Tornado activity in Georgetown? (realistic opinions needed) (Houston, Austin: how much, mobile home)

[mjp4]

Hi All,

I'm looking to move to the Georgetown area in the spring. One of my concerns has been tornado activity. Because of this concern, I thought it was ironic that there was a tornado outbreak last night. (I hope everyone remained safe!)

But, can someone give me a realistic idea of the frequency and strength of tornado activity in the general Austin area, but most specifically in Georgetown? I'm originally from Houston, so I'm used to strong storms, and I'm not bothered by them at all -- just concerned about tornadoes and possibly flooding.

Thanks!

[KewGee]

Yesterday was not a good day for many parts of Texas. I know of one person that was killed in Groesbeck (Milam County). There was much severe activity covering a large area.

I'm usually very conscientious when it comes to bad weather and staying home during such. I knew it was supposed to rain yesterday but had no idea of the tornadic outbreak that was about to occur. I drove to Burleson which is about 45 miles from me and went shopping. On the way back home (south), I heard on the radio that a tornado was sighted in Cleburne heading to Joshua (I was in Joshua when I heard this). I pulled off the road and went into a Dollar General store and stayed there for a while. The tornado sirens went off in the city but where I was, it wasn't bad. After the "excitement" was over, I continued on the road home. It was pouring rain and I couldn't see much. Then I saw that it was extremely black in the south, so I pulled off the road again, this time to a Family Dollar Store in Rio Vista. The radio was on and the weather service was announcing yet another tornado heading toward Cleburne (north of Rio Vista) and I'm pretty sure the storm over the store was the tornadic one. As it approached Cleburne, golf-ball sized hail was hitting the city.

I stayed in the store for quite a while and then continued home but not before being greeted with more downpours, black skies, and the threat of tornadoes popping out of the sky.

Anyway, to answer your question about Georgetown. There is a site that gives storm details for every state in the country by county. I looked under Williamson county and most of the tornadoes they have had in the past 56 years are listed as located in Williamson County. I did see two though that were listed specifically in Georgetown as F0s, so that's good.

The site is really good. It is www dot ncdc dot noaa dot gov On the right of the homepage, click on weather/climate events. Scroll down a little to Weather/Climate Data and Products and click on U.S. Storms Events Database.

My son lived in Georgetown for a few years and absolutely loved it.

[mjp4]

I'm glad to hear that you, and most everyone else, remained safe. Thank you for the information. I'll definitely visit the website. I've lived in Florida for the past 20 years and I had forgotten all about the hail in TX until you mentioned it. Thanks again.

[deeptrance]

Don't live in a cheap trailer and don't have a paper roof. Other than that, your commute to work is a thousand times more likely to kill you than a tornado. The fear of tornadoes is overblown because they're sensational.

On the day that we had a tornado outbreak, several houses were destroyed, one person was killed and a few others were seriously injured. On that same day, many more people died or were critically injured in traffic accidents, houses burned down from unattended candles or faulty wiring, and hundreds of people died of heart attacks that could have been prevented by not eating a diet of burgers and fries.

Our greatest enemy is our daily habits, but that doesn't make news so we mistakenly believe that earthquakes, terrorists, kidnappers and tornadoes are a bigger threat than we are to our own safety because spectacular events make the news whereas car accidents are reported only in traffic reports as "There's an incident on highway 97 blocking traffic in the right lane, an ambulance is on the scene...." The latter is much more likely than you ever getting to experience the thrill of a tornado.

[Spookmeister]

Very true DT! I haven't quite understood why people would worry so much about a tornado when there are other more immediate and likely threats.

[southaustingal]

I have lived in Texas for more than 30 years, and in Austin for more than 20. I have been near one tornado in that time, and it was about two miles east of me. My daughter and I got in the hall closet and I listened to the news (thanks, Jim Spencer!) so I could hear how the tornado was moving. The entire time I was much more concerned about my husband having a car accident driving home in rush-hour traffic in the pouring rain. Also, my brother was a storm chaser and meteorologist, and I wrote a children's book about tornadoes. Like DT says, get as firm a foundation on your home as possible, and learn a few safety tips, even though you're likely to never use them.

About the flooding, stay away from flood-prone areas, including flooded roads, and don't buy a home in a flood zone. You're more likely to have to make a flood-related decision in your time here, but it's more along the lines of "How do I get around this low-water crossing?" than "Pack the kids and dog and get in the boat, honey, a flood's a comin'!"

[StudioVIP]

I grew up in So Cal. The question I get is "How did I survive the earthquakes?"
In Florida "How do you survive the Hurricanes?" Now living in Round Rock I was concerned about how much activity there is, but there really isn't. It's the fear of the unkown. Educate yourself about what to do in case of emergency and that's all you can do in any city, right? Now the hail on the other hand, I make sure my garage is cleaned out so I can put away the cars. hehehe I'm more concerned about the cars than the threat of the tornado.

I'm sure you've heard this before, more people in tornado alley are killed in car wrecks than tornados.

[lindaluck]

You may be hearing about the cat 5 tornado that wiped out Jarrel a few years ago. Tornados do touch down out there, usually not as bad as that one but never the less they do happen. Anyone who compares tonados with car accidents, etc. has never been in one or been close to one. There is no comparison to the devastation created by tonados.

The best protection is to buy a house made of brick or any stone. That will give you the best protection. Just like the three little pigs.

[otter_skunk]

Originally Posted by mjp4

Hi All,

I'm looking to move to the Georgetown area in the spring. One of my concerns has been tornado activity. Because of this concern, I thought it was ironic that there was a tornado outbreak last night. (I hope everyone remained safe!)

But, can someone give me a realistic idea of the frequency and strength of tornado activity in the general Austin area, but most specifically in Georgetown? I'm originally from Houston, so I'm used to strong storms, and I'm not bothered by them at all -- just concerned about tornadoes and possibly flooding.

Thanks!

It doesn;t really matter where you relocate in Texas. Majority of Texas is under a territory known as Tornado Alley. You got to live up in Missouri, or Kansas to be worried about torandoes. Here in Texas tornado season usually happens between march all the way through into September. This is the season which it happens. I used to live in Thorndale, Texas. There hasn;t been a tornado since 2001. I am a tornado survivor, survived in a double wide mobile home with a tin roof. I am fortunate that it happened on country road 443. Just to let everyone know that the barn sustained damages that were just unimaginable. The roof was torn off and the barn sat like a open box. It took three days to get lights on, but memories remain. Thorndale is a nice small town that is slowly booming. Georgetown is not too far from Thorndale, as matter of fact. The property taxes and school taxes are affordable in the country. You can make good friends there. Just be careful who you run into. there are known circles and who you run into will brand you a name. Not to forget the good high class, they can assist you in where to get deals and so forth. Thorndale is not a bad place to live, you can even move into a quiet place in San Gabriel. Its soo quiet that you can sleep through the noisiest storms to strike. Most of all, you got to have Jesus in your heart, believing that everything is gonna be okay. I hope everyone will enjoy this post.

[love roses]

I'm in Hutto just South of Georgetown and it wasn't bad here at all. We had a little bit of wind, but no rain or clouds. Jarrell is the last place I believe this area had a bad tornado, but it is North of Georgetown. Haven't heard of any in Georgetown. We were actually camping at Lake Travis the weekend that tornado hit. It was bad weather everywhere, even at the Lake. We spent a lot of time trying to keep our tents from flying away But it was very scary to hear about it once we got back to Houston.