June 13, 1976 - The Big One! Traditional Cache
June 13, 1976 - The Big One!
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Quick P&G located in rural Boone County. This cache is just off of Iowa-17 and about a mile north of US-30. Original contents include log sheet, pencil, some small trinkets and an IGO pathtag for the FTF. BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR PASSING TRAINS!!!
Nobody really knows much about Jordan and if they did know anything about it, it would have to have been pre-June 13, 1976. On that fateful day, Jordan fell victim to one of the most violent, massive and destructive tornadoes that has ever been catalogued.
This was a small town before the tornado and now fails to even exist after. One lone building survived the tornado and that building is still standing in the middle of this hamlet on the north side of the road. Nobody was killed in this tornado, which is a miracle in itself. All present-day buildings are post-1976.
For those of you who have ever heard about United Community School, this school was known as "Jordan Consolidated" before the tornado. After the massive twister blew the brick school to pieces they relocated the school to a spot south of here, now right along US-30.
Dr. Theodore ("Ted") Fujita, the University of Chicago scientist accredited with creating the Fujita Scale - a scale which measures the intesity of a tornado based on how much damage it causes - said that the Jordan tornado was the most violent and destructive that he had ever studied. Some engineers believe that the winds in this monster were in excess of 400 MPH. To put this into present-day perspective, picture the Parkersburg, IA tornado from May 25, 2008. The winds in that tornado were estimated at a mere 206 MPH, only about half of this one.
Fortunately for Ames and western Story County, this devestating tornado missed the area entirely by only about 3 miles before dissipating just west of Story City. The monstrous wedge tornado was nearly a mile wide at its widest point.
So, when you've finished this cache, think about how far that would have been. Look towards the grain elevator to the west and the remnants of Jordan to the east - the tornado took BOTH of these places out in one swipe.
*Congrats to Vyp on the FTF!*
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Abegu bs gur genpxf, ohg abg ol zhpu.
Treasures
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