Overcoming Tornado Fear (Wichita, Kansas City, Topeka: homes, earthquakes, to live in)

[vb_guy]

Here's something that will (hopefully) take the fear out of some people. In the last 20 years, Kansas has only recorded four F5 tornadoes: the 1990 Hesston/Goessel tornadoes (two in the same storm), the 1991 Andover tornado, and the 2007 Greensburg tornado. Only the Greensburg storm would be classified EF5 today. In those three storms, fewer than 40 people died (27 in the Andover storm alone). So the dangerous tornadoes are very rare, and the massive deaths from tornadoes are even rarer.

If you don't think lightning strikes twice, ask the people in Moore, Oklahoma. They were struck by tornadoes twice in a five-year span (the now famous 1999 storm and again in 2003). NEVER, ever think that it can't happen. Mother Nature has no sympathy for those who have experienced the wrath of a natural disaster.

[WyoNewk]

Originally Posted by vb_guy

... If you don't think lightning strikes twice, ask the people in Moore, Oklahoma. They were struck by tornadoes twice in a five-year span (the now famous 1999 storm and again in 2003). NEVER, ever think that it can't happen. Mother Nature has no sympathy for those who have experienced the wrath of a natural disaster.

My family moved from NE Kansas to Iowa when I was a kid. One of the "perks" of the move was that we'd be moving away from Tornado Alley. Well, my sister and her husband bought a farm in western Iowa, and in the first 20 or 25 years on it, the improvements (their house, barn, etc.) were hit by FIVE different tornadoes.

Out of everything that was above ground when they moved there (house, barn, cattle sheds, pig shed, implement shed, grain bins and several trees) only only one tree remains standing, the rest taken by the tornadoes -- except for the original house. They tore down the old house and replaced it with a new one with an attached garage. The following year a tornado hit the new house, taking the garage and a section of roof and some windows from the house. No injuries occurred from any of these twisters, just lots and lots of property damage.

I don't know what would cause tornadoes to track over the same small area so often, but apparently something does. There were also two or three that missed their house by maybe a quarter or half mile.

[lakerat66]

You are more likley to be struck by lightning in Kansas than hit by a tornado. Just be cautious, buy a weather radio, and don't drive in hail. Any area between Dallas and Wichita can be very dangerous but the chances of you being injured are very slim

[luzianne]

Nothing to be afraid of! I've lived in Kansas and Missouri my entire life and have been through lots of tornado watches (conditions favorable for a tornado) and tornado warnings (tornado has been spotted) and I have yet to actually see a tornado. I took spotter training 15 or so years ago hoping I WOULD be able to spot a tornado someday, but so far no luck. I love thunderstorms and I love watching the sky as a storm approaches. I love it when the sky turns green and when it turns black. I love the wind. But I've never seen a tornado. If a tornado did actually hit where I live, I'd go to the basement and I would be okay. But my house was built in 1956 and so far it has never been hit by a tornado.

[Craziaskowboi]

The best way to deal with a tornado is simply to confront it. Don't run away from it; just face it head-on instead, and stare it down if you need to. It helps if you're drunk too. Just cuss it out and throw beer bottles at it, and it'll go away. I hope this helps.

[TinaMcG]

I have found that a good way to avoid the fear of tornadoes is to not watchKatie Horner, Gary Lezak or Mike Thompson. I have had it up to here with those three. Lezak has become even scarier than Katie, and Thompson always uses terms like "it's gonna get ugly, that monster is taking aim at KC". Lezak does his level best to work the word "severe" into as many forecasts as possible, even if it means telling us "this storm won't be severe". So I am now down to watching two weather people out of all of them in KC: Don Harman and Brett Anthony. They're not hysterics. They don't engage in hyperbole very often. I never watch the weather in the evenings. I'd watch Bryan Busby, but I always have a hard time understanding him because he talks so fast. Seriously, some of the TV weather people are scarier than the weather in Kansas!

I miss Tom Skilling in Chicago.

[bev osborn]

Originally Posted by cdc1211

Hasn't Topeka been hit by some pretty big tornadoes? 1966 and 1983 come to mind from things I have read.

Read the book"...AND HELL FOLLOWED WITH IT".-life and death in a Kansas Tornado by Bonor Menninger.
Two people were actually blown up into the tornado and lived to tell about it--it rolled one guy along like a basketball and he had glass and rocks coming out of his face and scalp for years.The photos of him at the hospital are unbelievable.He resembles some sort of plant life.He was a
Topeka deejay named Rick Douglass and the tornado carried him 100 yards.
There was another one in Topeka back in 1917. They do hit big cities at times.

[bev osborn]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

The best way to deal with a tornado is simply to confront it. Don't run away from it; just face it head-on instead, and stare it down if you need to. It helps if you're drunk too. Just cuss it out and throw beer bottles at it, and it'll go away. I hope this helps.

You are good to read---gave me my only laugh today.
THANKS!!!!!

[AnywhereElse]

Some reliable facts: Historical Kansas Tornado Statistics

[brightman79]

I moved from the coast of Texas to Oklahoma years ago and I was terrified of it. You have to get through the first few tornado warnings and then you will realize like major devastating tornados make the headlines. It is because they are very rare! But do secure your lawn furniture :-).