where to go during bad storms
We are camped here in East central Missouri where it has stormed most of the night with several tornadeo sightings. What do you do if you need to take shelter from a tornadeo. The wife always checks...
Forum Discussion
pnichols wrote:
If you have a self-powered RV (not a TT or 5'er) so you can move fast, and it's during the day, and you have a few minutes warning ... I'd get in and drive away from the storm area. Why not save both yourself and the rig if at all possible.
Otherwise, get out of your RV ASAP and seek a place specifically set up for personal safety.
This is not a good option--at least not in Oklahoma. During the last set of tornadoes that struck El Reno, OKC, etc., there were several people (including a mother and an infant adn three veteran storm chasers) who were killed when their car was picked up off of the interstate and thrown by the tornado. It was absolute gridlock on the interstates in that area--there was rush hour traffic, plus some people were fleeing the area in their vehicles because they didn't have a storm shelter. (After the Moore tornado a few days earlier, I can understand the panic.) Most people who live in tornado alley know not to get into a car when a tornado is coming. If you are in a car or towing and a tornado is coming, then you are safer in a ditch. Did you see photos of the remains of the car used by Tim Samaras and the other two storm chasers who were killed in that tornado? It was crushed like a tin can--totally unrecognizable as a car. Cars and semis are no match for a moderate-strength tornado. If you are in an RV park, then it is better to find shelter in a reinforced structure (like a concrete bathhouse) if severe weather is coming.
