Tornado in West Beaumont- Walmart, Kohl's, Parkdale Mall hit

[southerngale]

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1029 PM CDT TUE AUG 18 2009

...FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE AUGUST 18TH BEAUMONT TORNADO...

THE NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM HAS COMPLETED ITS INSPECTION OF THE
DAMAGE LEFT IN THE WAKE OF A TORNADO WHICH TOUCHED DOWN IN THE
NORTHWEST PORTION OF BEAUMONT. THE STORM SPAWNED A FUNNEL WHICH
EVENTUALLY TOUCHED DOWN IN A FIELD NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF DOWLEN
ROAD AND OLD DOWLEN ROAD NEAR PARKDALE MALL. THE STORM CONTINUED
TO THE NORTHEAST...TOPPLING A LIGHT POLE AND LARGE METAL SHED IN
THE PARKING LOT OUTSIDE THE KOHLS DEPARTMENT STORE ON DOWLEN ROAD
BEFORE SHEARING OFF A PORTION OF THE ROOF AND BLOWING IN THE FRONT
DOORS OF THE KOHLS STORE. AS THE STORM REACHED THE WAL-MART ON DOWLEN...
FOUR VEHICLES WERE OVERTURNED AND DOZENS OF OTHERS DAMAGED IN THE
STORE PARKING LOT. A PORTION OF THE WAL-MART STORE ROOF WAS ALSO
TORN OFF. THE STORM CONTINUED NORTHEAST ACROSS BARNES AND NOBLE
BOOKSTORE AND PETCO...DAMAGING THE STORE FACADES. AS THE STORM REACHED
PARKDALE MALL...IT CAUSED SLIGHT DAMAGE TO THE MALL...PARTICULARLY
TO THE WINGS INCLUDING THE MACYS AND DILLARDS STORES ON THE WEST
END OF THE MALL. THE TORNADO ALSO CAUSED DAMAGE TO THE FACADE OF
THE EAST SIDE OF THE MALL NEAR BOOKS A MILLION AND THE CHANNEL 4
STUDIOS AND FINALLY CAUSED DAMAGE TO A NUMBER OF VEHICLES ON THE EAST
PARKING LOT OF THE MALL. THE TORNADO LIFTED ON THE EAST SIDE OF
THE MALL BEFORE REACHING THE EASTEX FREEWAY.

FINAL STATISTICS ON THIS STORM INCLUDE...
STORM STRENGTH: EF1
APPROXIMATE WINDS: 100-110 MPH
STORM LENGTH: 1 MILE
STORM WIDTH: 100 YARDS

$$

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
955 PM CDT TUE AUG 18 2009

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0157 PM TORNADO 3 NW BEAUMONT 30.11N 94.18W
08/18/2009 F1 JEFFERSON TX NWS STORM SURVEY

*** 10 INJ *** TORNADO OCCURRED IN BEAUMONT AROUND THE
WEST END AND PARKDALE MALL AREA. NWS STORM SURVEY FOUND
TORNADO DAMAGE BEGINNING JUST WEST OF KOHLS DEPARTMENT
STORE AND EXTENDING TO THE EAST PARKING LOT OF PARKDALE
MALL...WITH A PATH LENGTH OF ONE MILE AND WIDTH OF 100
YARDS. DAMAGE TO ROOFS OF SEVERAL DEPARTMENT STORES. FOUR
CARS FLIPPED OVER AND DAMAGE TO DOZENS OF OTHERS.

[jasons2k]

Wow, I didn't even see this thread until now! I am glad you are OK!!

[Stephanie]

Wow, I didn't even see this thread until now! I am glad you are OK!!

Same here. That looked like a tornado in that video to me. That must've been scary to everyone near and around it.

[wgdade]

Just found this forum. Looks nice. I am a weather nut too, as you will find out. I did a study on this tornado. The link below is to my blog on this storm:

http://gdadeblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/l ... nt-tx.html

[CajunMama]

Welcome to Storm2k! Glad you found us!

[HURAKAN]

Welcome to the Forum. You will love the hurricane season in the Atlantic. That's when we're most active!

[srainhoutx]

Welcome to S2k. Great bunch of folks here with a lot of great info regardless of the weather patterns.

[wgdade]

Thanks. I usually review severe weather events through the year and post the information on my blog.

[Stephanie]

Just found this forum. Looks nice. I am a weather nut too, as you will find out. I did a study on this tornado. The link below is to my blog on this storm:

http://gdadeblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/l ... nt-tx.html

I love the 3-D graphics in the third video.

Welcome!