Tornados: An everyday problem??

[Tristan]

Atlantagreg, It has been a long time since I've been on this forum and I just saw your response. Let me clarify. By under ground I do mean a proper tornado shelter, a cave, or an underground parking garage, etc. You are correct that a basement is not 100% safe. Nothing ruins your day like having a house land on you.

As for not worrying........of course you should have the proper concern. By worry I mean the irrational fear some people have. I now live in California. People here have a very unrealistic and overblown fear of tornadoes. They think people in the midwest and south spend their life narrowly escaping sure death, 24 hours a day during tornado season. LOL. People in other states have the same false ideas about earthquake dangers. Everything needs the proper perspective.

[Bravo35223]

Originally Posted by Southlander

Woah, Bravo, 20-some years ago this month Huntsville experienced a killing tornado through the Parkway/Airport Road intersection about 5 p.m....it gutted a bunch of apartments, tossed cars, dumped the roofs of several adjacent stores into the floors, with staff and customers underneath...spring and fall tend to be worse for tornado outbreaks. Identify a shelter and how to get to it, prepare in your own home, watch the TV weather and have a weather radio, and be aware of what's going on if there's a storm approaching. I think all the TV stations have preparedness guidelines on their Web sites.

You know Southlander, I flew OVER that storm!!

I was in Atlanta and it was unusually warm, about 80 degrees and was flying to Memphis....I had sales reps who worked for me in both places.

We got onto the plane in Atlanta and before they shut the door, the pilot told everyone who needed to go to the bathroom to go ahead, because there would be nobody allowed out of their seats during the flight. There would be NO beverage service and all fight attendants would be belted into their seats during the duration of the flight.

We took off and hit lightning and heavy turbulence almost immediately....the plane would pitch up and way down....maybe a thousand feet at a time. It was wildest about halfway through the flight.

When I got off the plane and walked outside the Memphis air terminal building - it was about 45 degrees.

My sales rep picked me up and said> "Did you hear about the tornado that just hit Huntsville?"

I said, "No but I just flew over the damn thing".....

Needless to say, a stiff drink was in order that evening.....!!!

[penelopelp]

Originally Posted by Southlander

Woah, Bravo, 20-some years ago this month Huntsville experienced a killing tornado through the Parkway/Airport Road intersection about 5 p.m....it gutted a bunch of apartments, tossed cars, dumped the roofs of several adjacent stores into the floors, with staff and customers underneath...spring and fall tend to be worse for tornado outbreaks. Identify a shelter and how to get to it, prepare in your own home, watch the TV weather and have a weather radio, and be aware of what's going on if there's a storm approaching. I think all the TV stations have preparedness guidelines on their Web sites.

That tornado was in 1989. I was away at college at the time, but I saw the aftermath. The destruction was incredible. It also wiped out a shopping center, several churches, and a school. I was in Huntsville for the tornadoes during 1978, and before that in about 1974. I have always had a healthy respect for tornadoes. I don't sit around worrying or obsessing about them, but I have always turned on the radio/TV if it starts to get dicey. Plus, I pay attention to the weather forecast. I grew up in Alabama and California, and always thought tornadoes were better than earthquakes. At least you can seek shelter, and you usually get some kind of warning.

[diggermom]

Just had to note... we have tornados in Fl too. I have seen damage here and it also has a lot of serious lightning. We also have brown recluses and I was bitten at a dental office! Nasty bite but oh well. I was in the hospital for 5 days! Nice rest, LOL. I have bad luck with bites. Dog, sting rays, bees, wasps, There are nasty things everywhere, but life is still good.....and I love a good thunderstorm!

[cpg35223]

Even then, it really depends on where you live. Huntsville seems to get more than its fair share, as does Tuscaloosa and the western suburbs of Birmingham.

[Southlander]

Not to mention the Moulton area, Athens (Limestone County), Joppa...Winston County used to be a regular magnet for them.

[san phlegmatico]

On certain years in the late spring, summer, and early fall tornadoes can become a day-to-day problem.

I recall a certain year in the mid-'90s and another in 1998 where there was either a Tornado Warning or Severe Thunderstorm Warning every other day in Tuscaloosa County for two or three months consecutive. Though not tornadic, severe super cell thunderstorms are extremely ominous and can make one feel that a 'nader is just around the corner. Therefore, the Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, since they sometimes lead to Tornado Warnings, are to be feared just the same. And, for the record, they are covered just the same on the local news Live Coverage segments.

One particular Tornado Warning in 1998 materialized into a touchdown of epic proportions: the now-infamous April 1998 F5 Tornado which originated in Tuscaloosa County and carved a huge swath of death and destruction through the county and into Northern Jefferson, killing 32 people and destroying an unfathomable number of homes and buildings. It stopped short of the B'ham city limits, Thank God. But because of its mammoth size, meandering, herky-jerky movements, and spin-off storms, this one F5 'nader literally paralyzed North-Central Alabama for several hours.

Only a few actual tornadic touchdowns ever materialize out of a flurry of severe weather activity in a given day's events. Unfortunately, however, when a bad one happens upon you, it's real often REAL BAD, REAL SCARY, and REAL UNPREDICTABLE (despite the efforts of Live Coverage and prognosticators) -- it brings life to a screeching halt, with everyone running for their bunkers until the event passes.

But often these things come in waves and thus you're bunkered down in a bathtub wearing a hardhat for a 24 hour cycle. And the next day, should a thunderboomer pop up, you're now on a hair trigger -- as is James Spann, your weather guru -- and everyone's diving under the bed irrationally.

Tornadoes are boogiemen 'round hyah.