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Old 04-25-2016, 04:33 PM
 
1,106 posts, read 1,621,516 times
Reputation: 1445

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Can only add to what others have said in that tornadoes should not be of high concern to you.
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Old 04-25-2016, 04:45 PM
 
Location: Grand Rapids Metro
8,882 posts, read 19,795,749 times
Reputation: 3920
Quote:
Originally Posted by laurabf View Post
Hi,

Seattle local looking for change of pace to a small town. I didn't realize until looking at informational maps on tornados how prevalent they are in Michigan. Is this true and what areas fair better?

Thanks!
Laura
46 years in Southern Lower Michigan and West Michigan and I've never seen a tornado. I've seen storms that looked like they'd spawn a tornado but that was about it.

When they do hit, they're not like hurricanes that have a huge 50 - 100 mile swath of destruction.
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Old 04-25-2016, 07:11 PM
 
1,636 posts, read 2,130,055 times
Reputation: 1827
Don't worry! We have sirens and basements in case one should happily come along.
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Old 04-25-2016, 10:00 PM
 
Location: Des Moines Metro
5,103 posts, read 8,566,046 times
Reputation: 9793
Here's the tornado that hit Dexter, MI in 2012.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhMMrlDy-z0

Personally, I wouldn't live in any of the open, flat areas, especially down around I-94 and south of there, along the Toledo border. There are enough hilly areas elsewhere that provide some protection.

That was on my mind when I was house-hunting in Des Moines. I live in one of the few hilly areas in the metro. It's also high enough to avoid any flooding.
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Old 04-25-2016, 10:29 PM
 
9,001 posts, read 10,146,919 times
Reputation: 14526
I find it amusing.....
All the people trying to minimize the OPs fear.

I have the same kind of fear-
I always look at the likelihood of
tornadoes wherever I go...
Its etched into my
mind when I saw my first tornado-
at the time I was 6
(It was a huge, history making
multi state super cell)

The next time I was 14- that one literally
took the roof off a building right
in front of my eyes......
I was too stunned to do anything
but watch.
Plus a few others.....
Tornadoes are something I'll
always be extra aware of......
I think the op should do the research &
also make sure the new place has a basement
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Old 04-26-2016, 12:19 AM
 
Location: Detroit
3,671 posts, read 5,856,285 times
Reputation: 2691
I never seen a tornado before. Most people I know haven't either. Living in the southern part of Michigan... it is very rare, you will get tornado "warnings" all the time in the spring though. I heard of a time decades ago when a tornado came right through downtown Kalamazoo. But the most common natural disasters we have is snow and freezing cold in the early spring lol. Oh and natural bi-polar weather. If MI weather does feel like having a tornado, it will probably change it's mind in 5 minutes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens View Post
Our family has lived in Michigan for 50 years. As a teen/early 20s I used to chase tornados (stupidly) to try to get close enough to see one. No luck. I did get to see where one rip up a field once from a distance. I could not see much, but when I got to the field there was a cool ditch made by the tornado. We have seen some funnel clouds way overhead and about 30 years ago my brother was in a house when the roof was torn off by a tornado. We have a handful of warnings/watches some years. Some years nothing. A few years ago we slept in the basement one night to be safe - a tornado touched down that year in Dundee or somewhere near there.

They seem to be really good at predicting them and reporting them and calculating where they will go. Realistically you are more at risk from the C.V. strain caused by panic/worrying when there is an alert than you are at risk of one harming you.

We are actually in one of the safest locations for avoiding natural (and unnatural) disasters. We have no real earthquakes, no hurricanes, we are safe from tsunami, never heard of any wildfires endangering people here, we get occasional floods but they are rare and usually more of an annoyance than a threat. Lightening strikes are rare. Drought is almost unheard of. We do not have any significant dams to break. There really is not anything here worthwhile for a terrorist to blow up. We have not had a major blizzard since the 1970s - and we do not get anywhere near the tornadoes that the western states see. Oh and no sharks too.
I wouldn't say that. Terrorist aren't that picky. Their cowards who just want easy, defenseless targets. Remember that underwear bomber at Detroit Metro? or just recently the ISIS nut back in February who planned on shooting up one of the biggest churches in Detroit with his AK? Having the largest Middle Eastern population, Michigan actually gets threatened quite often. Middle Eastern terrorist blend in too easily around here, and there are many large/ important companies and government buildings, transportation hubs, and countless large scale events in Detroit/ Michigan to attack. Although they will go for NYC and DC before anything.
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Old 04-26-2016, 05:43 AM
 
Location: Grand Rapids Metro
8,882 posts, read 19,795,749 times
Reputation: 3920
Quote:
Originally Posted by believe007 View Post
I find it amusing.....
All the people trying to minimize the OPs fear.

I have the same kind of fear-
I always look at the likelihood of
tornadoes wherever I go...
Its etched into my
mind when I saw my first tornado-
at the time I was 6
(It was a huge, history making
multi state super cell)

The next time I was 14- that one literally
took the roof off a building right
in front of my eyes......
I was too stunned to do anything
but watch.
Plus a few others.....
Tornadoes are something I'll
always be extra aware of......
I think the op should do the research &
also make sure the new place has a basement
I have a feeling this was not in Michigan. I don't think there's ever been a multi-state supercell in Michigan.

All of Michigan's deadliest were interestingly back in the 50s and 60s. Maybe due to better warning technology?

10 deadliest Michigan tornadoes: A look back at the history of fatal twisters in the state | MLive.com

Even the Dexter one that someone posted above did $9.1 Million in damage. That's piddly compared to the $2 billion in destruction in the F5 in Oklahoma City a few years ago. Or Hurricane Sandy which did $68 Billion in destruction in 2012.

We don't have a tornado problem here. Lightning storms probably do more damage than the few tornadoes that mostly hit open cornfields and throw a couple of cows and tractors around.
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Old 04-26-2016, 07:16 AM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,707 posts, read 79,502,588 times
Reputation: 39443
Quote:
Originally Posted by believe007 View Post
I find it amusing.....
All the people trying to minimize the OPs fear.

I have the same kind of fear-
I always look at the likelihood of
tornadoes wherever I go...
Its etched into my
mind when I saw my first tornado-
at the time I was 6
(It was a huge, history making
multi state super cell)

The next time I was 14- that one literally
took the roof off a building right
in front of my eyes......
I was too stunned to do anything
but watch.
Plus a few others.....
Tornadoes are something I'll
always be extra aware of......
I think the op should do the research &
also make sure the new place has a basement
Is this a poem?

I do not recognize the meter.
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Old 04-26-2016, 07:55 AM
 
Location: Ann Arbor MI
2,221 posts, read 2,228,143 times
Reputation: 3169
I think we all have fears that may or may not be rational. I do not like flying in an airplane even though I am aware of the statistical safety. I don't ride fast moving carnival rides because 54 years ago in 1962 when I was 10 I threw up on one at Boblo Island.
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Old 04-26-2016, 11:44 AM
 
Location: Everett, WA
173 posts, read 180,719 times
Reputation: 164
Thanks all! After so many saying it isn't a big threat I'm not too concerned. As I was researching it came up but I love to get the facts from locals rather than various sites. Thank all for the input.
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