We're Not in Kansas Anymore...

Mayville, NY with Lake Chautauqua in the background

This is a photo that I found in the Buffalo News relating the events surounding a tornado that touched down near the Chautauqua Lake community of Mayville, NY. You can read the article below after I tell my little story.

As a young boy I recall having nightmares of tornadoes, which coincided with the annual TV showing of the Wizard of Oz. I need to remind you that when Dadoo was growing up, you could only watch a movie when it was shown on Television or in the Movie theaters. There was no way of recording the show off the TV, (other than my attempts to record the audio with my reel to reel tape recorder, but that is another post), this was way before VCR's!

So back to the story, I was so afraid to watch the beginning of Oz when Dorothy and her house are ripped from the foundation and sent twirling into the air that I would cover my head with a pillow during that scene. Still I didn't associate tornadoes with South Dayton, they just happened in Kansas!

Until....

One night when I was about 7 or 8 years old we had a huge thunderstorm, the whole house shook when the lightening hit and I would count the time from the flash and the sound of the lightening and multiply by 7 (the approx speed of sound) this would tell how many miles we were from the actual lightening. Boom! Flash! Boom! Flash! I have heard that if you are outside and you don't hear the sound you are in big trouble, maybe worse...

But anyways we had a big storm that evening and in the morning my parents told me that a tornado had touched down within a mile of the west of our house on old mud lake road and we were going take a ride to see there it happened. When we arrived there were huge trees laying on top of the houses and doggies were missing. I thought "Oh no, they have gone to Oz with Toto and Dorothy!"

After that Tornado the Fire Department began to sound a special siren that could be heard through the community to signal a Tornado Warning, a long steady tone lasting for a minute that makes your hair stand on end. So now you can understand my thoughts as I read of the tornado damage from Randolph and Mayville this article.

Tornadoes leave chilling imprint

Communities sustain severe damage but no serious injuries

Randolph, NY

Jordan was helping his friend Nathan Lamper remodel Lamper's Main Street house when the wind began picking up in the Cattaraugus County Town of Randolph. Jordan went outside to grab the garbage cans from the curb. As he did, a quick gust ripped them from his hands.

By the time Jordan grabbed a front porch post, a tornado was at his heels, picking his feet off the ground.

"Nathan was holding on to the door with the rain coming sideways," Brandy Gann said Sunday, recalling the chain of events that Lamper, her fiance, had told her.

What lifted Jordan from the ground was one of a string of tornadoes that ripped through the Southern Tier late Saturday afternoon. There were no serious injuries, but damage was estimated in the millions -- possibly as much as $5 million in just one of the effected communities, the Chautauqua Lake community of Mayville.

Mayville was hit first Saturday when a tornado came through at 4:48 p.m. with winds of 125 mph.

Randolph, located in the western part of Cattaraugus County, about 15 miles northeast of Jamestown, was the second Southern Tier community hit by a tornado. That twister, which was seven miles long and a half-mile wide, traveled 100 to 125 mph as it unleashed its fury over a 10-minute period begining at 5:25 p.m.

A third tornado traveling at speeds of 90 to 95 mph, struck the towns of Carrollton and Allegany, several miles southeast of Salamanca, for nine minutes beginning at 5:49 p.m.

"Three in one day basically within the same time period is pretty rare," said Davecq Sage, National Weather Service meteorologist.

Chautauqua County Executive Gregory J. Edwards Sunday said 20 homes in his county received anywhere from moderate to significant damage. Of eight commercial properties affected by the Mayville tornado, two were being inspected for demolition, including the Sword & Shield restaurant at 5695 East Lake Road.

"People are doing whatever's necessary to get their homes together," said Julius J. Leone, Jr., Chautauqua County's director of emergency services. Leone guessed that the total damage from Mayville could be as much as $5 million.

James and Lynn Kester, of 77 Morris St., Mayville, were playing pinochle with their son and his girlfriend Saturday when they began seeing debris swirling in the air near the house.

"We ran to the basement, just got the doors closed and it hit," Kester said, adding that the event lasted about 10 to 15 seconds.

In that time, a 40-foot limb from a maple tree was deposited in his backyard pool. A heavy plastic fence around the pool had only four of its original 16 sections remaining. Another tree had fallen across his front porch and the siding was torn in several places.

Betty Newhouse, of 72 Valley St., Mayville, lives one block away from some of the heaviest damage. "I saw a funnel full of debris, a flash of light, and then the power went out," Newhouse said. Her family took to the basement to wait out the tornado, which did not damage her house.

In Cattaraugus County, the tornado uprooted more than 250 trees and knocked out power in the Southern Tier Village of Randolph.

"You could build a house in the holes some trees left after being pulled up by the roots," said Chris Baker, Cattaraugus County's director of emergency services and fire coordinator.

Downed trees and power lines caused the town to block off about two blocks of Main Street in Randolph. Roofs were torn from multiple homes and commercial properties. Residents reported heavy damage at Landmark Chevrolet and at the town's Mobil station. There was also concerns over livestock.

"I know they had issues with livestock coming up missing. We're getting some reports of people finding the livestock in different areas and returning them back," Baker said.

As many as 100 calves were swept up by the tornado from Beavers Dairy Farm, according to several Randolph residents. One person said some calves were found as far as three miles from the farm.

It was in Randolph where Jordan was helping remodel his friend Nathan Lamper's home.

Sunday, Lamper's fiance, Brandy Gann, said Jordan is lucky to be alive.

Retaining his grip on one of the front porch's spindles as the tornado came through, Jordan jumped forward and gripped the steps when the wind died down. A few seconds later, the front porch roof fell. The roof protected him from flying debris, and only an upright treadmill and a metal brake bender kept the roof from crushing him.

Gann was sitting on what was left of the porch's crumbling concrete foundation as she spoke on Sunday.

"I just kept thinking that it's really weird that we're getting a tornado in New York," said Gann, who moved to Randolph from Kentucky 10 years ago. "It blew my mind."

work crews were busy in Randolph on Sunday removing damaged trees and trying to restore electricity to the town's approximately 1,300 residents. Multiple fire companies from Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties have responded, while the local department of public works crews have been assisted by the county, nearby towns, private contractors and volunteers.

Baker estimated 200 to 250 people had been involved in cleanup efforts over the two days. "The cooperation of all the agencies working together in these conditions with a common goal has been just unbelieveable," he said.

The tornadoes that hit Mayville and Randolph were classified on the Enhanced Fujita Scale as being as EF2 on a scale of five. Only 25 percent of all tornadoes are EF2 or stronger, meaning tornadoes estimated at between 111 and 135 miles per hour, he said.

"I think it happened at a good time of the day where there was daylight and people were watching TV [to get updates], because there were no deaths and practically no injuries, and the lead time average was a half hour and as high as 45 minutes."

The National Weather Service aided the emergency preparers by putting a storm assessment package together and providing constant updates, first as the storm developed and as it happened, and then through the night into Sunday.

With electricity out, the Office of Emergency Services has attempted to go door to door in an attempt to keep people updated about what's being done in the aftermath. Anyone with unreported damage is instructed to contact the office at 938-2212.

Buffalo News By By Steve Brachmann and Mark Sommer