Tornado in Atlanta, GA? (Macon, Douglasville: house, earthquake, living)

[Arthur Tao]

hello there, everyone.

Me and my wife are planning to relocate to Atlanta this year from Los Angeles,
from the research we have done online so far, Atlanta seems a nice place for us, we are newly immigrated. Cheaper housing is the main incentive for us to leave California.

One of our big concerns is : Does Atlanta area have frequent tornado activities? Natural disaster is horrible, my wife will be scared to death if there is too much tornados. Please help me on this issue and I will appreciate it very much

[Vampgrrl]

Not frequent like someplace in Texas or Kansas but it does occasionally happen.

I'd be more frightened over earthquakes in California than worrying about the rare possibility of a tornado.

[Arthur Tao]

thanks for the reply, vampgrrl.

How often do you mean " occasionally happen"?

Do a lot of people get injured or hurt or even die due to the tornado?

[Vampgrrl]

No.
Maybe 1 person might die every 2-3 years typically.

Occasionally as in 2-3 weak tornadoes in the metro area a year, 99% of them being in Cobb County. But it's not a serious problem, again I'd be more worried over California's "The Big One".

[kaday]

Just get a house with a basement. I was really worried when we moved here from Massachusetts. It has not been an issue but I do get a lot of comfort just knowing I have a basement. And I have not yet had to use it for that purpose.

[OhioNative]

There was just a tornado in Douglasville on Friday night. It blew the air conditioning unit off the roof of a Kroger and damaged some cars, but I don't think there were any injuries. They seem to happen more frequently on the west side of Atlanta, but they do happen.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by OhioNative

There was just a tornado in Douglasville on Friday night. It blew the air conditioning unit off the roof of a Kroger and damaged some cars, but I don't think there were any injuries. They seem to happen more frequently on the west side of Atlanta, but they do happen.

Actually it did wind up damaging some homes they found out later as well, but no one was severely injured. Geogia's "tornado alley" is typically from West of Atlanta through the NW area into the mountain areas.

Here's some interesting links:

U.S. tornado frequency pic: http://www.tornadochaser.net/images/frequency.gif

Others:

The Tornado Project Online! (I don't think it's been updated in a while).

THIS ONE shows everything in Georgia through 2006, but once the map pops up you'll have to use the zoom function on the left of it to zoom in to the map.

And last, this one shows how many tornadoes have hit each county in Georgia through 2006: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ffc/images/tornado.gif (broken link)

[ClarityFuture]

People in Atlanta worried about tornados? Wow...That's new news to me...Seriously...Don't worry...The chance of seeing a tornado or being injured in one here is about the same as the chances of a tsunami wiping out the entire east coast...Possible, but not likely...

[ajax general]

I never knew this either. Several weeks ago, I was on highway 20 in Cherokee county, somewhere between Free Home and Canton and I had to drive my Tahoe into a ditch as the sky went instantly outer space black and my 5,000 lb truck started to be tossed around by swirling winds as we were pelted with hail. The wind sounded like a freight train and it reminded me of Hurricane Andrew. It scared the living sheet out of my wife and I, but it was over just as soon as it started with no real damage save our pride. At the same time, my friend in Ball Ground heard the sirens and ran into his basement. Apparently something hit the area, but maybe never touched down.
As scary as it was, I happen to think Atlanta is one of the safest places in the country as far as natural disasters. I live in Miami in constant fear of the next Andrew or Katrina decimating So Fla. It's bound to happen, and I lived through Andrew and would never wish that on anyone.
Atlanta is not immune to nasty weather, but hurricanes are nothing but thunderstorms by the time they get there...no earthquakes...no blizzards or nor'easters, never heard of devistating wildfires or major floods. Some ice storms maybe, but nothing that will destroy the city. And if you are worried about that Tsunami that they talk about on Discovery Channel, Atlanta has one of the highest altitudes from sea level compared to other large metro areas. So while California might break off into the sea from the "big one", NYC is flattened by the "perfect storm", and Florida sinks under the ocean from that tidal wave out of Africa, Georgia will be building nice seaside resorts near Macon.
Natural disasters? Give me Atlanta any day!

[Twinkletoes]

Damage from tornados is very spotty. If we have a tornado, the whole city won't be wiped out. It will just be one house here or there, maybe a few trees down. In contrast, a hurricane or earthquake causes widespread damage over large areas.