Tornadoes
 

So last night, my teenage son and his girlfriend and her family were at the Georgia Dome when the tornado hit downtown Atlanta. The SEC basketball championships were being held--we were watching on TV-- and the announcers said, "Look at that catwalk moving back and forth!" and the camera pans it up near the ceiling. Then they start talking about this weird loud noise they can hear and all we could do was sit in horror and pray for everyone. Thank God no one was killed in Atlanta, although there's a lot of property damage downtown.

Has anyone else been in tornadoes? My only experience was in class in the ag building at Auburn when suddenly some professor pops in and said, "A tornado just went over this building and nobody called us!" And we had just thought it was a particularly loud storm.

Interesting comment on TV last night: someone pointed out that tornadoes are clear and it's the debris they pick up that colors them and makes them visible. Good thing.

We got home from the hockey game, and read about the game being suspended in the Georgia Dome. That is really scary that there was no warning for those people. Granted tornadoes in downtown Atlanta are not common, but they had to know that one may be possible with the storm going through.

Carnation, are your teenage son and girlfriend okay?

Yes, thank you. They got home late and he dropped into bed immediately and isn't awake yet so I have no details. I bet that Mr. Tough Athlete was trying to play off his fear in front of his girlfriend and her parents but inside he had to be freaking out. I can't wait to hear his story but I'm glad it's over!

They as all can see are very destrutive.

One came very close to my house and just tore the heck out of things @ 1/2 mile North and West of me. Sounded like a commercial jet landing at KCI as I am on the flight pattern. Thought the pilot was a moron for trying land in the storm.

Only killed 1 person but sure tore the heck out of a lot of houses!

They are very bad and all you can do is find a big hole and climb into it!

Glad your son and gf is okay, that is a blessing.

Thanks, Tom!

So I've been off the computer because we were in the middle of a tornado warning :eek: but it went south of here. It usually does--Tornado Alley funnels right into Atlanta. I dragged the sleeping son downstairs and he told us that last night, they never said anything to the people in the Dome about inclement weather (there probably would have been a giant stampede) but when they left, it looked like a war zone. He said there were huge hunks of metal and broken glass everywhere as well as overturned cars and benches in the road. They say that Olympic Centennial Park is a mess.

Wow that is crazy. I'm glad no one got hurt in Atlanta!

I've been through a bunch of tornados and even sat through a couple of hurricanes. Good times.

Last year was pretty crazy weather for north texans... I can't even count the number of tornadoes we got here. I live in an apartment, and the only room without windows is either my laundry room or my bathroom (which also has a very roomy walk-in closet.

I opted to stay in the bathroom, I just locked both doors (maybe if my windows got broken the lock would make it harder for the wind to open the door?) of the bathroom and camped out in my closet for most of them. Those were some scary times b/c the wind was crazy and we had hail as big as baseballs hitting the windows and stuff. My dog was hanging out with me and she was barking like crazy and really stressing me out!!!

But after 20-30 mins when I knew we were in the clear it was all good.

I grew up on the Texas coast so we'd get hurricanes about once a year. Those are scary b/c not only do you have the hurricane winds, but there is also a big possibility of the hurricane spinning off tornadoes. We were about 1.5 hrs from the coast, so usually the hurricanes were downgraded to 2's or 1's by the time they got to my hometown... but even then I was soooo scared!!! My dad would board up the windows and bring our dog in, and we'd just hang out and play board games w/ the family by candlelight since the electricity was usually out due to the storm.

All in all, I'd say hurricanes are probably better because you at least get a couple days' notice... tornados just pop out of nowhere sometimes.

CNN had pictures of their building and of Centennial Park. Looks pretty bad. You are in my thoughts

For sure, it's easier dealing with hurricanes. I grew up an hour from the Texas coast and even though the hurricanes were scary, we had days to prepare like you said, t*p. Although one year, a hurricane ripped through and spawned a tornado, which picked up our big ol' beach house and several others right along the coast and dropped them in the Gulf. Not even a nail was left and the owners could only locate their lots by the cisterns. This was all witnessed by this guy who actually rode out the storm nearby!

Several tornadoes have touched down in the section of Alabama just west of us since I've lived here and I really think that the big manmade lake between us and them tempers the weather a bit. Locals say that we've hardly had any snow since the lake was put in about 1960 but then again, the tornadoes seem to die at the state line so it's worth it.

Thanks, Benzgirl,it's been a violent 2 days weatherwise. The kids just came in and told me that a tornado did just now touch down south of here.

This has to be the largest city ever hit by a tornado, right?

For years, we thought that something about how cities affected the environment made them "tornado-proof" - that wind had trouble gathering in the city. I think Oklahoma City had a tornado in the suburbs, but there's never been one downtown in a major city, as far as i know. Watching the highlights from last night was pretty sick - that's insane, really.

Not only is it scary, but it's groundbreaking, in a bad way.

I posted this in another thread, but both downtown Fort Worth and downtown Nashville have had pretty significant tornadoes in the past 10 or so years. There were many buildings completely damaged in the Fort Worth tornado, including one that was maybe 30 stories and was left inhabitable. The Fort Worth tornado hit around 7pm, so all the 9-5 folks had gone home. I can't remember what time of day the Nashville one hit.

Why Downtown Tornados Are Rare
 

There may be some enviromental causation- I have no idea- I know nothing of meterology... but I think most of the reason of rare downtown tornados is just chance.

Consider all the land in tornado alley, and then the very small comparable amount of downtown land. The downtown areas represent a fraction of 1% of the total land... so thus just by chance/math we don't see as many tornadoes in downtown areas.

I'm about 1 mile outside of the Atlanta city limits and we had tornado sirens going off here about an hour ago. They're pretty scary sounding. So far, it's been pretty calm here today. Just some light rain and light winds but it's supposed to pick up around 3pm.

I was actually supposed to be at the GA Dome last night. I had tickets in my company's suite but the hubby felt sick so we just stayed at home. I'm glad we did! We probably would have taken MARTA (subway) over to the Dome and from what I heard MARTA was shut down until 5am this morning leaving a bunch of people stranded in the Downtown area. That must've really sucked!

I find this thread funny...

As someone who grew up in Kansas, tornado drills were probably more common than fire drills at school. For sure the tornado sirens get tested every month from March to October. In my KC suburb hometown (probably most of KC) it was the first wednesday of the month at 10:30am. Same time in Lincoln while I was in college. Omaha for some idiotic reason does it the first saturday of the month at either 10 or 11am...I think it's retarded to do it on a weekend in the first place and then at a time when people are out doing stuff.

As far as "unique" places I've been in when a tornado has been around, I think the Lied Rainforest at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha probably qualifies. They literally had to take 100's of us into back hallways and basements for our protection.

And hurricanes are way more scary than tornadoes...I'll take one or two hours in the basement (and then you're about your business) over days of preparing/waiting out the storm...

The best time the test sirens went off was on a perfect April day in Lincoln my junior year. It was about 65 degrees without a cloud in the sky, and my then girlfriend at the time (who was from florida and had just transferred from South Carolina) was walking with me when the sirens went off. Needless to say she had no idea what they were and freaked out when I told her they were the tornado sirens. She didn't know they tested them and figured that if they went off, we needed to get inside right away. I found her hysteria hilarious.

http://www.dallassky.com/fwtornado.htm
The FW one was pretty bad. It actually hit closer to 6 pm

I remember watching the destruction from the Fort Worth tornado.

As for the hurricane or tornado debate, I would much much rather wait out a hurricane than a tornado. I have this phobia of tornados. Plus, even though everyone panics around here for hurricanes, it is usually nothing more than a big rainstorm. We have the Outer Banks to thank for that! :p

You are correct as They Tested the sirens on Tue. not the normal Wed. and never heard a one!:o

For those that have never been in one or seen one, it is horrific and devastating.

Yepper, Kansas used to be the Tornado Alley and still is, but it seems to be doing more damage in the SW States as has been seen.

A tornado hit not too long ago in a neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. It wasn't too far from my family, I believe in Bay Ridge? (my family is in Bensonhurst for those familiar)

I thought it was a known fact that tornados are attracted to low flat land?

We don't get many tornados in my area, but our sirens are tested every first Saturday of the month.

Carnation I was thinking about you b/c today on the weather channel they mentioned your city. We had omnious sky today but it just rained hard and windy. Living in Kansas for 8 years I learned to respect the tornados and took the sirens seriously. I'm amazed that where I am now (in the South) ppl don't heed sirens and go stand on porchs. duh. I only wish they had basements down here. I miss mine.
Re: big cities, I think it was Austin that one hit a grocery store and the only part left standing was the meat freezer and the people inside.

My dad and brother were at the game in the Dome last night and I was talking to them on the phone during the delay in play. My dad, and according to the AJC, the athletic director from UGA too, thought that the sound was all the Kentucky fans stomping their feet above them.

Apparently, the Dome was 75% filled with Kentucky fans even during the Mississippi State vs. Alabama game.

My impression about the storm was that no one really knew that Atlanta was even under a watch or warning until after the storm hit. There were no local emergency broadcast scrolls like we usually see, and it was pretty funny to see the Raycom broadcasters cover the storm.

:eek:The storms kept coming back. We were at the mall after the storms and Ballerina called from metro Atlanta, saying that she and her fellow employees were headed for the basement. Then we got back here and found that the tornadoes that had gone through south of here had smashed houses left and right on this road where our friends live. We can not get in touch with them.

ETA: CRAP. I just found out that tornadoes touched down in a third county, the one where I teach. A school is damaged and it's either ours or the elementary across the street. I am not believing the last 24 hours.

I'm confused. I guess I'm not seeing why this thread is so funny. We're discussing some pretty substantial tornadoes that have ripped through the Atlanta area in the last 24 hours and destroyed numerous homes and buildings and killed 2 people while injuring many others. I guess I'm not seeing the same humor as you.

I get that tornadoes are pretty commonplace in the Midwest where you're from so you're probably use to this unlike us but I still don't think a tornado going through a well-populated area is anything to snicker about.

That sounds pretty bad. I hope that no one was injured.

At least we can be pretty sure the schools would be closer to empty than on a school day.

Yeah...has there ever been a tornado in California? I'd be so scared! At least I appreciate how spoiled I am with this good weather.

Hang in there, everybody!

As a Floridian, I'll take a hurricane any day. You know what you're up against and thankfully it's usually much ado about nothing for most areas. The biggest inconvenience is usually no hot water or A/C. Tornadoes terrify me. That looks like some seriously horrific mess. We occasionally get them here since we get some big storms and you sit and watch the tv in horror the entire time. I am used to hurricanes. You sleep through them most times.

We have lived through various meteorological phenomenons throughout our military moves, but I do find tornadoes more horrific as compared to blizzards or hurricanes. Blizzards and hurricanes are forecasted and one can prepare ahead of time as witnessed by the lines in the supermarkets and home centers. Even though tornadoes are concentrated in the Alley, we have been very close to touchdowns in West Point, NY in 98, greater DC several times, KY (several times) and of course KS.

I don't think BRM means funny as in humorous but more as a fact of overreacting. I know that I have witnessed the same media and public panic when dealing with winter storm warnings anywhere below the Mason-Dixon line. I must confess Hurricane Isabelle threw me for a loop. GEN Alum was at NATO so the kids and I had to prep the house and property on our own. As a good military family, we managed.

So the friends in this county are okay but their road is devastated, with several houses destroyed and one man dead. One family who bred show dogs has lost their kennel and several of the dogs are missing. A bunch of members of a church on that road were leaving tomorrow to help in the Katrina area but will now stay home to help their own recover.

I still don't know if my school is damaged and will find out tomorrow.

ETA: so it was the elementary school that was damaged, not us; they had 2 buildings damaged.

Around 1993 or so, (can't remember), the power went out on a Thursday night. Woke up Friday, no power, no big deal. Showered in the dark, got dressed and drove to work.

(I did notice that one of the roads I normally take had a lot of tree debris on it but I didn't think any thing of it.

Turned on the radio, all I heard was the Atl. radio station say that Walton Co. schools were closed, turned off radio shortly after that.

Decided about noon to take off work b/c my neck was very sore.

Got to the place where I saw the debris this morning.....well the "chicken poultry plant" (yea, I know it's redundant but that's what we called it, lol.) was totally gone!

That's when I found out a tornado (actually the weather service said it was a "downburst":rolleyes: had hit Monroe. I had to take the long way around to get home. What normally would have taken me about 5 minutes took me an hour.

My mom didn't know until Friday morning when she called my sis in law (who lived on the same street) to see why she had power (actually it was sunlight, lol). My sil said "Didn't you know that a tornado hit Monroe last night?!!"

There were lots and lots of trees down but thankfully, no one was hurt. It was amazing all those trees and very few houses!

Cute story...Media types that do a lot of research:rolleyes:..were reporting that the top of the courthouse had blown off and landed on the top of the next building...Wrong!! As you can see in the pic, the courthose never had a spiral top!


(This picture was taken after the "tornado". There used to be two rows of large trees along the path to the steps.
http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/ga...s/waltonCH.htm

Hurricanes, I can handle - like I said you at least get a couple day's notice so you can board up and buy supplies, or pack up and head for higher ground...

Tornadoes? Umm while they can be sporadic, the weather guys usually will say if we should be on the lookout.. and we have sirens to tell people to take cover immediately as soon as a funnel cloud is spotted.

California does have beautiful weather - I travel to San Fran & San Diego pretty frequently - but - they have random earthquakes, and there is usually no warning (not even a 5-minute-before siren!) for those. Eeeeep!

Yeah, earthquakes always get brought up when people talk about CA weather, but they happen so rarely. There was a decently sized one (i.e. one you could actually feel) a few months ago. There hasn't been a huge one that caused any damage for quite some time, though. There was that big one in 1989, but besides that...I'm not sure.

On the other hand, I see what you're saying about the lack of warning. I guess seismologists can kind of see them coming, but not really.

Depending on where you live in Ca., you also might have wild fires, landslides and Santa Anas.

I'll live in Tornado alley anyday. Even though you don't get the warning of a hurricane to leave town three days in advance, if you are smart, you have escape plans and safeplaces in your basement.

BTW... glad you are ok, Carnation.

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.