Have You Ever Seen or Been in a Tornado? (warm, city, traffic)

[lilred0005]

Like I said, I've never seen a tornado but I did see a waterspout once. It looked pretty big. This was in '91 or '92, at Dania Beach(John U. Lloyd park), over the Atlantic Ocean.

[kshe95girl]

4th of July, 1980, Sainte Genevieve, Mo. Some friends and I were parked by the ferry down on the Mississippi River, waiting for friends to come over from Illinois. We saw the weather starting to change, and then a HUGE wall of black clouds coming down from the northwest. My GF and I jumped in my teeny car ( '79 TR7 ragtop) and tried to run. We made it about 6 miles, then the storm got us..... I pulled over in a banked curve, the car shook like hell, started to move, we bailed into the ditch, and watched the tornado pass over the bank and cross over the road.......my car moved 75 feet!!!!!!
Turned out it was a tornado outbreak that stretched across several states......

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by lilred0005

Have you ever been in a tornado? Where were you when the tornado struck? What state were you living in? What was the experience like?

Sometime around 1999 (give or take a year), there was a tornado in Indianapolis. I was working in a strip mall and a lady came by and said.... "There has been a tornado spotted on...XXXX Street" (can't remember the name), which was about two blocks from where I was working.

At that instant, EVERYBODY in the building went outside to see the tornado coming. We all stood there in the parking lot, like fools staring at the sky.

When the tornado got closer, you could see the clouds boiling in the sky. It had not touched down yet, but as the funnel cloud came over the parking lot, it was weird to see how the funnel actually started on the ground and rose up to meet the churning in the sky. A bout a block down the road it took out a pizza joint and damaged a day care.

It was very cool to see and I never had any fear. I was just overwhelmed with a sense of watching. I do NOT like to compare real events with fictional movie events, but I could certainly see why the character played by Helen Hunt in that movie Twister, had to be dragged to shelter. I think I would be standing there staring at it too. Such a fascinating sight.

By the way, the tornado I saw was like an F0 or F1 so it was not one of these monsters who wipe out whole cities. Which maybe had a lot to do with my lack of fear.

20yrsinBranson

[20yrsinBranson]

I live in SW MO and do a lot of traveling with my work. I have seen an awful lot of places that have been demolished by tornadoes. It really makes you realize the awesome power and destruction of the storm. I went through Pierce City a few days after it was leveled by a storm and people were killed. Unless you have seen it first hand, you cannot imagine what it was like. Just massive e destruction. Buildings made of brick and stone just blasted apart. It's really amazing.

20yrsinBranson

[knke0204]

I saw one in Brooklyn Park in 1986, a suburb of Minneapolis. It was decent sized, and hung around for some time.

I saw one a few years ago in another suburb that hit the town of Alberville, MN.

[MrMarbles]

Originally Posted by Infamous92

I've seen many funnel clouds and shelf clouds, I've been in many tornado warnings, a tornado struck not too far from us (like down the block) while I was sleeping then it was all over the news.

I've a feeling we're not in NYC any more!

Personally, I've never seen a tornado, though there may have been warnings that I don't remember.

[lilred0005]

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

Sometime around 1999 (give or take a year), there was a tornado in Indianapolis. I was working in a strip mall and a lady came by and said.... "There has been a tornado spotted on...XXXX Street" (can't remember the name), which was about two blocks from where I was working.

At that instant, EVERYBODY in the building went outside to see the tornado coming. We all stood there in the parking lot, like fools staring at the sky.

When the tornado got closer, you could see the clouds boiling in the sky. It had not touched down yet, but as the funnel cloud came over the parking lot, it was weird to see how the funnel actually started on the ground and rose up to meet the churning in the sky. A bout a block down the road it took out a pizza joint and damaged a day care.

It was very cool to see and I never had any fear. I was just overwhelmed with a sense of watching. I do NOT like to compare real events with fictional movie events, but I could certainly see why the character played by Helen Hunt in that movie Twister, had to be dragged to shelter. I think I would be standing there staring at it too. Such a fascinating sight.

By the way, the tornado I saw was like an F0 or F1 so it was not one of these monsters who wipe out whole cities. Which maybe had a lot to do with my lack of fear.

20yrsinBranson

Wow, I think I'd be standing there with my mouth hanging open too! I think tornadoes are nature personified: beautiful, complex, fickle, often ephemeral, and often dangerous. My whole family is from the Midwest(IA,MN MO,IL,WI). My mom grew up in IA and spent 2 yrs in Missoura(lol), and she saw several tornadoes. One struck the airport in Burlington, IA and she said the tower was destroyed, planes tossed around like small toys, & most peculiar was straw stuck thru wood. Laws of physics seem to change in tornadoes.

[Lamplight]

I've posted this before, but I saw my first and only tornado on Good Friday this year:



There was a thread about it and in it I posted a lot of aftermath pictures:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/nashv...freesboro.html

None of my property was damaged, though it went right by the townhouse I was living in at the time, and did a lot of damage all around that area. I believe over 100 houses and buildings were completely destroyed, and much of the damage still hasn't been repaired even now. The experience was like none other.

[Infamous92]

Originally Posted by MrMarbles

I've a feeling we're not in NYC any more!

Personally, I've never seen a tornado, though there may have been warnings that I don't remember.

Lol, I think there were like 3 Tornado warnings this year alone, we keep getting lucky (except in '07 with that borderline EF2/EF3).

[lilred0005]

Originally Posted by Lamplight

I've posted this before, but I saw my first and only tornado on Good Friday this year:



There was a thread about it and in it I posted a lot of aftermath pictures:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/nashv...freesboro.html

None of my property was damaged, though it went right by the townhouse I was living in at the time, and did a lot of damage all around that area. I believe over 100 houses and buildings were completely destroyed, and much of the damage still hasn't been repaired even now. The experience was like none other.

Wow, I'm really glad you didn't get hurt! I bet that was an experience you'll never forget. Can you imagine what the residents of Greensburg, KS went thru with that EF5? Thanks again for your post & the awesome pic. I will have to check out your thread. Take care, lil red