Moving from MA to KC, MO (Kansas City, Rea: crawl space, tornado, living in)

[kkln1212]

Hello!
I'm sorry if this has already been asked a lot but I am going to be moving to Kansas City from Massachusetts with a UHaul towing a car around July 29th. I have zero experience with the kind of weather that the plains get and I am nervous to be driving because of tornadoes and such. I was just wondering if anyone could give me any tips? Has anyone ever road tripped like this before? Any advice on if this is feasible in two days? it is a 21 hr drive. Thank you!

[aragx6]

First of all, the plains are well west of KC, so you won't actually drive through them at all. Really you'll be driving through a mix of hills and flatlands through the midwest.

Tornadoes are pretty much a non-issue -- you're not driving through "tornado alley" and it's very late in the season for them anyway. You might have to drive through a thunderstorm -- in a UHaul I'd suggest pulling aside and waiting it out as they don't always handle well or have the best tires.

You say it's 21 hours-- I wonder if that's a google estimate -- you'll need to budget at least 15% more time because your progress in the UHaul will be significantly slower. If you're driving with someone else, you might be able to do it in 2 days, but alone I think you'd likely need 3.

Hope that helps!

[WiseOwlSaysHoot]

I've made the drive from KC to NYC in 2 days a couple different times. I know its a few extra hours to MA, but you should be able to do it with 2 long days of driving. However, if you don't want to stress yourself too much, you may want to make room for 3 days.

There's reason to be afraid of tornadoes. They happen much less frequently than people from the coasts seem to think. I was talking with a friend from NYC the other day and mentioned being out and enjoying the nice weather. He was confused and asked "Enjoying the weather?? How can you do that with all the tornadoes?" Ironically, I've been closer to damaging tornadoes when living in Brooklyn than I ever have in KC.

Like aragx6 said, you're biggest concern while driving would be a torrential downpour, like we had last night. If you're having problems with visibility in a storm, you may need to pull over until it lets up (and they usually don't last too long).

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by WiseOwlSaysHoot

I was talking with a friend from NYC the other day and mentioned being out and enjoying the nice weather. He was confused and asked "Enjoying the weather?? How can you do that with all the tornadoes?"

This is hilarious and sad all at the same time.

[xenokc]

Lived in MO primarily all my life (KC/STL) and have never seen a tornado - and have not known anyone personally impacted by one. But if you do happen to see one while driving, the official recommendation is to park under an overpass and walk up to steel grids under base of the overpass.

Tornado alley is in central KS, OK and TX - a good hour to two W of KC. MO gets its share but there just happen to be a couple doozies this year. Last year, Minnesota apparently had the most tornadoes. Tornadoes aren't like hurricanes... they tend to be under 100 yards wide and touch down for up to a mile. The problem is there is not as much warning.

[GinaBean]

Originally Posted by xenokc

the official recommendation is to park under an overpass and walk up to steel grids under base of the overpass.

Don't do that! An overpass is one of the worst places to be. For more information on common misconceptions and for general information on tornadoes, visit the following links:

Misconceptions about tornadoes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NESEC - Tornadoes
An overpass is not a tornado shelter - Boing Boing

The weather here in July/August is hot and humid, with occasional summertime thunderstorms. If you do get caught in a thunderstorm, I agree with the others who said to pull over and wait it out. UHauls are hard to manage in rain and wind.

Don't worry about tornadoes this time of year.

As far as timing goes, don't be surprised if it actually takes three days. It will *probably* take two, but you'll be driving a large vehicle with a heavy load.

Welcome to KC!

[xenokc]

Curious. I've only heard to get under an overpass if there is nothing around. I wouldn't exactly do a ditch as stuff can be thrown on top of you.

While I'm sure some have died under an overpass, would be interesting to see the stats on how many died under an overpass vs in an open ditch.

I think I'd still go to an overpass up to the base and hang on, may have a crawl space. But I've never even remotely had a need to go there as I have never seen a tornado.

[GinaBean]

Did you bother reading the logical, fact-based links I posted? An overpass is less safe for several reasons, but I'll list the the top two:

1. Winds are stronger under bridges because of what's called the "wind tunnel effect"

2. During a tornado, the higher above ground level you are, the stronger the wind. AT ground level, there is virtually no wind. Ground level or below is the safest place to be, regardless of what type of shelter you have.

[xenokc]

Yeah, I read it - and all the comments. But on ground level, many things can be thrown on top of you and if you have nothing to hold onto, can be picked up too. Would rather see the stats of how many died in ditch vs overpass.

If an overpass has a crawlspace, I'll take it. Maybe I'm a fool.

[GinaBean]

I tried a search for stats, but couldn't find any. The power of Google is apparently not with me today!

Debris can be forced up into the craw space of an overpass. People have been injured that way. Anyway, I don't want to argue with you. We'll have to agree to disagree.