Posted on 05/20/2013 12:46:11 PM PDT by dirtboy
Tornado warnings up in Oklahoma. Watches in TX, OK, KS, MO, far NW Arkansas.
Fox News is reporting 24 3rd graders have perished in a school collapse due to the tornado.
sigh. poor kids...
Yes. drowning is a real problem...basements below water level may be “waterproof” but will flood from the heavy rain, even if the buildings are on higher ground.
I once was driving on a Missouri highway into an approaching storm. I noticed multiple funnels trying to fully form to reach the ground to my left front ahead of me. I decided to floor it and hope I got by.
I had a completely different funnel drop just 400 yards to the right of me and become a tornado. It could have dropped right on me.
5.56mm
/johnny
Channel 4 reporting dozens if not hundreds of people walking northbound with children and babies; dazed and in shock, not knowing where they are going but have to leave the area, hoping to find help. News anchor says they appear as refugees.
The difference between a spotter and a chaser is 50 iq points. I was/am a spotter.
Discretion is the better part of valor.
Too many things in this world will get you killed.
5.56mm
I did exactly that on the tornado last week here in Texas. With my smart phone it made it feasible.
Well....one of the highest places around here is the Knox Truck Stop....lots of metal!
Sadly, it’s true. Unless you have a shelter or a very good safe room, you probably won’t survive when the entire house is swept away leaving only the foundation.
Back in the summer of 2006, Mr. Mercat was riding his bike across Kansas with 1000 of his closest friends. Our granddaughter and I were his support vehicle. We had to come back a day early and were coming through Topeka when the sirens started. We had to drive back on K-10 east to Overland Park and as we got into the metro area we started hearing sirens again. We had the radio on and looking behind us we saw the wall cloud. There were things hanging down from it. Mr. Mercat pulled over to look. Our granddaughter and I were yelling at him to complete the 6 mile trip to our home. We got there, granddaughter and I headed for the basement and we put in The Wizard of Oz in the VCR. Since we had visited the little house on the prairie where Home on the Range was written and had been reading the book the Wizard of Oz as we drove across the state, we had a pretty good context.
My question is why did they have school today anyway, knowing the likelihood of a severe weather situation. I wonder how many parents just kept their kids home today, particularly if they had a storm shelter at home.
We are in Norman and no damage but power went out and we are now on generator.
I had to go across street to drug store and just got back - so sorry for your post that the school kids died. Terrible.
Glad you are safe. Our family is OK, but I don’t know if they have power or not. Phone communication has been sketchy.
That’s sort of like asking why Minnesotans don’t close schools on the forecast of snow, isn’t it?
NWS hasn't activated the local net, yet.
/johnny
Well, not really. I’ll take snow over a tornado any day. This weather event was almost a given. The weather forecasters all predicted there would be tornadoes, so I still don’t understand why they would have school today. It may even be the last day, for all I know, so there was nothing going on anyway. Very sad for all involved.
Hopefully, the Lord will quench your fields' thirst.
5.56mm
One thing is for sure - if you want to have a thriving new suburb in these “tornado alley” areas - your school needs to have a large underground “tornado proof” place with room for all the kids - and a wide access hall/tunnel to get to it (to avoid bottle necks).
Big expense but it will pay for itself - and it can be used for other stuff in good weather.
That’s what I’d be looking for.
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