" My daughter Stephanie and her husband Josh were packing and preparing to leave to travel north to go and stay the weekend at Stephanie's mothers. So that Josh and Scott(Stephanies Stepfather) could go to the NHRA Drag Races in Jiolet, Illinois. Sadly that isn't what happened, while finishing their packing the weather turned from a nice day to one of your worse fears coming true. As the tornado hit they ran for cover into their bathtub. When they tried to get out of their home is when they found out that the mobile home was knocked off it foundation, roof blown away, all they had in the world was gone in a split second. Then comes the phone call that all mothers fear. Your child crying telling you that she had lost everything. The two things that are the most important by the grace of GOD were shaken to the core but alive and unharmed. We aren't a wealth family by any means but we as their family will do every single thing that we can think of to help these to young newlyweds replace the things that they lost. Stephanie and Josh we love you both and are so very thankful you are both alive and well. Love, Mom & Scott "

" i went to the movie theater in mattoon to watch kung-fu panda the power and the movie shut off and we were called out into the lobby and when we got thier thier is the doors then the parking lot then some trees then the high way you looked out the windows and you couldnt see anything i mean it you couldnt see anything after the movie we went to little mexico then after we ate. me and my mom looked around all of mattoon we drove around just like everyone else did the central elitric company out by the williams school the whole roof was gone thier was debrie everywhere in trees fences were gone kull lumber on lake land boulvevard the parts at kull lumber (pipes, wood, etc.) they were blown across the street into the front of pilson auto or whatever it was the sign was blew out at pilsons literally blown out thier was nothing thier it was scary knowing that a tornado went through our town "

" Could barely hear the sirens going off. Had I been by the AC I wouldn't have. I say let's take the $4000 set aside to pay for the third party insurance appraiser and use it to improve community safety. "

" I was shocked on S Reynolds Dr. when it was over.
Lots of Sturm und Drang, but I did not realize the storm was particularly severe; with my laptop safely unhooked from the electrical plug, I was
reading the New York Times Book Reviews online; when the storm passed I moved to plug in to charge my laptop.
My wife called me downstairs and WOW, on the S side of my house there were 3 of my trees down, one had split and was leaning against the roof of the house; another 2'in diameter had fallen against another and taken that one down.
After it was over, I drove around the
neighborhood and no one else seemed to have more than an occasional limb broken off. I guess I was just lucky that none fell on my car in the driveway. "

" I might mention that we were in a real tornado last Friday while attending a convention in a hotel in Springfield. For an hour the hotel personnel had everyone in the lowest basement hallways of the hotel. My wife's brother came in from a hotel across the street where people had been "released" but the personnel at our hotel promptly escorted him down into the basement.
There was no damage downtown but I understand there was a touchdown and lost power in parts of town. "

" We live off of N Reynolds, here in Charleston, & we faired alright, other than some limbs down in the neighborhood.

I would like to also add, if you're from Charleston, Shadow, (Jun 6, 2008 8:35 PM), it looks like we're in the same boat.
We could not hear the sirens at all at our house. My mother & father, who live on the east side of town, just happened to call, & told us that they heard them going off, & to take cover. I told them we didn't hear a peep out of the sirens, when usually we can, when they test them, but we were aware of what was going on, & that all was OK at our end.

Time To Check The Sirens Covering The West End Of Town, Charleston! "

" i was at home when suddenly the electric went out my son came running in grabbed me and out to the car we went.he had a funnel cloud pick up a tree whirled it around and it landed right behind his car.needless to say he said the police was busy so drove (he said )95 to my home.after this all happened we went out by lake paradise and the house across from mt zion church had a tree uprooted barely missing their house.we could not see where it came from. i just thank God my children and noone was injured by this tornado(s) "

" Oakland has been hit hard again for the second time in a week. Storm damage is widespread and effects every block in town. Trees were uprooted and lines have been down, poles broken in two by the Lake Park. The top of the neighbor's tree just missed our house, but will need to be sawed apart to be removed. We watched it coming on the radar, knew it was going to be bad, but it went from calm to raging in just a few minutes. It hit hard and fast and then it was over. The sound of chainsaws and neighbors helping neighbors will fill our weekend once again. "

" Tornado, June 6, 2008. I was leaving town to head home on S 4th/Lincoln Hwy. I was 2 miles north of the Bent Tree Golf Course when what appeared to be clouds moving in a different direction. The closer I got to it it began to twirl. I knew then what it was, a tornado forming. I kept proceeding home thinking I could get out of the path of it. Instead I ran right into its surroundings. I have never seen so much constant, hard wind and with total zero visibility. It rocked my Scion back and forth. I made a complete stop and u-turned back about 1/4 mile, and pulled over the side of the road, praying over and over. When it calmed down I continued to drive home to find out that when I encountered the path of this tornado or disasterous funnel it had done some real bad damage to a few home less than a 1/2 mile away. I made it home okay by swerving around a few fallen trees and skipping through wide puddles. Thank the the Lord for keeping me safe because I have never been so scared!! "

" Question:Between 4:00 4:15 Friday While driving in my car an alert came across the radio.In this alert was a TORNADO WARNING for Mattoon.If that is the case WHY did the sirens not sound until Between 4:30 4:45??????
This alert was also before the storm reached the west side of town.When the sirens did go off the worst of the front was already over for Mattoon.
I'm sure all the southside damage was already done.WOW amazing!!!Could have been a costly delay (life saving alert system). "

" While watching the storms from my front porch on Lafayette Ave., the storm was intense and the TV was blairing the tornado warnings for Mattoon, while yet I hadn't heard our civil sirens going off. After the worst of the storm started to die down, hey there go the sirens, are the people in charge of setting off the sirens living 5 to 6 miles out of town, or what? Then I got a call from my mother in law that my brother in laws garage was flattened east of the lerna road on Old State Rd. Went out to see the damage and help. It looked like someone just grabbed the SE corner and shoved it over, what a mess. "

" When the alert sounded on the south side of Charleston, I was just leaving my office on the EIU campus. Another employee and I, along with her husband and my daughter, re-entered the building and waited in the basement until the worst of it passed. My daughter and I then made our way home, maneuvering around the toppled tree and downed utility pole on E Street. We dreaded what we would find when we arrived home on west State, but thankfully we only had a few small branches and a few leaves, for the most part not from our trees, scattered over the lawn. Last weekend in the unbearable heat, we had decided it was time to remove some dead branches from the trees around our home, and removed a large hollow section of one tree next to the house. Though we suffered in the heat last weekend, we are so thankful today that we may have made a very wise decision that probably saved the northwest section of our roof. Our sympathies to all those who were not as fortunate, and face major cleanup and repair in the coming days and weeks. I think we can clean up the water in the basement today with a thankful heart, as it could have been so much worse. "

" I was driving on South 45 when the storm started. My car was about to be blown off the road and it was raining so hard I could barely see. This was just in the first couple of minutes of the storm! I pulled in to McDonalds on South 45. The power was off so I pulled up against the building under the awning of the driveup. One of the employees opened the sliding window and told me to get in their basement because a tornado had been spotted. The employees were wonderful in caring about the safety of everyone pulling off the road. Don't know if the manager was on duty but he should commend them. They kept us posted about the wreck and the lumber on South 45 from RP lumber and told us when it was safe to leave. I had always worried about what I would do if I was driving and a storm like that hit. I'm glad I found a safe haven! "

" The first Tornado alert was issued at 4:03 for Coles county was for SOUTHWESTERN COLES COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS. The warning was issued due to a "SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR BEECHER CITY...OR ABOUT 13 MILES WEST OF EFFINGHAM." At that time it was not bad in Mattoon and if the sirens had been activated 30 minutes before it actually arrived then everyone would have been ignoring them when the danger presented itself. The actual EAS activtion was at 4:28 when it was detected AT 428 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS DETECTED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 3 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF MATTOON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 62 MPH. I do not think there was anything wrong with the way EAS activation was. There was plenty of warning and all you had to do was look at the sky to know something was wrong. The fact that there were no serious injuries is representative of that. "

" I'm not a resident of Mattoon however I was passing through as the storm hit. I actually reside near St Louis where the storm previously passed through and my wife called me letting me know that I was heading right for it. With her warning I stopped at McDonalds on Route 45. Shortly after we lost power and the staff escorted us all downstairs to the basement. I wanted to point out how professional the staff at McDonalds displayed throughout. The had the situation totally under control the whole time. Knowing what was going on outside, one staff member continuously ran to the door letting people in without regard to her own safety. I think each and everyone of them should pat themselves on the back for a job well done. "

" Nothing much to add except that we couldn't hear the sirens either(Douglas Drive)...even when I opened the door to check because I thought my son was kidding me!
It would be nice if someone didn't have to call me for me to know about a tornado!!! "

" We were lucky to have no damage during the storm. However, we did lose power overnight due to massive tree damage in our area.

I was shocked when looking for a hotel in our community for myself and my family of 5 that night. All the hotels near the interstate where full, so I went into the Ramada Inn. I heard the man at the counter tell the woman in front of me that normally the rooms run $69.99 a night, but since the storm has caused them to be busy they are going to be charging more for a room... I walked out. We ended up staying in Charleston at Worthington Inn and the staff was wonderful.

Why would you charge your neighbors and the community that needed you MORE because of a natural disaster. Some people are just money hungry. I will never consider staying there again. "

" Thought it was looking very scary outside. Checked the radio for warnings and after heading to the basement with the kiddos. We did some laundry and played a bit. Sirens finally went off after most of the rough weather had already passed. Glad I wasn't depending on our community warning system. "

" I was working at Papa Murphy's which is on W. Lincoln in Charleston. The radio claimed warnings in the area and I could see why by the site of the approaching wall cloud. When the straight line winds started, chairs and tables flew from Starbucks and were tumbling and being dragged through the entire parking lot until being stopped by cars. Surprised I didn't hear sirens, I walked outside and still could not hear any. After the storm ended, I called my apartment and another friend, both on the east side of Charleston. The sirens were audible there. It seems like everyone on the West Side of town did not hear any sirens. Granted the wind was bad, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't hear anything. Luckily, it wasn't worse. But this is something that needs to be brought up and hopefully fixed. "

" Oakland is even worse this evening than it was in the wee hours of the morning. I have no idea about how much rain we ended up with- but our whole yard- this end of town is all under water. It isn't in the house yet, but its not draining either. We have phone,internet and cable but we shut the central air down when the water got to far up on it. Our neighbor loaned us a 110 air conditioner that we have set up in the bedroom. We could be worse- our neighbors have water in their homes. One neighbor's toilet shoots water up when she flushes. Ours haven't done that yet, but it is very slow going down. The water is anywhere from 9 inches to waist high here.
The city guys are keeping a close watch on the dam- it doesn't look good.
Who would have thought we would someday own lakeside property??? We're not even close to the river or any creeks. "

" Well Penny Weaver! That will teach me to comment on your article about storms! LOL!

I live about four miles south of Charleston and about a mile from Bent Tree Golf Course.

I had spent about four and a half hours mowing yesterday. After showering, and then taking a nap in my easy chair, I woke up and decided to check out the weather report on TV. I heard about the tornado warning and it's projected path including Lerna, Charleston, Ashmore, etc. That's about all I heard, because the lights went out and the wind and rain was here before I had a chance to let the information sink in.

I managed to close windows but the wind had blown the pillows and blankets off my bed and deposited them in the hallway before I could get there. the rain looked like a moving wall!

The cat was howling and my big black dog , who by the way is the biggest baby in the world when it comes to storms, was shaking so hard I thought she was having a seizure!

I got away from the windows and went into the guest bathroom which is in the middle of the house.

When the rain stopped, I went outside, and to my horror, my big, beautiful willow tree had been ripped up by it's roots! My kids, grandkids and Toby had planted it for me on Mother's Day about seventeen years ago.

Toby had trimmed and shaped it over those years, and it truly was the most beautiful willow I had ever seen. Everyone who saw it commented on how beautiful it was. I'll tell you unashamedly, I cried.

It missed falling on the house, but the wind took some shingles off the roof and the pool shed. The pool was full of debris and the woods which surrounds the property had many limbs down. Thankfully the house is not situated in the woods.It is surrounded on three sides and the only open exposure is the field to the south. I think the tree line help save me from more damage by acting as a windbreak.

My neighbors a quarter mile away at the entrance to my lane, didn't fare as well. They are in the open, and they had trees down in their yard.

I didn't see a funnel, but I heard later one had been spotted over by the driving range on Lincoln Highway Road. I'm "guesstimating" the straight line winds were about 75mph. I saw trees bending about halfway down.

After it wall all over, I couldn't find my tiny little six pound kitty. The dog and the big cat were acciunted for, but I couldn't find Taffy! Finally I heard her crying and walking towards the house. She had been caught outside and was soaked to the skin! She looked like a drowned yellow rat!

Although I lost my beautiful tree. I was safe, my pets were safe and the house was just missing smoe shingles.

My kids called and let me know they were ok. I started calling friends and family to find out how they were, and they were calling me too.

In the grand scheme of things, we fared well. We still have each other. "

" My daughter and I were laying down and my son was in our living room getting ready for work. I heard it raining when my son yelled out "MOM". I came running and looked out our front door as he said something bad was happpening. My neighbors across the street had a large branch in their front yard then we lost power. Just as my son drove down the road heading to work the sirens went off. Thankfully he made it safely. The damage was already done in my neighborhood. There was quite a bit of damage to trees and roofs. Thank God nobody was injured but had a lot of shaken up friends. "

" My kids and I were out for a car ride when the storm hit hard and fast. No sign of bad weather at all when we left and all of a sudden, huge flashes of lighting, thunder, raining so hard I could not see to drive, my winsheild wipers got stuck due to the wind, Lucky for us we made it to shelter before anything happend to us. We drove around Lake Paradise today and saw a huge tree uprooted. I am just very thankful that my kids and I were safe. I didn't hear the sirens go off either, all I heard was the thunder and that "freight train sounding" wind. "

" Hi
Our Daughter Kelly Parker and Her Husband Terry and their 6 kids his mother and father sister and her daughter went to Virgina to visit his brother whos in the navy. started home saturday morning got to Indiana and couldn't go any farther due to the flooding in Indiana. As of Sunday 8:15am still not home "

" The Sunday Decatur paper had very poor coverage of the storms and the flooding in East Central Illinois. On the other hand, the Champaign News-Gazette had extensive coverage from Arthur, Douglas County, and elsewhere. It seems as though the Sunday Decatur paper has gone downhill for quite some time. "

" The heartless insensitivity of some people after this storm burns me up.

The Bushton Curve is covered with water, & there ARE roads available to detour through, yet people have been driving right through the water. That wouldn't be all so bad, except there are a number of residents whose houses flood with the water wake caused by any car driving through this water. In the midst of this are 2 homeowners who are disabled & in wheelchairs. Gawkers drive by causing the water wake to flood right inside their home every time a car passes. These poor wheelchair bound people are sitting in their home, & can't do anything about it. Impossible for them to sandbag, or leave for elsewhere, their home is soaked inside & out from the thoughtless people who ignore barricades, just for the thrill of driving through water & causing waves.

Use your heads people! If barricades are up, & even if they are NOT it is stupid to drive through the water.

I was so angry yesterday, I got on boots & yelled at the drivers. One said "It is not my Problem" I pointed out that HE was the cause of the problem, by causing the wake with his vehicle which floods into the homes.

I hope some of those idiots who have been doing that read this. They should feel guilty for causing so many problems
themselves on our residents. If they didn't drive through, the waves wouldn't reach inside. Leave well enough alone, take an alternate route & DRIVE ELSEWHERE! "

" LOL, the one who calls him/herself Cognitus says "I was reading the New York Times Book Reviews online ..." Why am I not surprised? Now I understand why God sent the nasty weather! // By the way, JG/T-C, in the future, please don't ask the folks to send in their own stories without setting aside some time to edit them. Good God, some of these accounts sound as if they were written by Mississippi first graders from 50 years ago. I have to wonder how long its been since basic writing skills have been taught in Coles County schools. It's embarrassing to think these posts will be preserved forever in cyberspace. "

" WHOOPS! My wife threatened me with a cast iron skillet if I don't post a retraction. So here goes. When I made my earlier observation, and posted it, the later accounts hadn't yet appeared on here. So, "if my words have offended anyone" (that's a line I've officially adopted from the liberal-speak quote pamphlet), I apologize from the bottom of my heart. "

" Yeah gringa! I just noticed I "fat fingered" a couple of keys and ended up with mispelled words! Apology accepted! "

" And don't forget they will also be stored away in Tom Andres extensive file system for perpetuity. "

" becnjer wrote on Jun 7, 2008 12:46 PM:
" We were lucky to have no damage during the storm. However, we did lose power overnight due to massive tree damage in our area.
I was shocked when looking for a hotel in our community for myself and my family of 5 that night. All the hotels near the interstate where full, so I went into the Ramada Inn. I heard the man at the counter tell the woman in front of me that normally the rooms run $69.99 a night, but since the storm has caused them to be busy they are going to be charging more for a room... I walked out. We ended up staying in Charleston at Worthington Inn and the staff was wonderful.
Why would you charge your neighbors and the community that needed you MORE because of a natural disaster. Some people are just money hungry. I will never consider staying there again. "

.......

becnjer, the Ramada Inn was your first mistake.
LOL
Since the change in ownership, awhile back, that hotel has gone down the toilet, & I don't believe it will ever get any better. You rarely ever see any cars in their parking lot. It's been looking like some of the shabby hotels, er.... former hotels, out on South Rt. 45, for quite some time now.
Heck, last fall my family had been running around all afternoon in Mattoon, & as we got ready to head back towards home, back in Charleston, we made a pitstop at the Ramada Inn.
The quite different attendent, behind the counter, seen a couple of us come in, & trying to head towards the lobby area restrooms.
He pelted us with several "may I help you"s. When we explained we were headed for the restrooms, like it wasn't obvious, he asked if we were guests staying at the hotel. When we said "no", he told us, that he would "allow" us to go this time, but after this, the restrooms were for guests only. Funny, I thought hotel lobby restrooms were for public use - I guess not, in the case of the Ramada Inn, in Mattoon.
What a bunch of bologna. I'd say more, but it would most likely NOT make it past the monitor of this site.
LOL!
The Ramada Inn used to be a really decent place, several years ago, but since hotels seem to be getting taken over by some different folks nowadays, alot of them, & their service, are sinking by the wayside.

Back on a upper-note, our thoughts go out to those dealing with the worst of the devastation in the coming days & weeks ahead. "

" I was wondering how many people are still without power, phone service, consolidated television or cable service since the storm. "

" We live on the south west side of town. Although we were lucky to not sustain any damage. My husband stated that we were not able to here the sirens at our home either. Maybe Charleston needs to invest in another emergency siren on the south end of town. This could have been a diaster for many. It is definitely something that ESDA needs to investigate. "

" justtwondering wrote " I was wondering how many people are still without power, phone service, consolidated television or cable service since the storm. "
---Probably about as many customer's that Mediacom has. The way I see it, there are more important things in life than modern conveniences...Like my wife winning her second battle with cancer, or the family friend that is on the heart transplant list. Sure, I enjoy watching TV, Talking on the phone with my family that live a few hours away, and my AC as much as the next person. But along the way, I've learned there are more important things in life than TV. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families that have not so fortunate with the recent weather. "

" Maybe you people in charleston can come get the old ones we took down in Mattoon in 1999 because they were too loud. Now we have twice as many but they are near as loud as the old ones. I bet they are laying around in a warehouse somewhere. "

" Rotty...

Trust me.. the Ramada was my last resort. I had been to all the hotels by the interstate and was turned away since there where all full. The Days Inn in Charleston was full as well. Luckily the Worthington had a room for us. The staff was great there.

It is a shame how far downhill the Ramada has gotten. It used to be a nice place. "

" I have suggested to various folks (JG, Cromwell, city and county government) around our area several times that "someone needs to be in charge" whenever we have an emergency in the area. My family has been without power for several hours many times. Usually the power is down as a result of threatening weather - snow storm, thunder storm, tornado, etc. Sometimes, for whatever reason, storm sirens malfunction, but even if they do work, the public still doesn't know what's going on if the power is out. My point is, when weather threatens, or Heaven forbid a terrorist act threatens our area, or even if it's just a simple power outage, it would be great if we could turn our battery powered radios to a local emergency frequency to hear pertinent public safety information. // Have you ever tried to get hold of Ameren CIPS during a power outage? Impossible! Many times, the folks at the local radio stations don't answer their phones if its after business hours. Forget trying to call anyone at city hall. Seems like we're supposed to have an emergency preparedness office - so where's the plan? If we have a widespread power outage, or if we have a widespread emergency, shouldnt we have a local official radio frequency to tune in for instructions? Good idea? "

" Well, over here in Ashmore we fared pretty well. Downed limbs all over town but for the most part that was the extent of "external" damage. Several homes have water damage and flooding in their basements.

I just happened to be out chasing my dogs (felt like Dorothy chasing Toto) down in the middle of the road about a block from home when the storm hit. Ironically the dogs never go more than a house or two away and Friday they decided to venture out. The sky turned a green color, the wind came, then the rain. When it started to rain the dogs decided to listen to me then. By the time I got home it was still raining but the worst of it was over, it was quick!

Rt 16 is still closed due to flooding. My grandma is 80 and said that the river has never been as high as it is now, including the flood of 1957. She also said that river hill has never been closed due to flooding. The only way to Charleston now is through the country and over East Harrison St bridge.

Just looked at the radar and it looks like we're going to get hit again tonight.....

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who sustained damage.

As for electricity etc., I never did lose anything...have Ameren for electric, consolidated for internet and television. "

" Thanks for the reply back, becnjer.
I understand you completely.
I hope all turns out well for you & your family.
Takre Care,
~Rotty "

" The front page article stated that most people had power restored by early Saturday morning. My neighbors' power was restored Saturday evening (5pm). My power, however, was not restored until 10:30am SUNDAY morning. We had no power for 42 hours!!! We spent Saturday night at Days Inn and spent Sunday afternoon cleaning out the refrigerator. This was Coles Moutrie power just south of the city limits. "

" Hey voltaire...good idea! But I am sure that our mayor would not even think of using second hand sirens...he would have to spend the money on new ones!!

I am amazed at how many people DID NOT heart the sirens. Scary actually. "

" I agree with "shadow" on the siren issue, lets spend the $4000 on community safety instead of lining the pockets of a business located out of state. We live on the west-side of town (Foxcrest Sub'd) and although I was not at home late friday afternoon, my wife was and she never heard the sirens either. She hopped in her van after the first blast of high winds and headed over to her parents house, who have a basement. On Sunday we went out for a drive to check the damage and ran into a roadblock on Rte 16 because the bridge was flooded by the Stone Quarry. Of course I couldn't resist on stopping and asking IDOT worker why they couldn't have put up type 3 barricades with yellow lights to block the highway instead of paying him $40/hour to stand there and look stupid. One can never under estimate on how IDOT workers will do anything to make over time money, especially at a time when the State has no money to pay their bills. "

" Common sense post from gringa. Not to complain, but I also wonder why there isn't a dedicated AM frequency which could be used to disseminate official public information during power outages or in the event of natural disasters? Even the poorest among us can afford to buy a cheap $5 or $10 single-purpose battery-powered AM radio from Wal-Mart or Radio Shack. Perhaps the city of Mattoon should bulk-purchase low cost radios for emergencies and distribute them to each household - kind of like what fire departments do with smoke detectors, or, LOL, kind of like what some health departments do with condoms - to be kept in our homes to use in the event of emergency situations. I think this makes a lot of sense. Are our city leaders listening? "

" In reply to 'Of course I couldn't resist on stopping and asking IDOT worker why they couldn't have put up type 3 barricades with yellow lights to block the highway instead of paying him $40/hour to stand there and look stupid'

I'm sure it's because someone who IS actually stupid would try to cross the bridge. If there were only barricades and someone drove across and went into the river then someone would surely ask, "Why wasn't someone monitoring the bridge?". "

" Becnjer, if the Ramada really did mark up their prices during this emergency then they were price gouging and it is illegal. Maybe a well written letter to the editor (published) enlightening the residents of Coles County of the situation. If the owners see a little bad press then who knows what they would do to repair their image. We had a situation like that here (just east of Houston) right after Katrina and that hotel got into some serious trouble. Of course, they had more than just the local newspaper breathing down their neck. They had the national news reporting on it. Personally, if I owned a hotel I would lower my prices in a situation like this to help my community out. The goodwill alone would come back 10 fold. To each their own I suppose. Karma can be a B_T_H! LOL "

" Good one, stranger! No kidding, right on the money!! "

" i would like to say thanks to daysfan4 and RH for the comments on the staff at mcdonalds on south route 45.i was the manager on duty at the time of the storm and really appreciated your comments. "

" gringa wrote:" LOL, the one who calls him/herself Cognitus says "I was reading the New York Times Book Reviews online ..." Why am I not surprised? Now I understand why God sent the nasty weather!
88888888888888888888888888888888888
Yes, I'm sure God is searching out the
people who read the NYTimes to punish
them. But if this is true, then explain why so many more got hit who watch Fox News????????? But I promise never again to read the NYTimes in the midst of a thunderstorm. ##################### Maybe it's even more significant that about 6 weeks ago the power went off in the middle of a McCain speech. I promised myself never ever to watch McCain again....... "

" No story but I can't believe the number of people who more or less start off with something like: "It was a beautiful day but out of no where came this storm and . . ." Was I the only one who had listened to news reports from the night BEFORE warning of this? Did only I watch the weather during the day and prepare for this? I'm amazed at the number of people who live in a vacuum! "

" First thing I do is put on underwear and slacks, socks, shoes, in case of tornado I am dressed at least. The dog (a poodle) goes under the bed when a tornado or bad storm, and the cat gets on me and massages me. My parrot gets between her food bowls and says whewww when hears the thundering. One storm our old tree missed house roof by just inches and the new shed by about 5 inches,,,,so that tree is gone now before another storm. Our neighbors trees lost limbs and nothing major in our block at least. Trying to see on TV didn't happen as lost the channels.
The radio is still the best to know what is going on. We do have sirens also and I have to check be sure it is real or the parrots imitation, she is darn good.

I was glad when friends called and were safe. We can replace other things but one cannot replace a dear friend. "

" Cognitus, just checking here; you DO know what LOL stands for, right? I was just pimping you a little, but I do find it interesting that you were so specific in your account. I mean, how was (reading the NYT book reviews) relevant to your weather story? Frankly, it sounds as if you think your audience will be impressed with your choice of websites. That's what it sounds like to me anyway. The average joe around here doesn't spend a lot of time on the NYT website. Oh, almost forgot ... LOL! :) "

" Kudos, Alisha, & to the staff of McDonalds on S. Rt. 45, out of Mattoon!
I also thought the McDonalds's posts were very interesting & great to see.
Thank You & Job Well Done! "

" MY BROTHER TOM TUCKER AND WIFE SUSIE LOST EVERYTHING AND HAD TO SELL. THEY LIVE AT THE RIVER.EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE DEVASTATED,WHEN THEY FINALLY WERE ABLE TO GO THERE TO RETREIVE WHAT THEY COULD MY BROTHER SAVED A TURTLE CROSSING THE ROAD. HOW MANY CAN SAY IN THE FACE OF DEVASTATION THEY HAD THE HEART TO SAVE A TURTLE? "