Tornadoes? (Austin, Cedar Park, Memphis: insurance, mattress, mobile home)

[Laurek]

I've heard there are tonadoes in Austin? What does one do about it? A storm shelter? Any areas to avoid? Any types of housing better than others? I know all about earthquakes, but tornadoes are out of my arena of experience! yikes!

[ICANHELP]

Although it is common to have tornadoes in Texas, they are kind of rare in the immediate Austin area. Couple years ago one struck in Cedar Park, NW of Austin.

No one has basements, not aware of people having storm shelters like Kansas or elesewhere, in this area, though in other areas of TX they might be more common.

Most people have a place in their home they would hide (interior closet, under stairway) if they think a tornado is imminent. In businesses they have designated Emergency areas that people would meet at if needed.

Been here 11+ years and haven't experienced one, nor even think about it.

[deeptrance]

I have a tornado story. ICANHELP, you might not recall this one because they were only F-1 tornados and they didn't do much damage.

It was about 5 or 6 years ago, just getting dark outside. I was watching the evening news, then all local stations switched over to covering the pair of tornados coming up I-35 heading right in my direction. They were about 5 miles away as I was watching this when suddenly the power went out, the sky went black, there was a strobe-light effect from intense frequent lightning and then a deafening sound of extremely heavy hail and wind.

I grabbed my computer and a couple other items, got my dogs, and we huddled in a closet in the center of the house. The dogs were totally freaked because it was so loud and crazy. But what we experienced was just the severe thunderstorm, the tornado actually passed a mile south of me. A few branches were down in my neighborhood, that's about all the damage, but in the path of the twister there were some roofs torn off, typical minor damage for a small tornado.

I'm glad I got to go through one scare and I don't want to go through another. It's really spooky to feel so tiny and helpless as you witness this massive power taking over outside, not knowing if the twister itself might actually hit your house.

I would never choose not to live here based just on something like that. No place is free of risks. Massive earthquakes are likely to happen again almost everywhere in the USA, especially in the northwest and along the Mississippi near Memphis and St. Louis.

But you can be smart --- don't build your house 20 feet from the ocean's high tide line, don't build in a flood zone, don't live in a trailer on top of a barren hill in Oklahoma, and don't live in an old brick building in an earthquake zone.

[deeptrance]

p.s. --- the most dangerous thing about living in central Texas is DRIVING! Traffic is crazy and many of the roads and intersections are designed to maximize the number of accidents. The Texas Dept. of Transportation has to be the least competent agency in the USA, I swear.... the things they do just amaze me, even when they're "improving" freeways they spend millions creating new problems that any ordinary person would be able to foresee!

[southaustingal]

I agree with everyone else. Tornados aren't as common as you'd think. Actually in the last few years, there hasn't been a huge amount of severe weather here. About five years ago, a tornado passed about four miles east of my home south of Austin. My 3-three-old and I huddled in a closet with pillows around us and kept the TV on so I could hear the constant updates and know which direction it was headed.

Most people get hurt or killed by flying debris, so the best action is to get in a bathtub (one not near a window and preferably in the center of your home) or a closet in the center of your home, cover yourself with pillows or a mattress and keep down. The idea is to keep as many walls and barriers between you and the debris as possible. If a roof truss falls on you, well, it was just your time. But in most cases, you'll come out OK. If the tornado is an F-5 and sweeps across your house, you'll most likely meet the Maker. If you live in a trailer, get the heck out and find a building with a firm foundation.

Most people around here don't have storm shelters. Shelters would come in handy, but I guess the cost doesn't justify it. We also do not have sirens. There was something of a call for them when the last F-5 passed through Jarrell and Spicewood, but that call quickly died down.

You're much more likely to be killed by lightning than a tornado.

[Laurek]

Thanks for all the great input- it was very helpful & appreciated.

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by southaustingal

...If a roof truss falls on you, well, it was just your time...

LOL If there were a big laughing smiley I'd use that, but here you'll just have to settle for an LOL and a

[musicman107]

Ahead of tornado fears, I'd rank driving at the top of the most hazardous situations around Austin.
And don't forget about HAIL.
Seems like all of a sudden, golf ball size hail storma can pop up with little warning at many times of the year around here.
Causes lots of roof and automobile damges.
Be prepared to have a garage in which to park your cars.
Roof damage? Just have a good insurance policy.

[Steel Man]

Originally Posted by musicman107

Ahead of tornado fears, I'd rank driving at the top of the most hazardous situations around Austin.
And don't forget about HAIL.
Seems like all of a sudden, golf ball size hail storms can pop up with little warning at many times of the year around here.
Causes lots of roof and automobile damages.
Be prepared to have a garage in which to park your cars.
Roof damage? Just have a good insurance policy.

Parking cars in a garage? So, that is what garages are for? I could of sworn garages are for junk storage. What a novel idea!

Signed,
A guy who parks 2 cars in a garage

[KewGee]

I lived in Central Texas for 19 years before I got a storm cellar, something I said I wouldn't do without if I moved to Texas. Well, after the killer F5 that hit Jarrell, Texas near Austin in 1997, I no longer put it off. I now have a one pour 10'x 10' cellar in my backyard that gives me some peace of mind when we have threatening weather.

I hate bad storms and any of them can turn into a tornado without much notice. We have many tornado watches mostly in the spring and fall. In 2000 we had a tornado that passed over Lake Whitney and killed one person in Bosque County. He was found in a tree. Had I looked down my road toward the Lake, I would have seen it but I was "bunkered down" in the cellar with about 20 other people, some I didn't even know. Everyone was very uptight.

If you live in Texas, do not stay in a Mobile Home during a bad storm. They're very dangerous. Actually, I can't understand why anyone would even live in one in Tornado Alley. The poor man who died in 2000 was in on. That storm was an F3.