Tornado Season Is Here!

AU24K · Mar 2, 2012

At this moment, in Hall County, Georgia, the sirens are going off, and, having once lived in Kansas and Oklahoma, I know a little bit about bad weather.
This year will be bad for spring weather including tornadoes.

Have you ever seen a tornado? Ever been close to an area hit and responded with help?
What stories do you have about the spring and early summer phenomena of tornadoes?

My Best,
Scott

PS. Where's the basement? Oh, I'm IN the basement!

piegrande · Mar 3, 2012

Roughly fifty years ago, I was in a tornado, though technically I realized when I became a certified spotter that is was a downdraft, the other end of a tornado with tornado velocity winds. Outhouse gone. Trees gone. Garage gone. All cars but one had serious damage. We survived strictly by the grace of God.

We live in Mexico where there is no snow. My wife in the winter whines how she misses the snow. I do not miss the snow, and tell her we can work out an agreement and she can go live in the Snow Belt.

I do miss tornadoes. They are so neat.

French Creek hunter · Mar 3, 2012

We had a line of storms come by my house causing problems with tornadic cells. Charleston WV was in a severe warning for tornadoes. But they took the warning away in 5 minutes even before the storm hit. A lot of places were hit and warnings came in went. I didn't have any problems with the power and the house.
I have to say this year is going to be bad for storms! West Virginia had 1 snow storm that produced around 2 inches in the city,now that is pretty rare for us. Now the storms are blowing is which is even more bizarre for us. Is the "2012 thing" going to happen? I doubt it,but we may get some more droughts,floods,and storms this year!

Beans · Mar 3, 2012

Been around a lot of tornados, I have seen the destruction they do first hand but never seen one. And I don't want to see one cause if I do it is to close. Drove home from work during one of the worst we had. May 3, 1999 it was an F5. Heard the warning on the radio, but did not pay to much attention since they had the required emergancy tests all the time. When I realized it was the real thing, and so did every body else it was a traffice jam every where, no place to go. Took 3 hours to get home which was normally 45 minute drive.

davest · Mar 3, 2012

this would tie directly in with the preppers thread down below.

All the prepackaged food, bottles of water, ammunition and firearms won't be any good at all if they're scattered across the landscape. And the powers that be are not going to allow you to go back into your neighborhood until
they are ready, not you.

Good luck up there in the tornado belt, I'm waiting to see what the hurricane season brings on.

Beans · Mar 3, 2012

davest said:
And the powers that be are not going to allow you to go back into your neighborhood until
they are ready, not you.

Yep, once they bring in the National Guard and Reserve Police Force all affected areas are off limits.

piegrande · Mar 3, 2012

Looking back from Mexico does give an interesting viewpoint. Here in Mexico, the houses are made of concrete. A few years ago, after Katrina, there was a hurricane in Playa del Carmen. In around two months the hotels were ready for tourists.

In the richest country in the world, too much water and all the houses are wiped out. Too much wind and all the houses are wiped out.

So, why don't we build houses of concrete? No more total destruction just from a minor storm.

And, the technology to insulate concrete is well established.

Amazing.

davest · Mar 4, 2012

well, looks like the National Guard has been mobilized for large parts of Indiana and the rest of the tornado zone.

I realize this is called "tornado alley" for a reason, but does anyone remember so many, so large, so early in the

season?

They say 17 million people have been affected by this outbreak with more outbreaks to come. Perhaps this is what

the camps will be used for. When you have no homes, no businesses, no money you have to go somewhere, right?

rginn · Mar 4, 2012

Growin up in SW Oklahoma and workin for many years in law enforcement, I seen a lot of tornadoes, gustnadoes, cold air funnels, and high straight winds, and responded to the scenes afterward, but luckily nothin with numerous fatalities. Piegrande, I really don't think a concrete house will mean much to an F4 or F5. They can drive a 2x4 right through the walls. Or they could pick up the concrete house and drop it on a wicked witch. Beans, I remember that May 3 tornado (the storm started up in Caddo County and moved northeast) I saw the damage in Moore and I was impressed by the fact that it actually sucked up the top 12 inches of ground in some places. We have way more better warning systems in place these days. When they say seek shelter immediately, do it, and that don't mean the bathtub in a mobile home. It wouldn't be a bad thing if every town in tornado alley had a public underground shelter, but I guess that would call for a tax, and people wouldn't like that.

AU24K · Mar 5, 2012

Back about the late 90's (?), I was living with my girlfriend, Carol, in rural Jefferson County, Kansas. That's between Lawrence and Topeka. About 4-5 miles from Perry Lake, site of many biker rallies...
Ahem.

It was an 100+ year old single story brick 2 bedroom house. There was a "root cellar"/storm shelter in the back yard, a 50+ year old detached garage and a functional windmill. And half a dozen 100+year old cottonwood trees around the yard.

One afternoon, we noticed "that feeling."
About an hour later, we could see the incoming clouds from the southwest and feel the temperature drop.
We sat on the porch and I explained how to tell how close a storm was by counting from the time of the lightning flash until the rumble of thunder was heard. We did this until a strike of lightning hit about 50 yards away with a simultaneous explosion of thunder!
I said, "Tha's close enough. Let's get inside!"

While gathering up items on the porch, an aroma hit my nose of a, well, I don't know how to describe it other than "heavy water."
All the while, the sky is turning GREENISH! The air is heavy, thick and choking. What was once a steadily increasing breeze has now quieted to complete calm and stillness.....

As we are heading inside , I tell Carol, "Better grab the candles, you know how rural electricity is. I'll get the radio and we probably had better head to the storm shelter."

While we are both inside gathering items and finding Pearl, our black lab, the INTERIOR doors start slamming shut!!

I grab Carol's hand and we run out of the back door across the back yard towards the shelter,
Carol screaming for Pearl, large cottonwood tree branches falling all over the yard around us
and wind speeds I've only experienced on my body while {speeding :nono:

} on a motorcycle.

When we get to the storm shelter, I grab the handle of the door and though I've opened that door a hundred times before, it felt a hundred times heavier. Maybe it was the wind, I don't know....Most times, I leave it open because Pearl likes to lay in there because it's cool and quiet.

I finally threw open the door and as Carol and I get down the steps, Pearl is already in the shelter, WAITING on us!
Pearl must have went in the shelter when the storm came, and then maybe the winds blew the door shut on her. :dontknow:

Anyway, we all lived. :hello2:

I can finish the experience if anyone wants to hear of what came next and damage, etc. :dontknow:

I'm pretty sure that I've got pictures around here somewhere... :icon_scratch:

My Best Wishes,
Scott

I'll always Love you, Carol. Rest in Peace. :crybaby2:

piegrande · Mar 6, 2012

>>Piegrande, I really don't think a concrete house will mean much to an F4 or F5. They can drive a 2x4 right through the walls.

It would be interesting to know what you think when you read the words "concrete house."

For you to think a tornado will wipe one out, or the funny claim a tornado would pick one up and blow it away (

) I suspect you don't have the same image I do. And, I write from such a house.

Each vertical beam is started on a footing dug a minimum of a meter in the ground, with a bare minimum of maybe 500 pounds of concrete, and my house has much more than that. My builder prefers a ton of concrete for each footing, one for each beam. Not everyone has that kind of money, so perhaps an average would be 1/3 ton, just for the footing for each vertical beam. And, buried in the ground at a distance which varies depending upon the ambition of the builder.

The beam itself is constructed of a 1/2" rebar assembly approximately the size of the beam, maybe 10 inches on a side. This is a complex assembly requiring many hours of assembly. It is put in place then boards are assembled over the rebar cage assembly, and it is filled with concrete. Each vertical beam is rated at around 19 ton capacity, and the beams in each wall are never more than around two meters apart.

Then, horizontal beams of similar construction running every direction to tie the vertical beams together are poured.

After these are cured, a platform of boards is made. Then, the entire roof is covered with 1/2" rebar woven net, with no room sufficient for my big feet to even stand. We are talking tons of rebar.

When it is ready, concrete is poured on the rebar assembly and when that cures, you have a 6 or 8 inch reinforced concrete roof.

In fact, such houses properly built tend to approximate the official storm shelters people tend to seek.

So, no, a tornado will not rip those houses out of the ground and blow them away. My house would probably survive an atomic bomb in the air like in Hiroshima.

Let us stop and think. Where does one hide on the highway in case of tornado? Under an Interstate underpass, which is made slightly heavier than my roof only because of the heavy trafffic going over.

AU24K · Mar 7, 2012

AU24K said:
Back about the late 90's (?), I was living with my girlfriend, Carol, in rural Jefferson County, Kansas. That's between Lawrence and Topeka. About 4-5 miles from Perry Lake, site of many biker rallies...
Ahem.

It was an 100+ year old single story brick 2 bedroom house. There was a "root cellar"/storm shelter in the back yard, a 50+ year old detached garage and a functional windmill. And half a dozen 100+year old cottonwood trees around the yard.

One afternoon, we noticed "that feeling."
About an hour later, we could see the incoming clouds from the southwest and feel the temperature drop.
We sat on the porch and I explained how to tell how close a storm was by counting from the time of the lightning flash until the rumble of thunder was heard. We did this until a strike of lightning hit about 50 yards away with a simultaneous explosion of thunder!
I said, "Tha's close enough. Let's get inside!"

While gathering up items on the porch, an aroma hit my nose of a, well, I don't know how to describe it other than "heavy water."
All the while, the sky is turning GREENISH! The air is heavy, thick and choking. What was once a steadily increasing breeze has now quieted to complete calm and stillness.....

As we are heading inside , I tell Carol, "Better grab the candles, you know how rural electricity is. I'll get the radio and we probably had better head to the storm shelter."

While we are both inside gathering items and finding Pearl, our black lab, the INTERIOR doors start slamming shut!!

I grab Carol's hand and we run out of the back door across the back yard towards the shelter,
Carol screaming for Pearl, large cottonwood tree branches falling all over the yard around us
and wind speeds I've only experienced on my body while {speeding } on a motorcycle.

When we get to the storm shelter, I grab the handle of the door and though I've opened that door a hundred times before, it felt a hundred times heavier. Maybe it was the wind, I don't know....Most times, I leave it open because Pearl likes to lay in there because it's cool and quiet.

I finally threw open the door and as Carol and I get down the steps, Pearl is already in the shelter, WAITING on us!
Pearl must have went in the shelter when the storm came, and then maybe the winds blew the door shut on her.

Anyway, we all lived.

I can finish the experience if anyone wants to hear of what came next and damage, etc.
I'm pretty sure that I've got pictures around here somewhere...

My Best Wishes,
Scott

I'll always Love you, Carol. Rest in Peace.