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Its hard to see tornadoes here anyway just because of the hilly terrain and abundance of trees. When they do come through it would just look like a lot of tree debris and dirt. The funnel wouldn't be visible until its right up on you.
If you all are really that worried about a tornado in Raleigh here is what you do. Go down under your home and dig our a 4 X8 foot square area about 6-8 feet deep. Cover it with a concrete slab with a small man door opening. The slab should be tethered to concrete anchors around the hole. Your existing home foundation should be suffice.Cut a hole through your home for an emergency access door. When the big whirlie bird comes, simply grab the family, jump through the trap door and into your hole under your home. The hole should have an emergency two-way radio in case your home falls on you down there and nobody knows you are there. Or, you could just pray and realize we all have to go at some point
Nope, no sirens here and that was really weird to this midwestern girl. What's funny to me is that the sirens were originally installed as a civil defense thing, not for bad weather. I guess North Carolinians weren't concerned about the Russians back in the day. lol
We bought a weather radio for this very reason. Unless you are watching TV or listening to the radio there is no way of knowing that there is a severe weather warning so having a weather radio was important to us. We have had funnel clouds spotted near Falls Lake within the past few years so they do happen.
It was funny to me to have to explain to a neighbor several years ago what the sky looks like when its 'tornado weather'. What to look for, the warning signs, etc. I'm sure anybody else from the midwest will know what I'm talking about. That greenish cast, the low lying blanket of dark clouds with the light grey sky underneath, watching the funnels starting to form.
It was funny to me to have to explain to a neighbor several years ago what the sky looks like when its 'tornado weather'. What to look for, the warning signs, etc. I'm sure anybody else from the midwest will know what I'm talking about. That greenish cast, the low lying blanket of dark clouds with the light grey sky underneath, watching the funnels starting to form.
I know exactly what you are talking about RJ--and I've never lived in the midwest. Don't forget the smell either...there's a very distinctive look, smell and feel to the possibilities of tornadoes.
ausmerika--I never thought about the smell before. Most definitely a different smell in the air. The stormy season is also different here. Back in IL, the storms came in the summer and cooled everything off. Here, the stormy season is more in the spring and the summer thunderstorms are the heat related 'pop up' storms and they rarely cool anything off. They must make it muggier.
There are so many little things like that that surprised me when I moved here. Like the clouds are different here. Just stuff that you don't expect to be that much different from another part of the country.
I remember that tornado. It hit around 1:15am Monday morning after Thanksgiving, leveling the K-Mart that was located where the Wal-Mart on US-70 near Millbrook, and shredding homes and apartments along Ray Road between Leesville and Lynn. I was in the top floor of one of those apartments on Ray Road at the time - it tore the roof off my apartment, threw a 2x4 through my bed (6 inches below my head ), through the wall and through two more walls before it finally stopped. They had to use chain saws and bulldozers to clear the trees off Ray to get the fire trucks and ambulances up to my complex. My brother, who was in North Dakota at the time, heard me being interviewed by NPR at the shelter where they moved all of us.
Wow... Which complex was it? Im doing some reserch and am curious
Our greatest life-threatening weather concern in NC is for hurricanes, which give plenty of forewarning. We knew Fran was coming because everyone was talking about Fran coming. You'd have to be an hermit without radio, TV, or computer to not know a hurricane was coming.
In the small town in NC where my parents live now, the siren sounds to call the volunteer fire department to come to the station when there is a fire... not that many of them don't already know b/c they stay tuned to the police band on their CB walkie talkies!
Thanks for the info about the weather radio from Radio Shack. That would be a good tool for the kids to learn about weather.
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), through the wall and through two more walls before it finally stopped. They had to use chain saws and bulldozers to clear the trees off Ray to get the fire trucks and ambulances up to my complex. My brother, who was in North Dakota at the time, heard me being interviewed by NPR at the shelter where they moved all of us.
