A Tornado in Dalton

[reedalson 0]

Dalton Pre-Tornado Photos

Pre-Tornado Dalton at highest possible zoom

Pre-Tornado Downtown Dalton with Pit Theater and Main Street Shops

Theodore McGinty's old house - before the tornado

The Thunderbolt 1000T behind the Dalton City Water Tower and more shops on Main Street

The Railroad Tracks on the North Side of Dalton

Post-Tornado Damage

Downtown Dalton 12 days after being hit by the EF-5 tornado.

If you look, after the EF-5 tornado hit Dalton, two satellite tornados were formed, the first an EF-0 and the second an EF-1. Both missed Dalton but flattened more farms.

Location

With a population of 7135, Dalton is the county seat of Melrose County in a fictional state (with no name) in the central US. Being located in the central US means being located in Tornado Alley.

The Story

It was May 4th in Dalton. The temparture was a warm 78 degrees. However, the storm that would later affect Dalton began to form around 2:05 PM CDT (3:05 PM EDT) in northwest Texas. In the late afternoon, it would cross west Oklahoma with a few isolated tornadoes. It would then go through northwest Oklahoma and eventually Dalton's state. The first tornado warning was issued for Alexandria County in southern Dalton's state and the tornado first touched down at about 6:00 PM CDT (7:00 PM EDT). Several storm chasers captured the formation of an EF-0 tornado about 20 miles south of Dalton.

Meanwhile, in Dalton...

Theodore McGinty had just returned from doing his errands and was ready to watch his favorite TV show America's Funniest Home Videos on KAZY-6 ABC, broadcasting from Ford City, 20 miles west of Dalton. But before the AFV intro could finish, it was interrupted by the sudden broadcasting of the EAS (Emergency Alert System).

The SNWS (Sim National Weather Service) office in Ford City had just issued a rare Tornado Emergency For Dalton and Neighboring Cities and Towns Effective Now and Expires at 7:00 AM tomorrow. A tornado emergency is an unofficial product that used only for extremely life–threatening situations when a large and likely violent tornado is on the ground and approaching a populated area. Theodore turned off the TV, got his battery-operated radio, ran down to the basement and put on SNWS Weather Radio. The tornado plowed through Dalton shortly after it was intercepted by storm chasers. was an estimated 1.7 miles in diameter and was later confirmed to have been an EF-5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale (the highest possible rating). Based on the damage produced, winds inside the tornado were estimated to have been in excess of 250 mph.

The mayor of Dalton would later state that 95% of his community was destroyed. Many houses were flattened or even blown away. Melrose County Medical Center had many broken windows. The police and fire stations, both schools, a Pump and Scoot Gas, the Pit Theater and other businesses fell victim to the violent winds and were destroyed or flattened. The city's water tower was completely toppled and smashed. All traffic and street lights and railroad crossing signals in Dalton were knocked down by the winds. Train cars were also reported to be overturned and hazardous materials  teams were called to inspect the wreckage. A tanker car was carrying about 14,000 gallons of toxic waste and the substance started to leak from the tanker when workers were starting to lift back the tanker. The tornado continued north before dissipating, and by several accounts continued to grow as it left town. The total path length was 22 miles and the width of the funnel reached 1.7 miles.

A movie is being produced and will be on Youtube.

[rusty_777 0]

I like the idea of how you incorporated some storms into your CJ. One thing I would suggest would be to eliminate the UDI icons and the menu. Other than that, great story line.

Cheers.

[jacqulina 162]

great story line my friend