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I love the awesome power of tornadoes. I love watching documentaries and cable shows about them. I would love to go stormchasing. But I really wish they would stay away from heavily-populated areas and stick to the farmlands and plains where they do little damage. My thoughts go out to the people of Joplin. It's easy for people to say, "Well, things and houses can be replaced, people can't be". Trust me, if you've lost your house, you know that it's something you never get over. It's not just the objects you had, it's the memories you made in that house and with those objects. I had a house fire when I was 17 that took most of my belongings. Decades later, it still resonates.
Events like this underscore the whole reason meteorologists chase these things, to learn how they form and why. Even Reed Timmer has edged from being a voyeuristic chaser to a guy who's also interested in the science of them (after he witnessed one too many devastations of a populated area).
Hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis kill far more people. But the tornado is so concentrated, nothing can stand in the way of a big one. It's like the finger of God came down and just drew a line on the map. Scary shit. I'm glad I don't live in an area that produces them.
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