A Destructive Tornado
Tornadoes are one of the deadliest and most unpredictable villains mankind will ever face. There is no rhyme or reason, no rhythm to it’s madness. Tornados are one of the most terrifying natural events that occur, destroying homes and ending lives every year. April 29th, 1995, a calm, muggy, spring night I may never forget. Jason, a buddy I grew up with, just agreed to travel across state with me so we could visit a friend in Lubbock. Jason and I were admiring the beautiful blue bonnets, which traveled for miles like little blue birds flying close to the ground. The warm breeze brushed across the tips of the blue bonnets and allowed them to dance under the perfectly clear blue sky. In the distance, however, we could see darkness. A rumbling sky was quickly approaching.
We continued down the infinitely long interstate towards our destination. Thunder clouds continued to rumble in, like an ocean tide rolling closer and closer to the beach front. Within minutes the entire landscape was calm and dark. It looked like a total eclipse of the sun, and the once ...
Although the tornado of 10 June 1938 has been known about, at least anecdotally, within the scientific community since it was brought to light in 1939 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, this potentially rich source of historic information has lain fallow. It is within this rich field of mobile, American thinking that we undertake this effort. A team of scientists with courage, brains, and even heart brought the resources to bear on the challenge.
Torie Boschs “First eat all the lawyers” appeared in Slate october 2011. Her piece was to reach out to horror fans and to explain to them why zombies are a great monsters in current media. Zombie fanatics who read this short essay will love her vast knowledge of zombies while others who still do not understand why zombies are horribly terrifying can get behind her argument. Bosch explains that the current zombie craze has to do with our current society and how white-collar workers would be left defenceless in a world over run with a rampant horde of zombies. While blue-collar workers can flourish in this current state as they have more skills suited for survival. Boschs essay uses rhetorical devices such as ethos, foil and satire to make her
In the article by Jeff Piotrowski and the article on the Joplin Tornado: Evil Swirling Darkness, explains that the Joplin tornado took out the city of Joplin, Missouri. The tornado came into the town of Joplin on May 22, 2011 and was about a mile wide. Fires were attacking the city and homes from broken gas lines, and many people were buried alive in their houses. The fire department was gone and no one could find any police to help. Neighbors helped neighbors, pulling each other out of the ruble. Over 125 people had died all from being trapped and suffocated, to be cut open by sharp objects that fell. In the end many people had died and were injured during the tragic tornado that came through and left Joplin in horror and terror.
On May 22nd, 2011 a massive tornado hit Joplin, Missouri killing 162 people and injuring 1150. With wind speeds of 322km/h, the tornado made a total cost of over $2 billion for the city. 8000 structures were destroyed, 2000 of which were homes. Many people were left homeless. The tornado held an incredible EF5 rating on the Fujita scale, measured from the amount of destruction. The tragic event lasted 38 minutes, from 5:34 pm to 6:12pm. Cool wind from the Rockies in Canada and warm wind from the gulf of Mexico formed into a supercell thunderstorm creating a tornado in Kansas. The tornado rapidly moved into Joplin and continued on its 35 km path.
A tornado struck Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011 at around 5:40 pm. With a population around 50,559, it killed 161 people and injured approximately 1,100 people. The cost was an estimated $2.8 billion in damage. The American taxpayers had to give about $500 million in recovery money. This made it the deadliest tornado since 1950, which was when modern recordkeeping began. Since it was an EF5 tornado, it destroyed everything in its path. The city was ruined with only piles of debris left. It was a half-mile wide when it hit Joplin and grew to three-quarters of a mile wide. It destroyed nearly 7,000 homes in Joplin and damaged hundreds more. It covered over 1,800 acres of land. The warnings that the Joplin residents received were through three different ways. The tornado warning that was sent out for Joplin’s county was from Jasper County Emergency Operations Center (JCEOC) and they claim that the first siren went off at 5:11 pm. Two other warnings for the Joplin residents was they saw the tornado heading their direction, and the media coverage which was all local electronic media switched to wall-to-wall coverage seeing live footage of the tornado.
As said in the previous discussion regarding the second chapter of Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human, zombies and their culture are examined and broke down in order to understand their motives for the progression of zombies globally. Through different perspectives from individuals based around the world, the discussion of the zombie culture debates over the idea that zombies have not just evolved within the narratives that have brought them to life, but they have evolved in such a way that ultimately transforms the narrative itself. However, in this specific chapter, “They are not men…they are dead bodies!”: From Cannibal to Zombie and Back Again, Chera Kee breaks down the introduction of zombies into mainstream consciousness,
The zombie sequence has become extremely popular with the increase of novels and films recently produced. George Romero and Maximillian “Max” Brooks are two popular screenwriters focusing on zombie stories and horror films. George Romero is an American-Canadian film director and producer best known for his horror film Night of the Living Dead (Staff, 2012). Max Brooks is an American horror author and screenwriter best known for his novel and now film World War Z (Staff, 2012). Romero and Brooks are both zombie fanatics who have many similar interest in undead creatures and numerous differences as well. The ideal view preferred in society is fast-moving zombies. Both authors scripts reflect this preference. Romero and Brooks are both talented authors in showing others their beliefs in zombies.
George R. Romero modernized the concept of the “zombie” in the film “Night of the Living Dead”, which revitalized the genre and reintroduced it to mainstream audiences. In Romero’s films, zombies are not the main antagonist, and instead, the villains are usually other human beings, making it so that zombies are presented as a physical projection of the tensions between the characters. (Feshami)
There is no denying that zombies are popular they are popping up everywhere from movies to video games and more. But why, what lies behind this braindead form of entertainment. Many of us just carry about our lives and never truly ask ourselves what makes zombies popular, what do they stand for, what are they all about. Zombies are a metaphor, they are humans who have lost what gives us dominance over the animal world, our powerful brain. Throughout the zombie narratives the authors argued that zombies represent man who has lost motivation, to achieve and how the unmotivated form bandwagons that many weak minded jump onto.
In recent years, there has been a huge increase of zombie related media in American pop-culture. Humanity has faced numerous crises and overcome them every time. The question has arisen that if a zombie epidemic were to occur would the United States have the ability to deal with it? The answer is yes. The United States has the ability to accept, adapt, and overcome an outbreak of such proportion. The U.S. has the manpower to rival the zombies’ growing numbers. The military and medical research staff have the technology to fight the spread of infection, and science and mathematics provide additional support along with pre-designed plans to do deal with such an outbreak.
Zombies’ most obvious function is to the social taboo of cannibalism. Zombies violate the basic rule of what it means to be human: not eating people. This taboo is depicted best in George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968). The scene, an hour and 15 minutes into the movie, shows several quick cuts and close ups of zombies ripping apart and eating “human” organs and limbs. The scene, a...
: From Suggestion to Contagion in the book Generation Zombie: Essays on the Living Dead in Modern Culture (2011) writes “What is important is that, for now “zombie” effectively operates as an “empty signifier,”
"Zombie: Total Grosses." Box Office Mojo. International Movie Database, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. .
Halfway up it was beginning to look doubtful, the wind was picking up and everyone was getting out rain gear to prepare for the storm. I voiced my doubts to Phil and he said we might as well keep going until the lighting got too close. So we did. The thunder grew in volume and the echoes magnified the noise to a dull roar sometimes. Then suddenly it began to ebb. The wind died down and lightening came less frequently. I exchanged relieved looks with Phil after a bit, but kept the pace up--I didn’t want to take chances. Eventually it hit us, but by then it was nothing more then a heavy rain. We kept moving, if slower, and made it over the ridge with no other problems. That night I enjoyed the meal a little more and slept a little deeper realizing how much is important that easily goes unnoticed until something threatens to take it away.
The sunset was not spectacular that day. The vivid ruby and tangerine streaks that so often caressed the blue brow of the sky were sleeping, hidden behind the heavy mists. There are some days when the sunlight seems to dance, to weave and frolic with tongues of fire between the blades of grass. Not on that day. That evening, the yellow light was sickly. It diffused softly through the gray curtains with a shrouded light that just failed to illuminate. High up in the treetops, the leaves swayed, but on the ground, the grass was silent, limp and unmoving. The sun set and the earth waited.