Tornadoes

carnation · #1 03-15-2008, 11:32 AM

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.

ZTABullwinkle · #2 03-15-2008, 11:34 AM

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?

carnation · #3 03-15-2008, 11:37 AM

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!

Tom Earp · #4 03-15-2008, 12:21 PM

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.

carnation · #5 03-15-2008, 12:26 PM

Thanks, Tom!

So I've been off the computer because we were in the middle of a tornado warning

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.

texas*princess · #6 03-15-2008, 12:40 PM

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.

Benzgirl · #7 03-15-2008, 12:50 PM

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

BigRedBeta · #8 03-15-2008, 02:01 PM

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.

Tom Earp · #9 03-15-2008, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRedBeta

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.

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

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.

PM_Mama00 · #10 03-15-2008, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KSig RC

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.

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?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRedBeta

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.

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

carnation · #11 03-15-2008, 07:11 PM

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.

UGAalum94 · #12 03-15-2008, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carnation

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.

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.

ZTAngel · #13 03-15-2008, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRedBeta

I find this thread funny...

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.

Army Wife'79 · #14 03-15-2008, 04:21 PM

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.

UGAalum94 · #15 03-15-2008, 05:21 PM

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.