Who's Witnessed a Tornado?

[The Chicken Lady]

Any time you have a severe thunderstorm warning in your area, you need to be watching the sky looking out for tornadoes.

I'm a Skywarn severe weather spotter for the National Weather Service, and one of the things they tell us in training is that people need to know that a severe thunderstorm can easily produce tornadoes. Don't wait for a tornado watch or tornado warning to take precautions.

Have a plan for where to go for safety, get yourself a battery-powered NOAA weather radio, and have an emergency kit available IN your safe place. Learn weather signs so that you know if danger is imminent.

As to where you *should* go... Have a plan BEFORE you need one. Trying to plan during an emergency is too late. A basement or a storm cellar is the best choice. Underneath stairways on the ground floor is also a structurally safe place. Cover yourself with a thick blanket or pillows to protect yourself from flying glass. Absolutely stay away from any windows or doors. Do not hide in your car. If you are in your car, park your car on the side of the road and get down into a low place like a ditch. Crawl into a culvert if you have to. Highway overpasses are NOT safe, although the movies would like to make you think so. If you don't have a storm cellar and live in tornado alley, well, anything on the news about weather right now may give you some indication that you need to figure out a plan for where to go.

 

[seminolewind]

I've been following all the tornado news on tv, it seems like we're getting more than our share this year, and in places that I've never heard of one being. I feel so bad for those people who have been affected by them. They don't have any warning.

 

[Davaroo]

A basement or a storm cellar is the best choice. Underneath stairways on the ground floor is also a structurally safe place. Cover yourself with a thick blanket or pillows to protect yourself from flying glass. Absolutely stay away from any windows or doors. Do not hide in your car. If you are in your car, park your car on the side of the road and get down into a low place like a ditch. Crawl into a culvert if you have to. Highway overpasses are NOT safe, although the movies would like to make you think so. If you don't have a storm cellar and live in tornado alley, well, anything on the news about weather right now may give you some indication that you need to figure out a plan for where to go.
Great tips! I like the one about covering with a blanket.

 

[Katy]

Yep...unfortunately I've seen them.

 

[countyroad1330]

I think its funny how everyone says they'd rather take other natural disasters over tornados. I prefer the tornados! As far as our plan if one comes our way... Well, most people around here grab their cameras and go outside. *haha* When the May 3rd came through, dad packed us all up in the car and we drove in the opposite direction. It was so eerie driving home, not knowing what we'd find. We were blessed to still have our home, but were without electricity all night. I remember sitting on the porch with my mother just before dark, listening to the weather radio, and how dark everything was.

The news says there was a total of 8 touch downs in our state today, but no injuries thankfully.

 

[theOEGBman]

Quote:
Here Here! Im with you, Carri. Im almost 18 and I've never felt an earthquake, but you see tornadoes every year. I'd rather take the stinkin earthquakes,lol. I did watch that one on OK today on TV, pretty scary.

 

[rooster-red]

I've witnessed 5, and was actualy in 2 of those.

The first was when I was 12, we lived in a subdivision South of Atlanta and the houses were pretty close and linear.

It came with no warning, out of what could be considered a mild thunderstorm. it touched down on the North end of the street and headed South, "hopping" over some houses and completely destroying others.

The house on the North side of us had the entire roof taken of it, a family of 7 were home at the time, but they only had minor injuries, mostly cuts. these were all cookie cutter houses build with a central hall running down the middle, thats where the families hid to escape it, mine included.

It jumped over our house and touched down again directly on top of the house on our South side.
Nothing was left standing on top of the slab except the toilet.

I will never forget the sound, can't even put it into words to describe it.

Afterward I found a pine needle driven into a telephone pole about 2 inches deep and to this day can't imagine what kind of force it would take to do that and still leave the pole standing, it boggles the mind.
If I remember correctly it was an F3.

That day was the only time in my life that I saw my Dad afraid of anything.

The 2nd one came from storms spawned from hurricaine Opal after it hit landfall hundreds of miles away from us.

We were living in a mobile home at the time with huge oak trees all around it, some as close as 5 feet away, one of them was blown over on the mobile home and crushed the upper 2 feet of the middle before being caught by one of the other trees.
If that tree hadn't been there to catch the falling tree We would not be here, as we were home at the time.

The catcher tree still stands on the property, I can't bring myself to ever cut it down as long as it still lives, and the scars on it serve as a reminder.

 

[Katy]

Just saw in the local paper that there's been almost 90 tornadoes this past week in Kansas.

 

[mangled]

Quote:
Been through both. I would much rather have a quake - but they do scare the bejesus out of this Eastern US girl.

Tornadoes are just beyond terrifying.

We had a tornado got right over our home in the outbreak in the 80's - maybe 85? - when we lived out by Moraine State Park here in PA.

My sister and I were home alone, she was 14, I was 11, and we watched from our living room window as it came down the hill. It took out the neighbor's house, went up and right over our house and our next door neighbor, then touched down again and kept on going up the road.

So, if you ever hear of a tornado warning here around my parts, you can be sure me and the kids are all ready locked down in the storm cellar. I'm not fully capable of expressing the terror I have for tornadoes. I guess I revert back to a kid when they happen. My husband thinks I need therapy, LOL.

Em

 

[Jubaby]

I been through two tornados.

I was eight years old when one hit and destroyed a large part of our town. It demolished the hospital, nursing home, and one school, too. My grandmother stood outside in the yard and filmed it with her old fashioned silent movie camera and we've still got the reel somewhere. It shows it forming and coming right up our street. What a crazy lady!

Then about 5 years ago one hit our town in the middle of the night. Sounded like a freight train coming! We jumped up out of bed and made a dash for the storm cellar. The wind was so hard, we could barely open up the door. I must have looked like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, yanking on the door of the cellar. Luckily the only damage we had was a large pine tree in our yard was blown over on top of the house, but it didn't damage the roof much. We were lucky, a house on the opposite corner was really destroyed.

Scary stuff!