Forget the bridge overpass nonsense. And there's been a revision in thinking on what you do if you're already in a car; they're beginning to recognize you're really better off trying to avoid the tornado than stopping to get in a ditch or something.
March 1, 2000 – As a new tornado season gets under way, meteorologists and emergency planners are working feverishly to buck a frightening trend: People are using highway overpasses as tornado shelters.
Meteorologist Dan Miller with the National Weather Service explains his frustration: "We routinely tell people to get down, cover up, and get as many things as possible between them and the tornado. When they get up under an overpass, they’re doing the opposite of that."
So what are your options? Dennis McCarthy, meteorologist in charge of the Norman weather office, says that’s simple:
"What basically you should do is not get into that situation in the first place." He recommends being proactive by obtaining severe weather information from your nearest National Weather Service office, and then carrying out a prearranged plan to seek safety.
If you do happen to be caught in the open, here are some tips from the experts:
When the tornado is spotted and it appears possible, try to drive perpendicular to it to get out of its path. This is not openly condoned because it can backfire, says Miller. "It may be impossible to clearly see the tornado."
If there’s time, abandon a car and get to a permanent building, as low and as far inside as possible.
If these fail, "you don’t have any good options left," Miller says. "They’re all bad."
Vehicles can become airborne or roll over, so they're not good shelters. Abandoning them for a ditch means you’re in the open, a target for debris.
"No pun intended, but the ditch thing should be a last ditch action, your last resort," McCarthy says. He recently submitted a revised tornado safety guide to the American Meteorological Society for final approval - it's expected to be released today - in which the National Weather Service rethinks its vehicle strategy.
McCarthy: "In some instances staying in the vehicle–and it’s not safe [to do that]–might be safer than getting out of it."
Miller’s colleagues strongly agree that these inadequate storm-shelter substitutes are among the worst places to go when a tornado is bearing down. The rise in the embankment adjacent to the highway "elevates you in a wind tunnel with nothing to hang onto, exposing you to the tornado...."
...Evidence from May 3 refutes the tradition: Of 17 people sheltering under an I-35 overpass, all but one were blown out by the wind; one was killed. A few miles away, one person was dismembered and about a dozen others suffered serious injuries: broken backs, severed body parts, deep cuts from head to toe, recounts Harold Brooks, another research meteorologist with NSSL. Just "really ugly injuries."
If you're on a highway, with open road; run. But if there's a chance of having to stop where you don't want to be, driving should be a last resort.
I've only had one experience with a tornado near-miss while in a car, and that was enough. There was absolutely no way to tell where it was, other than it was somewhere very nearby. Pitch black in the middle of the afternoon, storm came out of nowhere (east coast... rarely as large as in the midwest, but you just can't see them coming due to topography). Very large hail and constant lightning. Stopped in the emergency lane, due to the hail and general poor visibility. The windows fogged up due to the rapid drop in pressure as well as air temp. When the car starting rocking back and forth, I bailed, and I would bail again, regardless of what anyone says. I jumped over the guard rail and ran down the embankment, taking cover in a large culvert that ran under the highway. Fortunately, the funnel did not end up hitting my vicinity very hard; I was able to drive away. But, I've seen too many photos of cars literally wrapped around trees, dropped through the roofs of buildings or blown miles away, leaving nothing but a tangle of metal ever to want to remain in one during a tornado. And, trailer homes are even worse than cars.