Tornadoes?

[Acheron2010]

http://www.kcci.com/article/central-...ances/22444689

I've done earthquakes and hurricanes, flooding and snow, but have not had the pleasure of tornadoes.
What kind of warning do you get - enough time to move? Do you stay hitched at campgrounds? What is the camping scoop on tornadoes?

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by Acheron2010

http://www.kcci.com/article/central-...ances/22444689

I've done earthquakes and hurricanes, flooding and snow, but have not had the pleasure of tornadoes.
What kind of warning do you get - enough time to move? Do you stay hitched at campgrounds? What is the camping scoop on tornadoes?

Pray?
I've been near tornados in Dallas/Ft. Worth and Kansas City.
If you decide to run, you might get caught on the road with a thousand other folks who ran. Then you're trapped.
In Dallas I hunkered down in a brick building with lots of others. It passed, but semis were overturned within 8 miles.
In K.C. you can see bad weather a long way, and the campground had everyone parked together with no slides out, jacks down.
Once again, I escaped with no damage other than a case of nerves.
Basically, your best bet is to seek a strong building and forget about the RV until it passes.
One thing about tornadoes is they move fast, in/out.
Oh, and don't linger in "tornado alley" during the season.

[jdalrymple]

I have lived in "tornado alley" my entire live.

I find it somewhat humorous that folks from earthquake prone areas never worry about the "big one" but are fearful of a tornado.

Or folks that live near the coast and have been flooded out more than once from a hurricane, rebuild to be flooded out again, but worry about coming to Oklahoma because of a tornado.

One simply accepts the risks and lives one's life.

Tornados don't just drop out of clear blue skies, there is plenty of warning that storms capable of producing tornados will be in a given area.

Warning times for actual tornados can be ample or none, but usually enough time to find a place of safety for human and pets.

Trailers, cars and buildings fend for themselves.

I wouldn't try to outrun an active tornado, but staying aware of weather forecasts and what is going would allow one to move out the risk area if one chose.

I certainly would not let the fear of a possible tornado from visiting an area of the country.



Regards,


JD

[uncle_bob]

Hi

In most cases tornados are very localized sorts of things. Yes, there are giant ones, but that is a pretty rare thing. Having one row of houses wiped out in a sub-division, with the houses on the other side of the street doing ok is a pretty typical outcome. Having one stay on the ground for a bit and then lift off is also pretty common.

None of that makes predicting exactly what will or will not happen very easy. You can often see a lot during the day. In the middle of the night .... not so much. Simple answer is to stay alert and understand how the alert / warning system works.

If a tornado is coming, you do *not* want to be in a truck / trailer / car / tent. You want to be inside something substantial. If you can get below ground level .... do so. House missing / basement ok is not all that unusual.

At various times of year, tornados are simply a "that happens" sort of thing in the center of the country. Trying to outrun them or steer around them .... not so much. The only real option is to not be in a pretty large chunk of the country during a fairly large part of the year.

So, don't panic, stay alert. In the worst case, save the people and pets. Let the insurance take care of the cars / trucks / trailers.

Bob

[Martee]

When ever severe thunderstorms are nearby and i am towing my Airstream, it's not possible tornadoes that worry me, but the potential for large damaging hail that I am really most concerned about.

I was in a North Dallas hail storm last year, with baseball sized hail and everybody trying to find shelter for vehicles: an underpass, car wash, covered parking garage and even large trees were sought for shelter.

[turk123]

In Ohio, we have our share of tornados. In all my life (66 years) I have never seen one even though we've had hundreds in the area. It is not a thing to fear as there is usually plenty of time to find cover or walk down into the basement.

What you should be fearing is the damage the hail that is associated with a tornado will do to your trailer! Actually, most hailstorms associated with tornados in our state produce small hail.

That statement does NOT cover the state of Texas! My brother had $30,000 in hail damage to the roof of his home and it totaled his brand new BMW!

[Overstreet]

In 1969 it took part of the house roof. There was a thunderstorm . I got up to close the windows. A shingle blew through my bed room window. When I got out from under the bed it was all over. It took the neighbor's house.

Back then the weather Dept said no couldn't be a tornado. Now they have better forcasting tools. We get better warnings.

[rmkrum]

Lived in Huntsville, Alabama for 14+ years. House had a tornado shelter in the back of the basement. Stayed down there when weather got rough...and it did, many times. I would rather be in a ditch or a culvert than oin a trailer or a vehicle with a tornado bearing down on me--"get low and hang on" is the rule. Or be deep inside a very sturdy building.

The interesting thing is that when I mentioned to my friends in Alabama that I was going back to California, the reaction was, "Oh god, earthquake country, so frightening, how can you stand it?"

My answer always was, "I can build a house that will easily survive a big earthquake--show me one that can take a direct hit from a tornado..."

[uncle_bob]

Hi

One point that may have been made indirectly - there are winds that are quite capable of doing a bit of damage and *not* being classified as a tornado. It's not just the winds, but the blowing debris that is the issue. Getting a 2x4 or something similar going fast enough to puncture an RV is not unheard of ....

Bob

[pcskier]

These two were towing their new trailer a few months ago. Yikes. I haven't frequented Tornado country in my trailer (yet) but must admit I worry more about hail.

[Isuzusweet]

1) Keep your NOAA radio on, and nearby at all times whilst in tornado country.
2) Don't attempt to drive out if sustained winds are over 35mph.
3) Keep a 5 gallon jug, filled daily to keep it fresh, with water.

Last but not least, keep three or more chickens around. Tie one to the trailer, one to the TV, and you get to hang on the last chicken. Why chickens you ask? It's simple; in any twister movie, have you seen a chicken get swept away? No, you see cows, pigs, semi's, dually pick up trucks, trailers, barns, houses, all flying around, but no chickens. Chickens I can only surmize have a natural way of dealing with tornados.

Cheers
Sidekick Tony

[brick1]

Find a safe building for yourself, leave the Airstream behind. Make sure your insurance premium is current...
brick

[GMFL]

April 27th 2011 we “our business” was hit by an EF4 tornado my Dad was still at the shop finishing up some work for me, (he is retired but works for me, basiclly to drive me crazy). Any way, He was beat up pretty good but, the old fart survived! The building was a total loss, we lost a lot of “stuff”, basically everything, but had good insurance and where able to move forward. To this day I still will be in the new shop looking for something and remember that I owned that pre tornado. Super Scary stuff but fortunately we only lost things money can replace, others that day were not so lucky.

[rmkrum]

Yup, the canonical Alabama post-tornado TV interview always seems to feature The prototypical beat up looking old dude, who always says, “we thought we was gonna be kilt, or worse!”
I still can’t parse that statement...

[uncle_bob]

Hi

If you are in tornado country, NOAA radio can be a bit overwhelming. The broadcasts cover a very wide area. It always seems like there is some sort of critical alert somewhere in the hundreds and hundreds of miles in the zone. Parsing all that can be challenging in an area you aren't completely familiar with. There are now a variety of apps that (if you have internet) will give you more "local" information. If you are in range of a TV station, they are also a pretty good bet for focused information.

Bob

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Just as a note - guess who is under a tornado watch for tonight? .... in Tennessee no less ...

Bob

[Acheron2010]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

Just as a note - guess who is under a tornado watch for tonight? .... in Tennessee no less ...

Bob

I know, right? I typed out the original post, downloaded the Weather Channel app on this iPhone thingy I am still learning, got the alert. Dang.
Rolled up all the awnings, kept an eye on the weather. I was mostly concerned about hail. Storm is still all around us, but so far, just big lightning and thunder.
In Heiskell, Tennessee, hunkering.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

It turned out to be a whole bunch of nothing over here. We went through a bigger one last week in Virginia. No hail from either one !!!

One cute thing ... I can get tornado alerts on my watch. Isn't that Wonderfull? One more source of distraction ....

Bob

[Julie-Bob]

I have lived in central OKLA for the past 75 years and seen my share of twisters. Never think that a weather warning is a bunch of nothing. Think yourself lucky and it missed you this time. Never get complicate

[sheriff1]

My father in law was killed in a tornado in Bee Branch Arkansas in 1988. It left me with a healthy respect for what they can do.