Posted on 06/16/2005 3:57:38 AM PDT by kingattax
Mike
In the Witchita Falls, TX, tornado of 1979, practically all those who died were in cars or in the mall parking lot, trying to get to their cars. Some who were in cars and survived, said their engines quit as the tornado sucked the air away from their vehicles. As the article said, it depends on how far away you are and how fast it's traveling. Given my choice, I'd opt for a well-constructed underground storm cellar, called "fraidy holes" in Tornado Alley.
Agree.. For all my life I've believed that the best way to escape a tornado is to drive from it. Very few of these storms move faster than 35-40 mph, the fastest ones 60 mph.. It seems insane to me to sit in a house with one of these things barreling down at you.
My instincts have always said, "Run". A persons instincts are usually always right.
I have visions of a traffic jam on the road out of town.
Fleeing a house engulfed in flames can prevent burns!!
I have survived several tornado's right here in NoVa area. The best thing i could say about it is you have to do what is best, in one case i was in a vehicle and actually stopped 25 yards from it as it dropped into a parking lot and then after about 20 seconds back up again. Another time one dropped right down in front of my house in my neighbors back yard and tore up trees (throwing some on the neighbors car and on a shopping center, and on the local police sub-station). While i watched the second one hit my family was deep in my basement, and i was ready to hit the basement if it turned toward my house instead of the path it was on. In some areas you just have nowhere to go because of street layout and lack of visibility and traffic.
Stupid.
If you got a chance to get out its way, do it.
You mean Norfolk, Virginia ?
Seems to me that the best thing to do is consider the situation, and act accordingly. Chances are, you won't have researchers there to advise you when the time arrives to make that decision.
Look what happened to Dorothy when she stayed put.
Now, when everyone gets finished reading this, the ratio of deaths among fleeing victims will dramatically increase as people get stuck in traffic jams trying to get to the nearest interstate while the 15 or 20 people left in town sit in their basements watching The Weather Channel.
A tornado can be a mile wide?? Is that the truth???
If everybody tries to run, you aren't going anywhere. The roads will be gridlocked.
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/index.html
What was the biggest known tornado? The Hallam, Nebraska F4 tornado of 22 May 2004 is the newest record-holder for peak width, at nearly two and a half miles, as surveyed by Brian Smith of NWS Omaha. This is probably close to the maximum size for tornadoes; but it is possible that larger, unrecorded ones have occurred.
OMG...I'm really amazed. I never knew they could get that big....
On March 18, 1925, the Great Tri-State Tornado tore across Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois, and Southwest Indiana. With its rapid movement, monstrous size, and long track, the tornado took hundreds of lives and injured thousands. By all means, the Tri-State Tornado was a rare event—an event that few people will ever experience in their lifetime. To give you some idea of this tornado’s magnitude, this section is devoted to a list of incredible statistics on the tornado.
Missouri: Reynolds, Iron, Madison, Bollinger, Perry
Illinois: Jackson, Williamson, Franklin, Hamilton, White
Indiana: Posey, Gibson, Pike
Missouri: Ellington, Redford, Leadanna, Annapolis, Cornwall, Biehle, Frohna
Illinois: Gorham, Murphysboro, De Soto, Hurst-Bush, Zeigler, West Frankfort, Eighteen, Parrish, Crossville
Indiana: Griffin, Owensville, Princeton
No, NO, NO!
Trust me, I have never and will never live anywhere but eastern Oklahoma. We know these monsters are coming, and most of us know that the only safe place to hide from them is underground. If we don't own a "Fraidy hole", we know someone who does. Most churches here have fortified underground facilities and make sure they are open at times of severe weather (like last night... Wow).
Driving during a tornado warning is best left to fools and storm chasers.
And before you ask, yes, I have lost a double-wide mobile home to a tornado. (Step one in my quest to be classified as a Redneck).My home was in Catoosa, Ok, NE side of Tulsa. I was visiting my brother in Sapulpa, Ok, SW side of Tulsa. We had no idea there was even a storm 25 miles away until a friend called my brother to see if he had heard from me.
These storms form fast and there is usually less than 7 minutes warning before they strike. Debris, traffic, and distracted drivers make fleeing by car the worst possible solution. It is recommended that drivers leave their vehicle and hide in a ditch or depression in the ground if that's all that is available, rather than staying in a car.
I am ususally astonished by those ubiquitous videos on the Weather Channel showing bare slab-foundations. I understand that if one lives in a trailer-home, one might not afford a tornado-shelter, but everyone? C'mon, even Dorothy and Toto had one.
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