tornado or car tipping straight line winds the car is not the best place. Several people have been killed in the Midwest storms during the past month when they were in their cars. A culvert, which is the underground large tubes for drainage that you see under driveways and in ditches, is the safest place to be in a tornado. Yeah, being in Mississippi I really didn't want to think about fighting a critter to get into the culvert, but that's better than a potential tornado. Anyway, the storm blew over fast and hardly any rain fell. But just like the Huntsville microburst storm cell, it was a sudden cell of fierce wind that was the threat.