Tornados (moving, activity, areas)

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by catman

momof2dfw: A "gustnado" isn't anything like a real tornado; it's more like a dust devil.

The thing to remember is that a tornado covers a small area, seldom more than a half-mile across, so the odds of being directly in the path of one are small. Of course, if you are and it's a strong one, you're toast. The Jarrell tornado is the one that I found most incredible, what with peeling pavement up off the ground. Yikes!

That was so sad and devastating and that tornado is why I now have a storm cellar, never to be without one again.

[TexasHorseLady]

Canine Castle, do you live in Jarrell?

We do, and did then, and have a storm shelter now (though it flooded to the roof last July during the Great Floods when the creek running through our property came WAY above the 100 year flood plain levels).

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Canine Castle, do you live in Jarrell?

We do, and did then, and have a storm shelter now (though it flooded to the roof last July during the Great Floods when the creek running through our property came WAY above the 100 year flood plain levels).

No, I live in Hill County and always said I'd never live in Texas with a storm cellar. Well, I did live here from 1978 until the Jarrell killer and then decided, "Enough is enough" as they can hit anywhere in Texas. My storm cellar stays very dry, but I don't live near a creek. I made that mistake in the first house I lived in when moving to Texas and was always worried about the water coming into the house. It got close many times but only once did the house flood but not badly. We just had to rip out the carpet and get new. I couldn't wait to sell that house and "move to higher ground" where I and my storm cellar reside, I for 21 years and the cellar for almost 11 years.

[TexasHorseLady]

It never occurred to us that the storm shelter would flood - it's well above the hundred year flood plain. But last July, when 9 inches fell in 4 hours upstream from us (not on our place), we were proven wrong. Didn't get into the house (it's on pier and beam, for one thing), but we woke up and my husband went out to get something out of the storm shelter and it was full to the top. Just amazing.

[Chickrae]

Tornadoes seem to be happening in Oklahoma..thats where I live now...but I am moving to Texas in the next couple years. I think I would be more worried about Hurricanes. My son lives in Houston and isn't worried at all.

[Canine*Castle]

Oklahoma has has 2379 tornadoes and Texas, 5722 in 45 years. OK's deaths from such were 220 and Texas' were 478. Of course Texas is bigger, but not all of Texas is prone to many tornadoes.

Well, I wouldn't live in Houston due to the heat and humidity being worse there nor would I want to contend with potential hurricanes although one does have the chance of moving north with fair warning. Harris county has only had 7 hurricanes/tropical storms in 58 years. I'd worry more about tornadoes as that county has had 211 in 58 years. No thank you.

[catman]

If you're in Houston and a hurricane is looking like it's coming, you better get out early. The Nurricane Rita traffic jam three years ago was incredible. I wouldn't live there either. Hurricanes cover so much more area that I'd be more concerned with them than tornadoes there, which aren't likely to hit a given spot.

Anyway, I wouln't live anywhere near the coast. I like dry air. Ft Worth is too humid for my liking, but it's nothing like Houston.

[Stan41]

Tornadoes are no worry here. I have lived in Mills County 65 years and never have seen a tornado. Saw a funnel cloud several miles away about 50 years ago.
Stan

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by Stan41

Tornadoes are no worry here. I have lived in Mills County 65 years and never have seen a tornado. Saw a funnel cloud several miles away about 50 years ago.
Stan

That was a county to which I was looking into a possible relocate and in 58 years, Mills has only had 12 tornadoes, 2 F2s and the rest F1s and F0s, no deaths, no injuries. I like those odds.

[case44]

Originally Posted by Chickrae

Tornadoes seem to be happening in Oklahoma..thats where I live now...but I am moving to Texas in the next couple years. I think I would be more worried about Hurricanes. My son lives in Houston and isn't worried at all.

It's usually very active in Oklahoma, but it seems like this year is a more active year than average. In Texas, we've had quite a few tornado events so far.