Not just another weather story

I had to go to London today so an early start, on the way to the airport I listened to the BBC news describing the giant tornado that had hit Oklahoma on Monday afternoon.

For me and I guess for most people this was just a weather story from far away

Later that day one of my American colleagues told me that a friend's child had been killed in the storm.

Really brings home how a such an event can have such a devastating effect on people lives.

Watching on the TV screen in the airport on the way home, the area of destruction looked enormous

Living in Western Europe where extreme weather events are non existent it is difficult to imagine the power and suddenness of such a storm

Quote from BBC Internet news

Path of devastation

The storm struck near Newcastle, Oklahoma, at 2:56 p.m. Monday -- 16 minutes after the first warnings went out, according to the National Weather Service.

Moore residents had another 30 to 40 minutes before the massive storm entered the western part of the city, CNN meteorologist Sean Morris said.