Tornadoes oubreak this evening

[FiLtH]

I remember when the Twister movie came out and people asked me how I could have lived in a place like Oklahoma.

I replied, it's not like you dodge tornados while driving to work every day. You could live your whole life and die there and never see one.

Moore OK, does seem to have had more than its share, but it's pretty random. Moore could get hit again tomorrow, next year or not in 100 years or ever.

It's just something you can't plan for and you don't spend a lot of time worrying about it. I was young and usually lived in an apartment complex. Where was I going to go, if I had 10 minutes warning that a tornado would hit?

False alarms don't help the matter. If you have lived in tornado alley you know that your springtime TV watching will be constantly interrupted by watches and warnings that never affect you, but what can they do? They develop pretty quickly and by the time one is confirmed on the ground it is often too late to warn people, so they have to report that a twister could hit.

The warning system is probably now about as good as it can ever be. Sometimes you just won't have enough time to do anything about it.

    I lived in Abilene Tx for 4 years and we had a couple small tornados while I was there. I too lived in an apartment and during one storm I went to the small brick laundry building just for some sort of possible protection. Most down there thought the same way as you stated, "What are the odds", "You cant spend every minute worrying about something that may never happen" etc. The thing is is does happen, and in those brief moments staring at the tornado approaching knowing you have absolutely no place to hide and will likely die, the terror must be unbearable.

   

From what I understand, most of the children that perished in the school had drowned from broken plumbing filling the space that they occupied.

Having a mandatory storm cellar may have made the death toll worse trapping even people into an enclosed space., who can really tell for sure?

Having a government dictate to me what I must build on my property is a discussion for someplace other than this BBS.

When a tornado touches down, nothing is guaranteed.

    As long as shelters are registered with the state/city with gps location and a secondary egress provided Id be willing to run the risk.

[jimson]

    I lived in Abilene Tx for 4 years and we had a couple small tornados while I was there. I too lived in an apartment and during one storm I went to the small brick laundry building just for some sort of possible protection. Most down there thought the same way as you stated, "What are the odds", "You cant spend every minute worrying about something that may never happen" etc. The thing is is does happen, and in those brief moments staring at the tornado approaching knowing you have absolutely no place to hide and will likely die, the terror must be unbearable.

Sure it happens, but it gets way blown out of proportion (no pun intended). Hell, you would think there were no historical buildings still standing in Oklahoma, but there are.

When I lived there, I worked in a hospital and knew that I would go to the basement in event of a tornado. I also knew that the Shrine Temple down the road from my apt had a basement, but with maybe as little as 13 minutes warning could I get there in time? Would the roads be clear or would I be sitting in my car when the storm hit?

I just don't think it's reasonable to expect there to be a shelter within 5 to 10 minutes access for nearly 1,000,000 people no matter where in the city they may find themselves at a given time.

Certainly schools should have a disaster plan and most of them have basements which usually is reasonable shelter, but in the most powerful tornados, people have been killed in purpose built storm cellars.

It's human nature not to accept that we are vulnerable, so we always look for who is to blame and why it wasn't prevented.

I suppose that's good in some ways, but sometimes, things really are out of our control

[FiLtH]

      I understand how you and alot of people feel about this. Personally I wouldnt live there without digging a hole in my yard(jackhammering if need be, and installing a sump pump with battery). I try to think of something up in New Hampshire that would compare, nothing really does, but if I neglected to shovel my roof in the winter because we rarely get enough all at once that would collapse it, and then one day we did get a huge storm and it collapsed and I survived, Id feel like a lucky idiot. Not name calling, just how I would feel personally.

[Slash27]

I replied, it's not like you dodge tornados while driving to work every day. You could live your whole life and die there and never see one.

Moore OK, does seem to have had more than its share, but it's pretty random. Moore could get hit again tomorrow, next year or not in 100 years or ever.

I disagree a little there Jimson. That area of Oklahoma is tornado central and for sure has a higher likelyhood of it happening than anywhere else on the planet. No, you don't dodge them on a daily basis but if you want to see one that's the place.

[jimson]

I disagree a little there Jimson. That area of Oklahoma is tornado central and for sure has a higher likelyhood of it happening than anywhere else on the planet. No, you don't dodge them on a daily basis but if you want to see one that's the place.

True enough. You are certainly more likely to see one there than in Brooklyn. Still, of all my family and friends there, only one was ever directly impacted by a tornado that I know of. One of my cousins house took some damage in Midwest City in the May 3rd 1999 tornado. She wasn't there at the time. In fact, no member of my family there has ever even seen one that I have heard.

I believe I once saw a funnel forming that may have been the one that later touched down near Edmond in the mid 80's but don't know for sure.

It looked like it was going to turn into one.

I didn't live there continuously, just when I was real young and again later in the 80's.

The closest I think I ever came to a tornado was in Tucson AZ in the 70's. My mom went out and looked at the sky and then hustled us kids into the bathroom. No tornado was officially confirmed but outside our house we had a tin shed twisted completely around a telephone pole and down the road, the front wall of someone's slump block house was all but destroyed.

If I still lived in OK and had the means, I might have a shelter built. With all due respect to tornado victims, I would likely be outside trying to get a look at it, since I always wanted to see one and never did, but I would still try to jump in the shelter before it got too close.

My grandmothers house had one in the back yard. As a kid, I remember, we would go in it during tornado warnings, but she never would.

[Rob52240]

Ghi have you driven through a tornado warning yet?

[Slash27]

If I still lived in OK and had the means, I might have a shelter built. With all due respect to tornado victims, I would likely be outside trying to get a look at it, since I always wanted to see one and never did, but I would still try to jump in the shelter before it got too close.

Oh yeah, that's just human nature. I've seen 8 in person to this point with roughly half a dozen distinct funnels that did not touch down. Only 4 of the 8 were when I was storm chasing.

[maddafinga]

I've seen a few at different times living here for the last 26 or so years.  Fascinating and scary all at once.

[Rob52240]

I've seen 2 while on the highway here, aside from that I've just seen a funnel cloud or two every few years. 

Tornado watches are so common that nobody I know pays them any attention.

Tornado warning is issued near any tornado that's touched down and been spotted by a state trooper.

The last one I went through came within 2  blocks of me after dark.  It ripped the hell out of one street for 3 miles.  The 2 car dealerships had car piles randomly around the lots near retaining walls.  There is no tornado proofing an above ground structure, I don't care what anyone says. 

[BiPoLaR]

Ive personally been in 3. Growing up in the south (Atlanta area), small tornados are something that is common around there.

[Gustav]

Tornado warning is issued near any tornado that's touched down and been spotted by a state trooper.

I thought weather radar can indicate a possible tornado and cause a Tornado Warning to be issued as well?

[Slash27]

I thought weather radar can indicate a possible tornado and cause a Tornado Warning to be issued as well?

Correct. Radar indicated and the weather service relies on  trained spotters/chasers to help confirm. Newer radars can also pick up "debris balls" that also indicate it's on the ground.

Anyone can become a trained spotter and contibute through sources like http://www.spotternetwork.org/ or Skywarn.

[BiPoLaR]

I thought weather radar can indicate a possible tornado and cause a Tornado Warning to be issued as well?

Warnings will be issued if the storm itself is rotating. It doesnt have to have a hook echo for the warning to be issued.

[Rob52240]

I thought weather radar can indicate a possible tornado and cause a Tornado Warning to be issued as well?

Here it's not a tornado warning until a pair of state certified eyes have confirmed it has touched the ground.  Or if they happen at night they can be declared the following day based on how it tore things up.  

[Gustav]

Thanks. Was curious on that due to yesterday one of the local news stations had their meteorologist on-air with the radar feed as he was trying to find any hints of a tornado after a warning was issued in York County, Virginia.

I had actually started looking into the new radars the weather service had. I just didn't know it could see cloud velocities and wind shear. I wonder if there is a site you could see that information instead of just how heavy the rain is falling.