Don't get me wrong, I've seen plenty of the horrible damage that can be caused by tornadoes. The Nebraska Greek Community spent a whole day helping to clean up the Hallam Nebraska tornado that leveled the town in 2004. There was a serious downburst outside KC one year when I was in HS (IIRC)...I'm not denying that they can be very dangerous.

But the overreaction is funny, especially when accompanied by the nonchalance about hurricanes.

I live right in the middle of Tornado Alley. I couldn't tell you how many I've heard, seen, and been through. This is how common they are here:
Tornado sirens are tested EVERY saturday at noon. No exception.
Every resident knows the closest public tornado shelter, whether its the closest public school, shopping mall, or community center.
I slept through one two weeks ago. No joke. The only reason I woke up is because my neighbor in the apartment above me kept calling to see if she and her son could come downstairs to my apt. if it got too bad (because everyone knows downstairs in the middle of the house/apt is the safest place to be) The sirens were already going off and the wind and rain was deafening, but i'm used to it.
My dad and I watched the only confirmed category F5 tornado from our back yard (May 3rd, 1999. Search that date and it is the first thing that comes up in google. The single most costly tornado in US history, caused more than 1.1 billion in damages)
When I was in drivers ed and a tornado related hailstorm started, I was the one that was driving (we were in groups of 3 once we got to the actual driving) and do you think our instructor told me to stop? No. All he said was "You're doing good." My parents were furious when they found out, but I had to remind them that they should be glad i was with an instructor instead of by myself the first time I drove in a storm.

I guess they're pretty scary to people who don't see them every year, and they do cause alot of damage, but they aren't usually deadly. Luckily, weather technology has advanced to the point where people can be warned to get to a safe place in enough time to save their lives.

Ah, middle of the country, me to!:D

While the devastation is not as wide as a hurrican, it is still so deadly. Not just straight winds but swirling at high speed.

Cannot remember the movie Helen Hunt was in, but it does give a good idea of what a Tornado can do.

Either way, both are very very bad!

Oh, just to let some know, Greensburg, Ks. was totally destroyed and kids from some of the Universitys are spending their spring break building 4 houses in two weeks.

Kudos to these College Students to help out!:)

Twister

I can still see those flying cows!

I am in total fear of tornadoes. My husband even bought me a weather radio for Christmas a couple years back- and that was the gift I was totally psyched to get-- forget flowers and jewlery! (this was right after the Evansville, IN Tornado that killed several people in a trailer park- it also distroyed several former co-workers homes).

My sister went to college near Xenia, Ohio and people around there didn't mess around about tornadoes either. As soon as the sirens went off, everyone ran for cover.

The Nashville one in 1998 was mid-afternoon. I had just gotten out of school, but they kept us all there because of the storms. We watched the funnel cloud spin over the school before it dropped down a few blocks away by Vanderbilt and then on into downtown. My dad was working across the interstate from the Titans Stadium (LP field now) and it was being built. He watched out the window as all of the cranes and buildling equipment lifted up and slammed back down.

Besides that one, I just tend to be way too close to tornadoes, and not actually right up in them. I've started to think the damn things are following me around... Nashville, then 3 in Jackson, then Memphis... I just keep being thankful I haven't been caught in one yet.