An Empty Barn

Life in Christian County, Kentucky...

This old barn sits at the junction of Highway 508 and Vaughn Grove Road, in eastern Christian County. Tobacco is hung in it to cure during the fall of the year. The rest of the year, it is empty.

Yo-Yo Garland

My Various Hobbies...

I saw this yo-yo garland at the flea market in Hopkinsville. I have forgotten the exact price asked for it, but it was fairly expensive. It wouldn't be at all hard to make.

To make a yo-yo, simply cut a circle of cotton or cotton-blend dressweight cloth, about twice the diameter that you want the finished yo-yo to be. You might want to add about 1/4 inch extra. For example, if you want the finished yo-yo to be 1 inch across, make the circle about 2-1/4 inches in diameter.

Then, fold about 1/4 inch of the cloth's edge to the inside and make a gathering stitch all the way around the circle. Just turn the edge under as you go, and run the thread close to the folded edge. Secure the thread firmly where you start, and try to keep the stitches even as you go around.

When you've stitched all the way around the edge, pull the thread tight to gather the cloth and secure it firmly. That's a yo-yo.

Stitch a bunch of yo-yo's together end to end, and you've got a yo-yo garland like this.

The nice thing about yo-yo's is that you can put a dozen cloth circles and a needle and thread in a zip-lock bag and carry them around in your purse. Make a small cardboard H to wind some extra thread on and put it in the bag too. Whenever you have five minutes, make a yo-yo.

Red Triumph

Life in Christian County, Kentucky...

We saw this little red Triumph in Clarksville on Saturday. It has an Army Special Forces plate in front and an Army Special Forces sticker in back. The owner and his wife came out and got into the car not too long after I took these photos. They are about 60 years old or so.

I am usually not too fascinated with cars, but this one was a good looking little thing.

Official Report on Tornado in Christian County, KY

Life in Christian County, Kentucky...

See also Tornado Damage at Crofton, KY, Tonight posted on 2/5/08.

Here is a Public Information Statement from the National Weather Service, as published on Weather Underground for Hopkinsville, KY:

Public Information Statement

Statement as of 3:30 PM CDT on April 3, 2006

... Damage survey results for the Christian County Kentucky tornado...

The following is the preliminary damage assessment for a portion of the tornado track in Christian County Kentucky. Special note: this tornado track is only a segment of the tornado that affected parts of Christian County on the north section of Hopkinsville.

* Event date: Sunday April 2, 2006.

* Event time: approximately 845 PM CDT.

* Event type: F3 tornado.

* Event location: tornado began north of Gracey along the Gracey Sinking [Fork] Road near Shurdan Creek. The storm was tracked in an eastward direction crossing Highway 1349 near Shurdan Creek... Princeton Road near intersection of Everetts Road... and to Highway 109 near Muddy Fork Creek.

* Peak wind: estimated 180 mph.

* Average path width: 700 yards.

* Path length: 10 miles... rest of path will be reviewed tomorrow.

* Injuries: 22.

* Fatalities: none.

* Discussion/damage: storm track is a continuous path. At least 6 homes totally destroyed. Scores of homes received various degrees of damage. Literally hundreds of trees downed... snapped or uprooted. This is a preliminary report with further damage assessment to be conducted tomorrow, April 4th.

Tornado in Christian County, Kentucky

Life in Christian County, Kentucky...

Note: If you're seeking information about the February 5, 2008, tornado, please see "Tornado Damage at Crofton, KY, Tonight."

The morning after the tornado, emergency crews are still deployed to the area that was struck. Reports on the radio list many roads just to the north of Hopkinsville that are closed to traffic due to debris, fallen trees, downed power lines, and so on. Storm damaged areas include Old Madisonville Road, Harmony Grove Road, Billy Goat Hill Road, Witty Lane, 41-North, Prosperity Lane, Deason Road, Greenville Road, Antioch Road, and Ebenezer Road

The Sinking Fork Baptist Church apparently has been destroyed, and extensive damage done to the parsonage. Around 100 homes have been damaged. Damage estimates are not complete. Last night, a county official stated that he expected damage to exceed $2 million. I have not heard an update on that figure.

Crews are working to clear the roads. Other volunteers are still checking house to house in remote areas to make sure no one is trapped. The worst damage in Christian County seems to have started around Princeton Road and gone as far as Ebenezer Road where it is reported that many trees are down. That's just a couple of miles north of our home.

Electrical power has been restored to Hopkinsville, but only one of the TVA transmission lines to the city is currently functional. The others (two? three?) have suffered damage and are under repair.

No question about it -- that loud rumble or low roar that we heard in the sky last night was a tornado, or as the radio announcer says, parsing his words, "tornadic activity". The National Weather Service has sent investigators to the area to determine whether it was indeed a full-fledged tornado, and if so, what its rank was.

Here is the account I wrote last night.

Here and here are images of the tornado damage in the Sinking Fork area that were posted by the administrator of the Hoptown Hall Forum.

WKDZ Radio has posted about 50 photos of the tornado damage on their website.

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UPDATE
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The final damage assessment has been released by the National Weather Service.