[zenjenn]

Yup, with an earthquake, you bracket your shelves to the walls, keep a supply of food and water, and after that its pretty much in the hands of big G whether you're going to get hit by a big one and whether you're going to be in the wrong place when it happens. There's not much sense in worrying after that. My husband was on a 6th floor dorm highrise on a loft bed when Northridge hit and it wasn't pretty.

My husband actually thinks tornados are a bigger pain BECAUSE you have to respond to and deal with warnings, instead of just kicking back and not worrying about it.

However, I find tornados less scarey because not only do you get a warning, but if a nasty tornado hits, it's not going to level the entire town. It's going to hit here and there but you'll still have neighbors and friends who got missed that can help you. Hurricanes can level the entire town, but at least you have like days to evacuate if it looks that bad. Wildfires? You can evacuate. Earthquakes and tsunamis are the worst I think, because IF a big enough one hits, there's no getting away from it, and you're going to be pretty much on your own when it does. (I guess there's some warning with tsunamis but there's still a big element of unknown there.)

So yeah, I'll pick tornados no problem.

[33458]

Originally Posted by deesonic

I'm blown away (no pun intended) by all the questions on this forum regarding tornados. It never occurred to me that our weather or potential for natural disaster was any scarier than any other part of the country.

Well, the Weather Channel is to blame... Everything is their fault.

And in addition, the Tornado Project ( pretty impressive site The Tornado Project Online! ) has varying grades per state, with the disclaimer that everyone has a different measure of "THE WORST" - so they've collected them all for display.
While Florida has more storms (heck, have had them right here), Alabama has the proud distinction of having some of the deadliest twisters. Not so many little wind spits. According to some. And by viewing past path projections (gotta Google a bit), you can see that you've had quite a few around there, even if the spacing is generous.

Speaking as a reluctant South Floridian (hopefully that will be changing soon to wanna-be Huntsvillian) I can say anybody who ignores hurricane danger is being foolhardy. Don't spend every day of your life freaking out about it, because you'll die young from something else, but have a plan in mind, just in case. The same would apply to tornadoes - better to be prepared and never have to make use of it.

Calming much from my initial ACK - TWISTERS' A COMIN'! paranoia a year ago...

I told husband my condition; upon obtaining residence, we'd be putting in a storm shelter or building a root cellar (had one of those when I was a kid up north)...prolly a shelter though, because that has a positive, if small, effect on home owners insurance rates.

[33458]

Weird, not finding the rating 'breakdown' (frequency, most damage, most deaths, etc.) by state - maybe it was another site.

Here's another look-see:
Alabama Tornado Graphics (http://www.srh.weather.gov/bmx/aware/swaw/tor_graphics.html - broken link)

[33458]

The Tornado Project Online!

I found it - go to TOP TEN LISTS - and click on the statistics page.
Alabama ranks fourth and fifth.

[Keeper]

Just don't live close to a mobile home.. they seem to attract tornadoes.
The tornados here are no worse than the ones like they had in central FL this past year. We had tornados in Tampa over the years I lived there but the warning system was not nearly as good as it is here. They stay on the TV the whole time if there is even a hint of a threat. There are sirens and nearly everyone has a weather radio to alert them if there is a tornado in their area. You might find a house with a basement and some older homes have shelters already.