[EXTRA] Tornado damage
 

Satellite image of the swath left by the tornado that hit the US Northeast on April 28. From Metafilter. Larger image available here. Some of the features I can't place. It's described as 'panchromatic'. I'm not sure what the white-crushed areas are, for example; they're too large to be buildings.

Obvious
 

They used to be mobile home parks

yes
 

It's a well-known meteorological fact that large concentrations of aluminum and propane together create conditions that are ripe for tornados.

All it then takes is a couple pink lawn flamingos to set one off.

Flying Over
 

I was flying over Maryland the night the tornado hit... we flew by some really awesome t-storms, with blinding lightning. Didn't hit any turbulance, but coming into Philly from the north (came up the Jersey side of the Delaware, then back down to PHL) led to some great shows out the side of the plane.

<rant>We left Dallas three hours late as well because of the wonderful weather... two of those three stuck on the runway.</rant>

-Kris