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In NZ we dont get tornadoes very often, and when we do they are very short lived and very small compared to ones we see on the news and in documentaries on the US. I have always wondered, what happens when one hits at night...does it wake you before it hits so you can get to your shelter, or do you have warnings on TV before you hit the sack so you sleep in your shelter? Or is it just pot-luck that one doesnt hit through the night. Thanks
We have them a lot here in TN. The weather people usually know in advance if there's gonna be severe weather that night. So if I see that a tornado might come that night, i'll just stay up. If I go to sleep, I can usually be woken by the tornado sirens. Even then I usually wont take cover because they go off if a tornado touches down anywhere in the county. It's a big county so if it's way on the other side, I don't have to take cover where I live. Most tornados that touch down don't do much at all. For some reason they hit small towns mostly, but not much in the city. I can only think of one time, about a year ago, where a tornado destroyed part of a mall. All these years with all these tornado warnings, I dont think I've ever actually seen one.
Here in Illinois, severe weather and tornadoes are not very unusual. We can frequently get a severe thunderstorm watch or tornado watch in the spring and summer. Obviously, daytime is no problem since you're up and presumably aware of your sourroundings. When I know there is the potential for severe weather, I always check the weather forecast for the overnight and the current radar before I go to bed. I usually awake at the slightest rumbling of thunder. When that happens, I'll get up and look out towards the western sky and try to determine the severity of the approaching storm, judging by the intensity of the lightning. I'll check the weather radar too. If it looks bad, I'll stay up until the worst of the situation passes.
I do understand your concern. I don't want to wake up flying through the air. I know people who are very sound sleepers and it would take a bomb to wake them up.
Personally, I've never actually tried to live with a Tornado. There'd be way too much wind and things blowing around the house, making it virtually impossible to get any sleep.
Seriously though, it all depends upon where you live. I can recall in May of 2000 during a visit to Rome, NY that despite a Tornado Warning being issued for the area, the local radio stations did not even announce the event. Only local TV announced the warnings. It turned out to be a false alarm and there was no touchdown. But that is not Tornado Alley like my current home in Kansas City which means an area like NY which does not get a lot of Tornadoes will react differently to these situations.
Here in Tornado Alley, local TV stations will break into regular programming when a Warning is issued and then try to track the storm. They will get reporters into the field to try to find the storm or to an area that has been affected by it and then report on it.
Most people that have cellars in their homes will use that. Mobile Home parks usually have shelters and people will go to that.
There are warning on local media and many towns, especially where tornadoes are prone, have sirens. There are also weather radios that you can get that will automatically turn on if there is a warning. Another thing is that the weather service will keep an eye on the weather and if conditions are of concern for tornadoes they will issue a watch.
I was born and raised in Georgia and obviously we don't get as many tornadoes as the midwest but I don't know it's more or less accepted as a part of life. At least for me. Some people get upset and carry on. Not me. I've never stayed up late. I rarely take sirens seriously. If I know it's going to be real bad I just unplug non essential items. Stay away from windows. I've been known to sleep through tornadoes.
There are also weather radios that you can get that will automatically turn on if there is a warning.
I wouldn't live in a US city that has tornadoes without one of these on the bedside table. Far too few people in the country have them though. If their community doesn't have sirens, the folks who don't have a weather alert radio won't get any warning when a tornado comes to their community while they sleep.
In NZ we dont get tornadoes very often, and when we do they are very short lived and very small compared to ones we see on the news and in documentaries on the US. I have always wondered, what happens when one hits at night...does it wake you before it hits so you can get to your shelter, or do you have warnings on TV before you hit the sack so you sleep in your shelter? Or is it just pot-luck that one doesnt hit through the night. Thanks
We keep a close eye on the weather forecast on a daily basis. Thanks to the miracles of modern technology, we generally know very far in advance when a potentially tornadic storm is on the way. If there is a storm on the way, we keep the radio tuned to a local station that provides great weather coverage, and I keep my computer on the NOAA National Weather Service's website to see what is coming. If it looks bad and they issue a tornado warning, we are in the "hidey hole".
Unfortunately, sometimes this happens at 4 am and it is tough to stay up to make sure everything is ok. Usually, my dh will go to sleep and, since I am the computer geek, I generally stay up until I know things are ok. Fortunately, this has not happened yet on a work day. Otherwise, I am not sure what kind of shape I am going to be in when it does.
I am also from NZ where I don't think I've ever heard of there being a tornado - at least not one that endangers any lives. I was staying in St Louis and we were outside BBQ-ing when all of a sudden - hello - the enormous BBQ just about took off and the outdoor umbrella snapped in two. I remember looking up at the sky and seeing that it had turned green, and having flash-backs to the National Geographic magazine with pictures of giant tornadoes and green skies. We ran to the basement (which i couldn't really see protecting us if the house flew away) and turned on the radio and they were reporting a bunch of tornadoes touching down in the county. I have no idea how close they were, but after that I couldn't sleep and all I wanted was to get the hell out, and thus far have refused to go back after that trauma! I've always said I won't live anywhere that has tornadoes, they are scarier than anything I can think of. I can deal with typhoons that we get here, but forget tornadoes.
I wouldn't live in a US city that has tornadoes without one of these on the bedside table. Far too few people in the country have them though. If their community doesn't have sirens, the folks who don't have a weather alert radio won't get any warning when a tornado comes to their community while they sleep.
When I was going to college in Evansville, IN; a tornado came through around 2 am on a Saturday night. I was awake because; well, I was in college and it was Saturday night
At any rate, most people were asleep and did not heed the warnings; 22 people were killed despite tornado warnings being issued a half hour in advance of the storm. I didn't know anyone with a NOAA weather radio at that time. After the storm, companies in Evansville were buying NOAA weather radios in bulk and donating them to victims and colleges. Every dorm at USI soon had a NOAA weather radio. Anyone who wasn't given a radio could buy them discounted courtesy of corporate help and in some cases, city help (this is a trend that has since spread outside of Evansville).
Needless to say, I bought a NOAA weather radio and could not think of living without it now.
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