Tornado Safety
Sadly, it appears that several RVers were killed in Louisiana by a tornado while in their RV. What is a safe way to weather a storm? I would think it would be obvious to shelter in a fixed structure ...
Forum Discussion
DougE wrote:
In response to my original post everybody is pushing alternatives (all better) than riding out a storm in your RV or vehicle, but the original premise was which would you do if that were your only choice. RV or tow vehicle (or toad)? And why?
Absolutely NOT the RV - it will provide slightly more protection from thrown debris, than a tent. A car/truck only offers protection if you get it out of harm's way.
There is a website called Intellicast.com, that has interactive radar. You can ask it to show the "Storm Tracks" - and if you are in the path of an oncoming rotating storm, you might be able to get far enough away from the debris field. In most usual cases, if you are in the line of a storm, driving south might help? But you need to be ahead of the curve - if you don't have 15+ minutes lead time, then head for the restrooms.
Normally, in seeking shelter, you want as many walls with minimal glass as possible between you and the outside. The debris field, where the tornado is throwing dangerous objects, is MUCH larger than the tornado itself. While trying to outrun a tornado is NOT a good idea, if it's a large tornado, you will not survive unless you are underground; and when we're camping, that's almost impossible to do. So getting out of the way is the second-best choice.
The last thing I want to emphasize: nowadays, tornadoes are usually warned more than a day ahead of time. Granted, a funnel can appear in the blink of an eye, but weather forecasting usually will give a wide-area alert that severe weather/tornadoes are a possibility. And when the Weather Service uses the words "severe weather", they don't mean simply loud thunder and heavy rain. Severe weather can do as much damage as a small tornado.
