Do you ever get over being terrified... (Overland Park, Leon: transplants, insurance)

[ShyDaisi]

every time it rains? I just relocated from Tennessee 3 months ago. I was fine and even rolled my eyes at people from home that would ask, "What about the tornadoes?"....until the first time I heard the tornado siren go off last month.

Ever since then I have been terrified. I am always thinking about loosing everything...jump anytime the wind blows hard or at unexpected noises (and considering I live near the airport under the flight landing pattern, this does not help)...I wonder what I would do, think about my son and I hiding in the bathtub with a mattress over us, etc., etc., etc.,....

It has been lightning pretty bad tonight, there is a 'high wind warning', and there was a tornado sighting near Leon, KS, can you tell?

Does it get better? Do you get used to it?

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by ShyDaisi

every time it rains? I just relocated from Tennessee 3 months ago. I was fine and even rolled my eyes at people from home that would ask, "What about the tornadoes?"....until the first time I heard the tornado siren go off last month.

Ever since then I have been terrified. I am always thinking about loosing everything...jump anytime the wind blows hard or at unexpected noises (and considering I live near the airport under the flight landing pattern, this does not help)...I wonder what I would do, think about my son and I hiding in the bathtub with a mattress over us, etc., etc., etc.,....

It has been lightning pretty bad tonight, there is a 'high wind warning', and there was a tornado sighting near Leon, KS, can you tell?

Does it get better? Do you get used to it?

Yes, it does get better. What you need is good information and lots of perspective.

It's a fact that if a tornado actually hits within 100 yards of your house, you WILL sustain some damage. And it could even be major damage.

It's a fact that probably at least once per season you could find yourself in the bathtub with the mattress.

HOWEVER,

It's also a fact that advances in doppler radar have made early warning much better. So much so that I think they go a little overboard with it. Any time a storm cloud looks like it could be thinking of rotating, they sound those alarms. They have to - better safe than sorry!

Located where it is, Kansas in the Spring is the meeting place for warm and cold fronts. But this is what you need for a tornado to form. And if that's the case, there will be a "Tornado Watch" issued. That means that there is both a warm and a cold front moving through. If you only have one, then there is almost no chance of tornado. You might see lots of lightning, hear lots of thunder, and there could be some gusty or heavy straight line winds, but tornados don't just pop up out of nowhere, conditions have to be just right.

It's also a fact that very few tornados are F4 or F5 (the rating scale with higher meaning bigger.) Most are much smaller and while they can certainly cause damage, you pretty much have to be right in their path to suffer anything major. And Kansas is a BIG place! It's the big ones that make the news, but the truth is that for every devastating tornado that hits a small town, there are hundreds of smaller ones that barely touch down in the middle of a farm somewhere.

That's why so many locals head outside when the sirens go off - hoping to catch a glimpse! I always say you can tell the native Kansans from the transplants by where they go when the sirens go off! The transplants head for cover, the natives go outside with a beer cooler and a lawn chair!

Here's what you can do:

1) Get to know your neighbors and hopefully someone in your immediate neighborhood has a basement and will be kind enough to let you come over when the sirens go off. A basement is safer and you will have company. It's also more fun and less scary for your son than huddling in the bathtub.

Let your son know when you do take cover, that what you are doing is for safety. Wearing a seatbelt doesn't mean you will have a crash, you wear it for safety. A tornado warning does NOT mean a tornado is headed straight for your house, it could be miles away and headed around you. But you are following safety rules.

Make a plan with your son, much like you would make a fire drill plan, so that when you have to take cover, you're not doing so in a panic. Try hard to remain calm and tell your son the stuff I'm telling you.

2) Learn your area and how to interpret the doppler maps when they show them on tv. When the weather guys are showing the maps, know where you are relative to where the storm is and what direction it's going. If it's North of you and heading Northeast, there is no reason to worry. (But if the sirens are going off it's still a good idea to follow procedure.)

I have to run ... I will think of more stuff and post again later.

Hang in there Mom!

[talbet]

I used to scoff at tornados, until I went through 2 of them. One it was dark and I did not see anything until the next morning, the second I watched as trees that were mature went flat to the ground, windows blew out and I could not get the basement door open because of the pressure difference. I finally got it open and waited for it to pass. When I came out what was once tree lined streets with a lot of shade was open to the sky and not one tree standing in a mile square. The sound is not like anything I have heard and to this day when the wind gets going I sit up and turn to the basement. Once you go through one, and I don't mean live 5 miles from where one hit, but were in the middle of ground 0, then you will never look at it the same way.

[TinaMcG]

Samantha, that was an outstanding and sensitive post!! I also became terrified of severe weather, and we've been here two years now. I still suffer from extreme anxiety during springtime, which I guess is known as "severe weather season" in Kansas. But I would like to repeat what on of the chief meteorologists from a local television station emailed me recently when I wrote to him about this.

He said the chance any one of us will experience or even see a tornado is very slim -- unless we're storm chasers. He also said that 9 out of every 10 tornadoes is the minor kind. Ourinsurance agent reassured me the same way, saying the vast majority of tornado damage is outbuilding damage and roof and window damage to houses. Samantha is right -- the news footage is always the flattened buildings. Even in last night's tornadoes west of here, the cameras focused on flattened barns and debris. They hardly even mentioned that the homes in the path of the tornadoes were still standing had only minor damage.

Talbet, your post was negative as usual. I'm sure she knows what the worst possible scenarion is. What she needs to know is that the chances are very slim that she will ever experience a tornado. She needs to know the safety protocols and she needs to have a plan with neighbors to check on each others' safety. She does not need to hear our horror stories. That was might insensitive, IMO.

I have a plan to go next door with our dogs in the even there is a tornado warning when my husband is travelling. That's a big comfort, believe me.

[ShyDaisi]

Thank you both for your reassuring posts. It is one of those things that if I think logically about it, I know that there are slim to none chances, but on nights like last night when the emotions of it all came crashing down. The information you gave me was definitely helpful and has eased my mind a bit. Hopefully, as time passes I will become less anxious and more aware. Is there any type of environment or "feeling" to the atmosphere when tornadoes are more likely to hit? Silly question I am sure. I know that I won't be able to "predict", per se, but it would be nice to know when to be more anxious, you know?

One thing that sets me apart from other transplants it seems, is that when the bad weather hits, I want to see what is going on. Like last night, I was sitting in my living room, watching Doppler radar like a hawk with the sound on mute and the closed captioning on, with my front door wide open -- so that I could see and hear what is right outside! I wish that tornadoes would be a little more accommodating and only form during the day

One thing that sucks is I live near the airport and under the landing patterns, so every time I hear rumbles, I have to discern whether it is an airplane or thunder or some thing to be concerned about. I guess I have to think that I am lucky to not live near train tracks though, as I have heard the tornadoes have a similar sound?

[concrete it]

You really dont have to worry if its windy or stormy. Its when during a storm all the wind stops and doesnt blow, thats the point to be worried about. And normally its very humid also.

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by talbet

Once you go through one, and I don't mean live 5 miles from where one hit, but were in the middle of ground 0, then you will never look at it the same way.

And I'm sure that once you are struck by lightning, you never look at it the same way either. I'm sure that once you are hit by a train, you never look at those the same way. Once you have cancer, you gain a whole new perspective on that as well.

What is the point?

The vast majority of Kansans will never see a tornado. It's not necessary to live in fear of them. Take cover in a warning? YES! Live in fear? No.

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by ShyDaisi

Is there any type of environment or "feeling" to the atmosphere when tornadoes are more likely to hit?

Not really consistently, no. But it's always a good idea to keep an eye on the weather in Kansas, especially in the Spring! The radar maps will show if a front is moving through or headed our way, and as I said, if conditions are right, they will issue a "Tornado Watch".

[rosecitywanderer]

Being from Oregon, tornadoes are not really a threat. We worry more about earthquakes. I have only four days left in Overland Park and the thought of a tornado still doesn't really worry me. Now if I were to experience one, I think my opinion would change. But why worry about something over which you have no control?

[TinaMcG]

Originally Posted by ShyDaisi

One thing that sets me apart from other transplants it seems, is that when the bad weather hits, I want to see what is going on. Like last night, I was sitting in my living room, watching Doppler radar like a hawk with the sound on mute and the closed captioning on, with my front door wide open -- so that I could see and hear what is right outside! I wish that tornadoes would be a little more accommodating and only form during the day

One thing that sucks is I live near the airport and under the landing patterns, so every time I hear rumbles, I have to discern whether it is an airplane or thunder or some thing to be concerned about. I guess I have to think that I am lucky to not live near train tracks though, as I have heard the tornadoes have a similar sound?

Since the atmosphere is less stable during the day, I think there is less chance of them developing during the night when things settle down more. I always prefer overnight storms so I can get out the earplugs and snooze through them. In the twoyears we've been here, most storms occur overnight, for some reason. I can only remember a few times when we had a big long rain during the day.

We live about 2/3 mile from freight train tracks, and it's funny you mention that sound. We used to live 25 NW of O'Hare Airport outside Chicago, and sometimes when we were in a flight path, the planes sounded like thunder, too. Believe me, you'll get used to the sounds of the planes overhead, just like I can now tell when a train is passing through the area.

I really miss the sounds of the planes, believe it or not. We live way down in south JoCo and rarely see or hear them.