Tornado safety

Old-Biscuit wrote:
2nd year of travel we were cruising thru tornado alley. GF was nervous so we bought a 'weather radio' in Brookhaven MS.
Got some state maps.checked out the names of counties from the states on our planned route and wrote them down
Programmed the weather radio........and then it started going off
By the 3rd morning of constant interrupted sleep, peering out into dark, looking for signs of folks running I turned it off.

Couple weeks later we were in a state cg just outside Tupelo enjoying ourselves. Come Friday evening the cg started filling up with locals. Saturday evening there was all kinds of noise/commotion---locals were hastily packing up just throwing stuff in trucks/trailers.
"What's going ON?" ----------TORNADO!! Best get going
"Can't we FT---no place to go" ----THEN LAY FACE DOWN IN THAT DITCH AND PRAY

10 minutes park was empty except for US/dog and another couple.
We all gathered at the bathhouse (men's was middle of building and had showers in back corner).

After couple hours of peering out into the dark wooded area we all looked at each other and said "Goodnight...hope to see you in AM"

Yep........tornado went thru area. Tore up some trees, ripped roof off couple old farm structures and damaged the FEED CO-OP building.

Outside of Hutchinson KS spent a night in 'shelter'. Same thing in Pipestone MN

Out of all the natural events
Earthquakes never bothered me.......30+ yrs. in SO. CAL. They happen/last a few seconds rarely longer
Hurricanes........well they start warning about there proposed track weeks out. We just moved cause we could
Tornadoes....well they warn about possible happens day ahead. But then they just happen---whack! And they are unpredictable at best.

My prayers/condolences go out to those affected. Just miserable to have it all just vanish------poof.

Hay, I know Pipestone, it's only a few miles from me.

The newer, more expensive, better, Weather Radios have something called SAME warnings built into them. It allows you to program them to only go off for emergency very near you area. But, you still need to know your area to program the radio.

2nd year of travel we were cruising thru tornado alley. GF was nervous so we bought a 'weather radio' in Brookhaven MS.
Got some state maps.checked out the names of counties from the states on our planned route and wrote them down
Programmed the weather radio........and then it started going off
By the 3rd morning of constant interrupted sleep, peering out into dark, looking for signs of folks running I turned it off.

Couple weeks later we were in a state cg just outside Tupelo enjoying ourselves. Come Friday evening the cg started filling up with locals. Saturday evening there was all kinds of noise/commotion---locals were hastily packing up just throwing stuff in trucks/trailers.
"What's going ON?" ----------TORNADO!! Best get going
"Can't we FT---no place to go" ----THEN LAY FACE DOWN IN THAT DITCH AND PRAY

10 minutes park was empty except for US/dog and another couple.
We all gathered at the bathhouse (men's was middle of building and had showers in back corner).

After couple hours of peering out into the dark wooded area we all looked at each other and said "Goodnight...hope to see you in AM"

Yep........tornado went thru area. Tore up some trees, ripped roof off couple old farm structures and damaged the FEED CO-OP building.

Outside of Hutchinson KS spent a night in 'shelter'. Same thing in Pipestone MN

Out of all the natural events
Earthquakes never bothered me.......30+ yrs. in SO. CAL. They happen/last a few seconds rarely longer
Hurricanes........well they start warning about there proposed track weeks out. We just moved cause we could
Tornadoes....well they warn about possible happens day ahead. But then they just happen---whack! And they are unpredictable at best.

My prayers/condolences go out to those affected. Just miserable to have it all just vanish------poof.

I have a Verizon Brigadier and get no warnings of any kind. I wish I did.

It would be great to be able to get the National Weather Service Warnings through the phone but, I don't know how to get it to do that. Heck, I have a hard time figuring it out good enough to make phone calls.

KilroyGuy wrote:
According to NOAA, the average annual deaths from tornados each year is 80, not 50. Now, multiply that by being in tornado alley and multiply it some more by being in an RV, and the actual odds for being injured or worse are much higher. Do not ignore the warnings, know where you are and where you can go. Keep your wits together at all times. There is nothing funny about a tornado --- just ask folks in Joplin, Conway, Vilonia and Tuscaloosa. Unfortunately there are many of them who you can't ask.

And your point is?

We as RV'er are on the road all the time. It's why we RV. Around 100 people are killed on the roads of the US every single DAY in the US. That makes dying in an RV on the road 356 times more likely than dying in a tornado.

Now I understand why casinos have so many slot machines. :R

According to NOAA, the average annual deaths from tornados each year is 80, not 50. Now, multiply that by being in tornado alley and multiply it some more by being in an RV, and the actual odds for being injured or worse are much higher. Do not ignore the warnings, know where you are and where you can go. Keep your wits together at all times. There is nothing funny about a tornado --- just ask folks in Joplin, Conway, Vilonia and Tuscaloosa. Unfortunately there are many of them who you can't ask.

sdianel wrote:
Know the difference between a watch and warning. If it's a warning, there is a tornado on the ground.

Not accurate information.

A tornado warning means either a tornado is either occurring or is imminent based on radar. The tornado does not have to be actually touching ground.

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/watchvswarn.html

Google

IN the format __town__state__County

i.e. Gettysburg PA County

Works for the U.S and Canada

Tie yourself to the picnic table you're gonna get blown away may as well make it a game.

no app on the phone, mine is a dumb phone, no tone of those new fangled smart phones. Verizon just sends warnings, happens at home here in AZ also!!!

Midwest is rated for torcon 6 this Saturday 5/16/15, heads up fro people traveling.