Connections...

Every once in a while, you run into people on tour that you "click" with. Chris, from Chris' Computer Connection was just one of those people that we met on this leg of the tour. A sponsor of the event in Rocky Ford, Colorado, Chris showed up early, setting up the projection system in the beautiful Rocky Ford Grand Theatre the other morning. What a morning! A packed house learned about severe weather safety, lightning safety, climate change and even a few tornado facts! We could not have done it without Chris' assistance.
Pictured is the exodus of the young people from the theatre as Chris and Brandi hand out books and arcade tickets.

Storm Addicts

Yep, we met a lot of storm addicts in Fort Morgan, and actually, quite a few in Fort Collins, Rocky Ford, Loveland, Watkins, Centennial, Englewood, Denver, Fowler, LaJunta, Limon and Aurora! One of our favorites was this young man in Fort Morgan, Colorado who actually had a STORM ADDICT shirt on!

Lightning Safety in Colorado!

The tour through Colorado has had a special twist added by Lightning Safety Awareness Week! With no storms in sight, the Chasing4Life Educational Team had fun in the sun with hundreds of youngsters in Fort Collins at the beginning of the week! See pictures from our day in the sun below:

2010 SUMMER TOUR BEGINS

It is hard to believe it has only been a week. Our tour began with a lot of severe weather both at home and as we left. We have put alot of photos here for you, so all you have to do is scroll through and click to enlarge.
We'll begin with pictures from the storm we tracked at the beginning of the tour which resulted in tornadoes across Illinois. Below you will see pictures from Elmwood, Illinois, a small town west of Peoria. The damage was amazing. The tornado struck in the middle of the town's festival which was being held on these streets:

Alannah at the Region 10 Homeland Security Mobile EOC Unit in Elmwood

Look at the sign on the theatre in Elmwood!

"How do we reduce response burdens BEFORE it happens". Eddy was the keynote at the Illinois Association of Fire Protection Districts Conference. We did a lot of interviews, took in some classes and made some great new friends!

Eddy and Ethan in a midnight stormchase in Central Iowa

The farm safety roll-over rescue training

This is all that is left of a dog training facility hit by the Washington, Illinois tornado

An interview after the Washington County, Illinois tornado

Alannah in front of a REAL fire truck in Peoria, Illinois

Below are pictures of the farm destroyed by a tornado we were tracking in Washington County, Illinois.

Training Tazewell County, Illinois Firefighter Jared Cook

Eddy and Alannah present in Central Iowa

Filmmaker James Buffin arrived in Washington, Illinois to travel with the team.

Ethan teaches severe weather safety

All set up for first day of the tour

Elmwood, Illinois

UPDATE: After a long night in Washington, Peoria and South Pekin Illinois, we now have some of our team in Elmwood, Illinois assisting in disaster recovery as of 1 Am, Sunday June 6. We will attempt to post updates here as we can.

The Summer Tour has begun with three members of the team embarking on a 62 day educational tour today as well!