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You are here: MacNN Forums > Community > MacNN Lounge > What do I do if a Tornado might hit?

What do I do if a Tornado might hit?
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KeriVit
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Feb 13, 2007, 11:52 PM
 
I'm just wondering.

Assume my town/city has no sirens...

There's tornados about 2-3 hours away, may come here.

I have no basement and no idea where to go.

So, do I just go to bed and hope for the best? Or is there some preparation involved?
     
mitchell_pgh
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Feb 13, 2007, 11:58 PM
 
Find the smallest, windowless area you can find.

My home town was devastated by a tornado in 1985.
     
CollinG3G4
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Feb 14, 2007, 12:00 AM
 
Originally Posted by KeriVit View Post

There's tornados about 2-3 hours away, may come here.
Tornados last only a handfull of minutes. So if one is a few hours away, you're probably safe.
     
KeriVit  (op)
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Feb 14, 2007, 12:00 AM
 
OK, so my bathroom I guess. But, what if I don't know if one is coming necessarily- like Florida?
     
All_Insane
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Feb 14, 2007, 12:20 AM
 
I work in a 12 storey building, in the prairies, where tornadoes occasionally hit (once a decade-ish). Of course we have basements and cement tunnels, but our customers are not allowed in them, even in a tornado (we believe in culling). So if a tornado hits, we're to tell people to stay in the reinforced cement stairways. No windows and not much can fall on their heads.
     
KeriVit  (op)
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Feb 14, 2007, 12:20 AM
 
Originally Posted by CollinG3G4 View Post
Tornados last only a handfull of minutes. So if one is a few hours away, you're probably safe.
Not worried necessarily, just wondering. I haven't lived anywhere near tornados in years.
     
KeriVit  (op)
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Feb 14, 2007, 12:21 AM
 
Originally Posted by All_Insane View Post
I work in a 12 storey building, in the prairies, where tornadoes occasionally hit (once a decade-ish). Of course we have basements and cement tunnels, but our customers are not allowed in them, even in a tornado (we believe in culling). So if a tornado hits, we're to tell people to stay in the reinforced cement stairways. No windows and not much can fall on their heads.
EXCEPT THE STAIRS!!!
     
xi_hyperon
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Feb 14, 2007, 12:24 AM
 
KeriVit, what sort of structure are you in? Apartment, house, mobile home? In an apartment or house, get to the lowest level and stay in a bathroom located close to the center of the building. If you're in a mobile home, leave. Call a friend or relative who has a house, and tell them you're coming over. Don't wait until the storms are there to decide what you're going to do. Having a battery-operated radio tuned into a local news/weather station might be a good idea as well.
     
KeriVit  (op)
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Feb 14, 2007, 12:42 AM
 
I'm in a home now. Was in an RV last year for these type of storms and they always went around. Now, I have single-level home. Both baths are on the side of the house. I have radio.

I'm sure there is no imminant danger, but I should plan ahead as the season comes to fruition.

Thanks for the advice. My friend's dad lost his home in the Villages, FL last week (or so) and just got me wondering.. what if?
     
keekeeree
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Feb 14, 2007, 02:08 AM
 
You could buy a weather radio with an alarm feature. You set this radio to a standby mode when you go to sleep. When NOAA issues a weather/tornado warning, a signal will trigger an alarm that will wake you. The portable design allows you to grab the radio and take it with you to a safe location within your home.
     
JazzCatDRP
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Feb 14, 2007, 02:44 AM
 
I live in Kansas...my credibility on tornadoes just tripled. <insert obligatory Toto comment>

Anywhos, if you live in a house, get in the basement. If no basement, get in a windowless room in the middle of the house on the ground level.

If you live in an apartment, get to the ground level, maybe under a staircase?

If you live in a mobile home, get the hell out.
     
nonhuman
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Feb 14, 2007, 10:10 AM
 
If you have no basement, storm cellar, storm closet, &c you're supposed to go into the bathroom, get in the bathtub and pull a mattress over the top.
     
zerostar
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Feb 14, 2007, 10:37 AM
 
     
Kevin
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Feb 14, 2007, 10:55 AM
 
Anyone remember the tornado and "nuke" drills the public schools used to have once in awhile during the cold war?
     
nredman
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Feb 14, 2007, 10:59 AM
 
get in your car and out run it

"I'm for anything that gets you through the night, be it prayer, tranquilizers, or a bottle of Jack Daniel's."
     
Millennium
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Feb 14, 2007, 11:12 AM
 
If you're indoors, go to an interior room, i.e. one that is surrounded by other rooms with no walls that touch the outside of the building. Bathrooms often work well for this. Basement-level interior rooms are best, but if you don't have a basement then get as low as you can. Do not go outside, even if you think you might be able to get to a safer building in time; these things can move very quickly, and you could get caught outside.

If you do get caught outside, get to the lowest point you can: ditches are good. Tornadoes have a lot of power laterally (side to side), but they're much weaker going straight down, which is why low points are safer. If you can get under a solid structure like a bridge this can help, but don't get under anything that can move. If the tornado is actually moving along a ditch and touching the bottom, then that ditch is not safe: you want to get lower than the ground that the tornado is touching.

If you're in a car and you see a tornado coming, do not try to outrun it: you'll lose. If there are obvious low points like ditches, get out of the car and into the ditch: you may lose the car, but that's better than getting killed. If you must stay in the car, then try and move perpendicular to the direction the tornado is going: if the tornado is moving the same direction you are, then turn left or right so that it's no longer going the same way. This is no guarantee of safety, as tornadoes can make sudden changes in direction, but your chances of getting out are better.
You are in Soviet Russia. It is dark. Grue is likely to be eaten by YOU!
     
Jawbone54
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Feb 14, 2007, 12:58 PM
 
Originally Posted by nredman View Post
get in your car and out run it while videotaping it to put on YouTube
Fixed.
     
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Feb 14, 2007, 05:10 PM
 
Just remember that the slippers, when the heels are clicked three times, will return you home.
I like my water with hops, malt, hops, yeast, and hops.
     
Railroader
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Feb 14, 2007, 06:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by Kevin View Post
Anyone remember the tornado and "nuke" drills the public schools used to have once in awhile during the cold war?
"Get in the hall, curl up in a ball, and intwine your fingers behind your neck to protect it from falling glass". How could I forget the horrific imagery of glass cutting my neck in 1st grade?
     
   
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