Wichita Kansas and tornados

I've heard all the stories, pro and con, over the years.
If given the option, I will duck under an overpass and squeeze myself into the tight confines. don't care what the expert sez.
bumpy

The issue of heading for a highway overpass was much discussed on page 3...I watched a special report of The Weather Channel a short while ago.

One small group of folks did indeed seek cover under an overpass and survived a tornado that came close (video to prove it). However the storm experts came on and told of other stores, one where a lady left her house, drove several miles to an overpass and was killed because the wind actually pulled her out of the overpass. The techincal explanation---wind speed actually increases under an overpass therefore it is more dangerous than being out in the open.

If we can know a storm will only yield hail that comes straight down with no wind...I guess one could consider the overpass option. But we all know in severe weather we can never know for sure what a storm has in store.

Even though it is not advised I guarantee anytime heavy rain, hail or winds start...folks head straight for overpasses despite the experts advise against it. Human natural instinct is to head for some kind of overhead protection in a storm, the heavier the better in our thinking...That is also why people and cattle are killed by lightning...they head for trees during a sudden rainstorm.

Be careful out there folks. Do some research on shelter during a severe storm.

Dive in a ditch or hit the overpass is advice for when everything has gone totally wrong and you are completely out of options.

Given that the really bad tornadoes will actually scour pavement, the ditch is will probably make you a little less dead than if you stood up if you get hit directly.

...dittos for an overpass- if the tornado hits it directly, you may not be 100% safe.

Oh, by the way, the bathroom on a house with no basement is not a gaurantee, nor is a basement!

An internal bathroom is better than a picture window and a basement is better than that, but you really need a bona fide tornado shelter with a concrete roof and under the ground...

Now, as someone has said, run the risk numbers of sitting in your camper during a tornado warning versus driving down the road on a sunny day...you are statistically safer sitting in the camper- unless of course the tornado hits you...

Skipg wrote:
Wife and I will being staying in Wichita Kansas in May. We are concerned about tornados. Are we overreacting ? Any advice would be appreciated.

You only have to worry if the tornado catches you.:)

Bumpyroad wrote:

camperpaul wrote:

rkentzel wrote:

I would hide under over passes if there was any room left.

Not a good idea. Debris collects under the overpasses and it may take DAYS to find you.

You are safer lying in a roadside ditch.

.

that's what the "experts" say. I have seen lots of footage of storm chasers and storm hiders hunkering down under an overpass and they managed much better than the areas directly outside of the bridge. When I lived in a mobile home in Kansas City there were about three occasions where we packed the kids and cats into the car and parked under the nearest viaduct.
bumpy

I agree with bumpy----get under an over pass if possible. They were suggesting getting in a ditch or low spot when the storm that was producing tornados was headed our way when we were camped out on a ranch. A ditch would offer no protection from the hail it also produced as pictured in this photo. Thank God that the storm split and when north and south of us. Our only shelter would have been stay in the camper or the tow vehicle which were our only other options and were not on the list of suggested spots but I would rather take my chances or be beat to death by west Texas hail.

Skipg wrote:

Wife and I will being staying in Wichita Kansas in May. We are concerned about tornados. Are we overreacting ? Any advice would be appreciated.

Good thread from Escapees -

"How do you deal with severe weather?"

~

resmas wrote:
The campground *may* have a tornado shelter on the property, but don't bank on it. The construction requirements and associated insurance costs make shelters pretty impossible for the private owner. .

We were checking into our RV park for a few days, right on the Gulf. Knowing we were in a targeted area for tornadoes later in the day, I asked where we should take cover - and was told "the Community Room". I thanked the guy - and as we drove to our space, I saw the Community Room - the one with 360-degrees of huge glass windows!!! OMG! That was the LAST place on earth to take cover; usually, the bathrooms are your best best if there's not a specific, windowless shelter.

K3WE wrote:
I'm afraid that some folks were 'blindly' driving through a big rainstorm (not 'fleeing') and suddenly hell broke loose on them.

In the case of the Hudsonville-to-Lakeview Michigan F-5 tornado, it was "dry" and people saw it coming from a long ways away - they KNEW what they were trying to drive away from. But when you're in a semi-populated area, traffic and road situations can leave you a sitting duck in the path of destruction.

Granted, if you're already driving down the road, hear a warning, and determine that the big black cloud up ahead *might* be a tornado - then yes, by all means, verify where it's headed, then go the other way! But to think that you can see a tornado; get your RV ready quickly and then outrun it, is far too dangerous, IMO.

camperpaul wrote:

It is not just the new generation RADAR but also the highly trained spotters (SkyWarn) that give better warnings.

I remember Plainfield rather well. It is the benchmark tornado for the spotters and disaster teams in this area.

I spent about two weeks in Plainfield providing communications for the Salvation Army Disaster team.

I don't mean to hijack a thread - but it was the combination of my bro and sis-in-law losing their home to that (unwarned) F-5; and us moving to our basement-less cottage that prodded me to join the SkyWarn ranks. And my sis-in-law praised the Salvation Army as being the most helpful, johnny-on-the-spot organization during that disaster!! Thank you for your assistance!

In case anyone is interested: SkyWarn training is offered, for free; generally in the Spring; and is sponsored by the Nat'l Weather Service. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CHASE STORMS - they prefer that you don't. Just report what happened before, or after, you headed for the storm shelter :-) As Camperpaull pointed out; the new radar can see rotation (and even debris fields) in a storm; but they still rely on "Ground Truth" (trained spotters) to tell them what's happening at ground level.

rkentzel wrote:


I would hide under over passes if there was any room left.


Not a good idea. Debris collects under the overpasses and it may take DAYS to find you.

You are safer lying in a roadside ditch.

Don't count on your cell-phone working either. The towers might have blown down.

I was talking about the hail storms that Denver has I have lived there and been thru some bad hail storms. But never the less I would still take shelter under an over pass hail or tornado.