Tornado safety

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:

colliehauler wrote:
The odd thing is Moore OK has been hit by a tornado several times in the last few years and this area that was hit is just North of Moore.

I was driving from Dallas to OKC several Friday nighta for a several years in the 90's and 00's (helping a friend ran State Fair Speedway).

We saw the tornado damage in Moore four different years, frequent damage between central Norman and I-40.

After I got our first trailer, I made a decision to not stop at Tinker AFB FamCamp nor Roadrunner RV during tornado season.

I can't prove it but to me it seems that certain geography and buildup seems to enhance tornado creation, and tornado routes. And the Norman to I-40 area along I-35 has that combination.

I think your right. Hail storms too. It also seems to go in patterns . For a few years a certain place will get the bad weather, then it will shift slightly and be somewhere else.

Here are the facts:

We drive on the roads in the US for our little hobby.

Around 30,000 people are killed on our US hiways every year.

About 50 people are killed every year in the US from tornado's.

About 400 people die from electrocution in the US every year.

About 400 people die from falling out of bed in the US every year.



Or another way to look at it is:

About 100 people die each and every day in the US from auto accidents.

About 1 person a week dies in the US from tornados.

Myself? I'm going to be more careful how I get out of bed from now on!!!

Enough said. :)

holstein13 wrote:

TucsonJim wrote:
Other campers seemed to care less and just kept drinking their beer and said "if it gets ya, it gets ya"! Fortunately, the tornado bypassed us. But I vowed to have a plan from then on. Now, if there is a chance of tornados while we're in camp, I ask the RV park owner where the best place to shelter is. You'd be surprised how many of them say "We've never been hit by a tornado, so there's nothing to worry about".

I think you are far more likely to die from some bad deviled eggs at the potluck or be shot at Walmart than you are of being hit by a tornado in an RV park. ;-)

Let the flames begin.

But I dont eat the deviled eggs at potlucks or go to Walmart - so I am more likely to be hit by a tornado in an RV park

"I'm happier than a tornado in a trailer park!" - Tow Mater

2gypsies wrote:
I have never seen a map atlas or state map that didn't have the counties. They are typically in two places - on the map itself and, especially in an atlas, in the index in the first listings under the state.

I stand corrected, just checked the Rand McNally set we bought late last year, they are marked.

I have never seen a map atlas or state map that didn't have the counties. They are typically in two places - on the map itself and, especially in an atlas, in the index in the first listings under the state.

If you have internet service Google your city for the county information.

If you're in a RV park in questionable weather areas or time of year, always ask when you check in. Also ask what is considered the designated shelter. If you're in a tornado area, they know.

If the RV park gives you a park map, many times the county is listed.

Any store employee or fuel station will know what county he's in.

When the weather radio states "seek shelter", don't dawdle. Do it. The campground restrooms are usually the best place - not the big rec room with a wood frame.

TucsonJim wrote:
...Other campers seemed to care less and just kept drinking their beer and said "if it gets ya, it gets ya"!...

Edit: Penalty on me for not reading the whole thread, and saying much the same as the post above, and the post above that and.....But...

Tornadoes kill folks every year and it's always sad, and it's always good to take precautions.

Conversely, I'm 55 years old, my wife is 57, our four parents are 80, my Grandmother lived till 90, I had six aunts and uncles, three cousins, and none of us has been hit by a tornado. Did have a niece miss the Joplin, MO tornado by a few blocks and had some dents in her car...so, those beer drinkers are somewhat valid.

The odds of being killed in a traffic accident while pulling your camper are many times greater than getting caught in a tornado in your camper.

I don't advocate ignoring warnings- and recent technology has gotten better at tracking and semi-exactly locating Tornadoes (instead of an entire county)...then again, a random, small, untrackable tornado and a big tree limb right over your bed, OR a really BIG tornado and a small, cinder block bathroom...

...if it gets ya, it gets ya...

holstein13 wrote:

TucsonJim wrote:
Other campers seemed to care less and just kept drinking their beer and said "if it gets ya, it gets ya"! Fortunately, the tornado bypassed us. But I vowed to have a plan from then on. Now, if there is a chance of tornados while we're in camp, I ask the RV park owner where the best place to shelter is. You'd be surprised how many of them say "We've never been hit by a tornado, so there's nothing to worry about".

I think you are far more likely to die from some bad deviled eggs at the potluck or be shot at Walmart than you are of being hit by a tornado in an RV park. ;-)

Let the flames begin.

No flames and statistical speaking you are correct. But there is no need to become complacent either. Look at how many people died in the Joplin tornado. When you are traveling in a area with severe thunderstorms take a few minutes to have a plan.

True, but during lighting storms I don't wander around a golf course holding up a steel shaft club.

Traffic accidents (always the other idiots) are the most likely way for an RVer to die while traveling. But we don't stop traveling.

And we take what safety precautions we can.

The same with tornados, hurricanes, floods, etc.

TucsonJim wrote:
Other campers seemed to care less and just kept drinking their beer and said "if it gets ya, it gets ya"! Fortunately, the tornado bypassed us. But I vowed to have a plan from then on. Now, if there is a chance of tornados while we're in camp, I ask the RV park owner where the best place to shelter is. You'd be surprised how many of them say "We've never been hit by a tornado, so there's nothing to worry about".

I think you are far more likely to die from some bad deviled eggs at the potluck or be shot at Walmart than you are of being hit by a tornado in an RV park. ;-)

Let the flames begin.

I like the terms "in the unlikely event", and "rare", if you travel in Tornado Alley often (as we do) or live in Florida or NC (as we do), there is a very good chance you will have some close calls (as we have). I always ask at the campground where the shelter is and what kind of warning we can expect. I stack our necessities near the door and we are ready to run. We have hunkered in bathrooms in north Alabama, Kansas, and Oklahoma (x2), and in a high school in Florida. We also have a weather radio and a book of county maps. Hurricanes I can deal with but I am scared spitless of tornadoes. lizzie