Tornado Update

Madeleine Morgenstern has quotes and pictures of tornado damage in Kentucky:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/more-than-30-killed-as-tornadoes-ravage-midwest/

The storm system definitely reached the western tip of Virginia. Spiral winds? Absolutely. Funnel clouds haven't been confirmed, but a cyclone can do plenty of damage without forming a funnel cloud and becoming a full-fledged tornado. Gate City looks pretty normal. Lee County residents who work here seem to be able to commute, and are reporting mostly cosmetic damage to their property. A few residents of Lee County are reporting more extensive damage, comparable with those images from Kentucky.

At the Cat Sanctuary, the sound and fury of what appeared to be four distinct storms, some with spiral winds and some with merely gusty winds, was more annoying than anything else. We don't mind shutting down and unplugging all electric appliances for a half-hour or so while a normal thunderstorm passes, but four times in one day seems excessive. Candice still complains vociferously to me when she finds the weather annoying. Grayzel and Bisquit are old enough to know that if I could fix the weather, I would, and they seldom whine about it; they didn't whine yesterday. Candice whined enough for three cats.

The Cat Sanctuary does not need any emergency funds. Its need for routine reconstruction funds has not changed; click here if you're feeling munificent. For information about people who've been injured, needed emergency hospitalization, or checked into shelters...I just asked someone who drove in from Lee County this morning, and her words were "I don't have a clue." Emergency needs are real but don't seem to be massive.

So, a quick online search revealed...no updates from Lee County. (The Roanoke and Kingsport newspapers have posted reports online.) The computer center, in Pennington Gap, is a good long way from Ewing (where the cyclone may or may not have reached tornado proportions), but its web page isn't showing any news. Things that plug into the wall still tend to become useless in the immediate aftermath of any kind of electrical storm, although they can be useful to those mopping up the damage after streets are cleared and power lines reconnected.