When you see the incredible amount of damage that wind can do, you gain a new respect for the power of Mother Nature. In Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Illinois we see dozens, if not hundreds, of tornadoes every year. This part of America is known as Tornado Alley.
But there is another kind of wind damage that gets reported on the weather and news channels now. These are straight line winds. The winds is extremely powerful and can do as much damage as a tornado, but the wind does not rotate – it just goes screaming across the land in a straight line, leveling everything in its path.
I believe both kinds of wind do a lot of damage every year, especially in Tornado Alley. We had some winds last night that broke off tree branches, knocked down full grown trees, blew trash cans and patio furniture across the yard and flipped empty 18 wheeler trailers. They say we did not have a tornado come through here last night, but the amount of damage looks like it. It must have been some strong straight line winds then.