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.
If everybody tries to run, you aren't going anywhere. The roads will be gridlocked.
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.
Around 1970 I worked on the Severe Storms project in Oklahoma. Many of the folks in the country would drive out to a field, then watch for the twister, then drive to get out of the way. One night we had boomers all over, several with tornados. We were finally released from work around 4 am. As we drove back we must have seen fifty cars/trucks parked by the farm roads.
A car is one of the worst places to be if you're close to a tornado. But its useful if getting away if you can.
That might work, unless every other person has the same idea, and the road turns into a parking lot.