Monday, December 10, 2007

ky3

This is an exclusive weekend feature of KY3.com. We search the KY3 News archives to find stories that you may want to "rewind" and watch again.
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A little bit of rattling and rolling hit southeast Missouri on Nov. 15 of this year. A magnitude 2.3 (that's tiny) earthquake lightly shook an area near Cairo , Ill. That's right along the New Madrid Fault.

The mention of the New Madrid Fault had us thinking about some crazy days in early December 1990, when New Madrid, Mo., rocked and rolled with attention from the entire nation (or at least the entire Midwest). A physicist from New Mexico said there was a 50 percent chance of an earthquake along the New Madrid Fault right then, and many reporters and news executives rounded his prediction up to 100 percent. Those who didn't believe it sent reporters and photographers anyway, just in case they were wrong.
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This information is from a National Geographic article published in 2000:

"They closed the school for two days," said New Madrid schoolteacher Jill Glaus.

The object of concern was a predicted replay of a series of stupendously violent earthquakes that took place during the winter of 1811-1812 along the New Madrid Fault, an ancient 150-mile underground scar that runs from Arkansas to southern Illinois.

Estimated at least as high as 8.0 on the Richter scale, the quakes were felt all the way from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the eastern seaboard, and from Quebec to Cuba. They briefly reversed the flow of the Mississippi River, created a number of lakes, and rang church bells in Boston .

Experts say a somewhat smaller earthquake is a virtual certainty to go off at any time. And when it does, it's likely to cause far greater losses in life and property than did the mega-quakes 189 years ago.

"We don't anticipate a repeat of what happened in 1811-12 for a couple of centuries at least," said seismologist and author David Stewart, who has written extensively about the New Madrid fault. "It takes five to seven centuries to wind up that spring before it snaps like it did then. But a magnitude 6 earthquake is thought to be long overdue."

Such an earthquake would wreak havoc in large population centers that did not exist 189 years ago, including Memphis, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Paducah, Ky., and Evansville, Ind.
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KY3 News was there for the madness in New Madrid. This is our report from Ozarks Today on Dec. 3, 1990. In it, reporter Lisa Eisenhart (now an executive at CoxHealth in Springfield) interviewed New Madrid's mayor. Anchor Tony Beason (now retired) reported on the atmosphere in the town, which was filled with reporters, photographers and satellite trucks. Lisa Richardson (now Lisa Rose) anchored the coverage that morning.
Good morning. Today will be a much quieter day across the Ozarks. We received officially .12" of rain and since temperatures were below freezing all day, it all fell as either freezing rain or sleet. Even though these were minor amounts it still led to very slippery conditions. Today temperatures will be relatively "warmer" ahead of the first weak low pressure center that will be moving toward the area. This is the day that you should finish up preparations for the possible ice storm.

The forecast over the next several days is amazingly complex! This is certainly not an ordinary setup we will be dealing with. There are several things that are big factors in our forecast and will play a very important role in deciding whether or not we receive ice or just plain old rain. I don't know about you, but after today's headaches with just a little bit of ice, I don't want any more.

I wish my thoughts counted because it continues to look like the Ozarks could see a major ice beginning early Sunday for some. I'll have a complete rundown of what we can expect and why with lots of new graphic in an update late this morning. Hopefully by then things will become a bit more clear and we'll be able to pinpoint even more some areas that are more likely see ice (see Kevin's graphic below) and venture on what our accumulations might be, although it still may be a bit early. We'll see how I am feeling :) I'll try to have that posted by 11 AM...just before our company Christmas Party!

This is an exclusive weekend feature of KY3.com. We search the KY3 News archives to find stories that you may want to "rewind" and watch again.
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Anchor/reporter Tony Beason (now retired) reported in December 2003 that Riverbluff Cave is one of the great discoveries in America for studying prehistoric life. The cave is just south of Springfield.

A road crew blasting through rock for a new Greene County road found the cave on Sept. 11, 2001. It was sealed and its discovery wasn't publicly revealed until the next spring.

Beason reported Riverbluff Cave had become a second home for paleontologist Matt Forir. The cave is on land owned by Greene County and would soon be managed by the Springfield-Greene County Parks Department. The county also desired a new natural museum to house, process and display fossils and other findings from the cave.
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Two years after this report, the Riverbluff Cave Field House opened. It's open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturdays by appointment only. It's closed on Sundays. It's at 2327 W. Farm Road 190, southwest of the intersection of Plainview Road at Cox Road . The cave is not open to the public.

In addition to displays from Riverbluff Cave, the Field House has other prehistoric finds. There's also book about the cave for children called "Cave Detectives, Unraveling the Mystery of an Ice Aged Cave," by David Harrison of Springfield. The book came out in early 2007.

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