Tornado Season Is Upon Us Again...

Bushy AR

How many of us live in the danger zone(Tornado Alley)? What have you experianced? I had one go over my place last year and then hit the town to the west of me.Alot of damage,but fortunately no fatalities. That was too close and has me thinking about a shelter of some kind. I am greatful to live near a military installation,and their radar and warning system works well. Alot of people do not have that luxury.How is your city/town's warning system?

interstatepawnllc

Don't know but sure would like too. I am moving to eastern Kansas in 2 weeks!! Thanks.

gunnut

I live out in the country in southern Ok, I had a new shelter put in the backyard 2yrs ago. I can't count the number of times we headed underground, but then again im just a little parnoid Ours is a Steel model that has been coated to prevent rust.It will hold about 20people "packed" with 6yrds of concrete around and over it. Funny thing is the cell phones wont work in it but the sony cordless from the house works great as well as the scanner.

Rembrandt

Pretty common to have them here....we stood in our back yard once, watched it rip up a small town 5 miles away. As you looked at the sky, it resembled a giant drain pulling the clouds into the funnel. Could see little match stick like debris being ripped up as it moved along, only it wasn't match sticks...they were telephone poles and trees. Later it lost force and split into 3 smaller funnels. Some friends have a towing company, they got a call from the local authorities to come pull a * from a tree....sure enough, they got there and saw a 6' high tree stump (rest of the tree was gone) with the back half of a mule stuck in it.Some hogs and cattle were walking around with straw impaled through their sides....looked like walking pin cushions. A tractor and 600 bushel wagon full of grain was pulled out of a barn, then the tornado destroyed the buildings....just a few scratches on the tractor and wagon....strange how these things behave.

Otoman

InterstatepawnLLC. If you like Tornados you are going to love Kansas. We get more than our share. This Post reminds me of a time a buddy and I headed to Toledo Bend Reservoir to fish. We dropped south out of Kilgore Texas and was enjoying that beautyfull National Forrest. When a big Rainstorm hit with Tornados all around us, we could hear about them on the radio but had no Idea where they were because it was dark and the Pine Trees sheltered our view. Well the next morning the guide was knocking on our door at 5 a.m. and told us that there was flooding all around us and if we was going to get out of there we had better hit it...Well 12 hours down and 12 hours back and never unpacked our clothes or wet a line...I will tell you later about the time I went fishing down there and got so cold that I caught my socks on fire over the potbellied stove and didn't even feel the heat.....27 degrees on about the 18th of December.........Could have killed myself doing something stupid like that....

winged 1

Living in Arkansas has its advantages,but tornados isn't one of them.Luckly all I have witnessed was straight line winds and that scared the heck out of me.I myself have considered a shelter, but have not researched my options.Has anyone seen these underground shelters made of fiberglass? Is this new or have they been around awhile?

Rafter-S

We had one here (Texas) a few years ago that pulled portions of the asphalt roads off the ground. Only thing left of houses were the cement slabs with a few twisted pipes sticking out. Killed several folks. Last I heard, a couple of people were never found.But those types of tornados are not the norm, thank heavens. Most time they just tear up a few barns, break a few trees, knock down some electrical lines, and scare the holy crap out of folks.

Jake13F

man ive been in topeka since i was born. we have trees with road signs through them from tornados back behind the house. look like big * ninja stars.

bwa

I live in Ohio, the eastern edge of tornado country. We don't have as many here as do those of you who are plains dwellers. I've seen a few nearby in my lifetime -an awesome sight, without question. We had an F3 about 15 miles west of me last October -left its mark, but could've been much worse. I was at church and the power quit -with about 200 kids in the building. Sheriff's deputies stopped and told us we would have to go to the basement. Made things interesting...

songdog

interstatepawnllc- What town are you nearest to, or will be nearest to in kansas. Although the eastern part of the state does not have as many tornados as the central part, they still have their fair share.MY neighbors horse has a hole in its skull from a tornado throughing a 2x4 through its head. The sucker is still alive, and that was in 1991. The andover tornado. songdog

---

Be bold in what you stand for, careful in what you fall for.

wundudnee

I have lived in or near Topeka all my long life. I have seen 5 or 6 tornados. I got to stand and watch the 1966 Topeka one. It was so big it didn't even look like a tornado, just a * rolling cloud. It was on the ground for about 15 miles and killed 14 people. The last one killed before it broke up was a great uncle. The others I have seen have been more typical smaller in diameter but just as dangerous. From what I've seen I would not trade our tornado's for the gulf states hurricanes. Kansas=big state-little tornado.Songdog, I have also seen one of those horses with about a two foot splinter down through his jaw.

---

"It's great to be great, but it's greater to be human." Will Rogers

songdog

We had a tornado out around howard about 15 years ago. I upped our cow herd by about 20 that night. To bad theywere all dead by time we found them. They flew over from the neighbors some 3 miles away. Boy did we and all of the neighbors have freezers full of steaks. MMMMMM.songdog

---

Be bold in what you stand for, careful in what you fall for.

Otoman

Wundudnee, I was standing out in a Motel Parking lot In Lawrence Kansas when that big one hit Topeka in 1966. It came right over the top of us but never Touched down....

ysacres

I'd B scared to come visit ya all out there in the midwest.After the storm it must be a treasure hunt, to gather up all material things that got strung about. Do ya ever find things years later.Or is it fairly contained.[This message has been edited by ysacres (edited 03-24-2002).]

Bullzeye

If you got picked up by a twister, do you think you would be:A)Ripped limb from limb instantlyB)Killed by flying debris instantlyC)Picked up several thousand feet into the air and tossed like a baseball

Bushy AR

You forgot D:Transported to the land of OZ...seriously,I think the flying debris is the biggest danger in any kind of wind event,either tornado or hurricane.

guns-n-painthorses

Two times, First in 1975 when a f-5 tornado ripped thru Omaha. Was it close, well, we lived on 60th street, and nothing was left on 72nd. Watched that one from the stairway down into the basement. Second one passed buy my farm about a mile again. Killed two 1.2 miles west of us, and destroyed all my neighbors farms. Worked two weeks straight on a skidloader and knuckle-boom truck cleaning up afterwards. One of the people who got killed had just agreed to buy our house the day before. She was going to move it to where she lived and burn her tralier house down. Life's strange.

twins

Where I work is supposed to be built to withstand an F4, hope I never have to find out!

Xracer

Minnesota is on the northern edge of tornado alley, but we still get quite a few.Last August a small one came across our lake and took the roof off a house about 100 yards away from ours.

Bullzeye

I'm confused.How did the guy survive being picked up 200 ft by a tornado?I'm assuming that it didnt just gently let him down somewhere. He must have fallen out/been thrown at some point.