I was watching Spann on hospital tv when the 2011 tornado hit Tuscaloosa. I was in Birmingham and drove, with my family, fast as heck back to talladega.
Our neighbor 2 houses down, his brick house was destroyed by a tornado. Our worst damage was from his bricks going into our house. The debris can be worse than the actual tornado.
Dude! A tornado can rip a brick building off of its foundation. It can turn the materials into dust. It sands the skin off of cattle. It can tear a trench into the earth.
Debris is the biggest killer in tornados. You wanna protect as much of your body as possible. Pillows and a helmet, are both good to have during a tornado warning. I wish everyone had a shelter or basement but, they don't. Many can't afford it.
That Starbucks was in a strip mall. The buildings are built on a low budget and a lot of the building materials is aluminum. The front of it looked like it was brick but there was nothing behind it. The roof of the building was flat. No matter what materials the building is made of a strong tornado will destroy it. I’m sure there was enough mortar between the bricks. The best place to take shelter is underground. If a tornado can pick up a train engine, a large pickup truck or drive a large object through a large tree a building doesn’t have a chance. I’m just trying to impress upon you that no matter how well built a place is wind is very dangerous and strong. If it can pull up asphalt from a road, debark a tree it is strong
When I was a kid a tornado hit my neighborhood. I saw the shingles of a house across the street fluttering before Mom rushed everyone into an interior closet. Not much happened to the house beyond the front door being knocked open and the living room furniture being rearranged. However, we had a seperate brick 2 car garage and it was gone. If the tornado had come through 20 feet to the right that would have been the house. Oh, on debris.... After the storm I found a pine needle that had been driven 1/4" into a pine 2x4. Like the comedian Ron White said, "The problem isn't that the wind is blowing at 100mph, the problem is WHAT the wind is blowing at 100mph."
You need to react to the 1974 Super Outbreak! It’s the largest tornado outbreak that spawned 7 F5 and 23 F4 tornadoes in the span of 18 hours. It’s very historic with so much technology today that was made because of that specific outbreak. You really need to watch a documentary about it
Lots of people who don't live on either cost get married between 18 and 22; It wasn't that long ago that it was common for folks to marry their high school sweetheart. I grew up 40 miles south of Portland Oregon; graduated in 1976, and was married in 1980 and I was the last woman in my circle of 12 girlfriends to get married; not one of us have been divorced - 3 of us have become widows after 40 years of marriage.
When I was a kid we had a field trip to the science museum. One thing I remember is they simulated how dangerous the debris can be. They shot a normal wooden pencil at 2x4 and the pencil completely pierced the wood. Very eye opening for a bunch of 3rd graders.
The two times I’ve been caught outdoors (an EF 4 and an EF 2) when a tornado formed, I was only interested in keeping parallel to it while driving to a safe place to shelter. There are very few building material that can withstand a strong tornado. A strong tornado will just grind brick to dust, wood can also be destroyed. Unless it’s ultra reinforced steel or insulated concrete form, those two materials can survive but aren’t cost effective for building an entire house. Above-ground tornado shelters are typically made of reinforced steel and anchored to concrete slabs. The steel is often at least 3/16 in thick and is coated inside and out to prevent rust. The shelters are designed to withstand high winds and flying debris, and some can be built to withstand EF5 tornado winds of over 250 mph. Some above-ground shelters are made of concrete, but they can soak up water during heavy rain and flooding, making them more brittle over time. Steel, on the other hand, is resistant to moisture and can last for years.
As a child I saw a tornado in Indianapolis, it skipped our subdivision but smashed the subdivision next to ours. As an adult I saw a tornado in the Houston area as I was driving on the freeway and it was headed in the same direction parallel to me. I also experienced a hurricane or two in Houston with a tornado added for special effects. I've got to admit I was more excited than scared. That wind is something else!
i agree. every time they bring us the aftermath, the devastation, i sit here in my room, i try to feel the intensity of what just ripped thru their neighborhood but all i feel is this deep overwhelming sadness. it breaks my heart. its really hard to watch..
I've been though a couple of down graded tornadoes that turned into major storms by the time they reached me. And i was in a couple of the most devastating hurricanes that hit the NY/NJ area. So, naturally, when i retired i decided to live in what is now considered Dixie Alley: a south eastern part of the US that is becoming very prevalent for tornadoes and is poised to take over the top spot from Tornado Alley, in the next 5 or so years. My brain divorced me a long time ago and said i was crazy.
If you were watching TV you would be shown warnings in advance with radar. If you were in its path you would be told to find shelter immediately. Most communities have sirens that will blast as well.
On Christmas Eve 1982, we watched as a tornado dropped from the sky just missing my parent’s house and hit my husband’s family home a half mile away. It took the roof off and did some other structural damages. Arkansas gets its fair share of tornados. I’m a member of a medical group that deploys to hard hit areas to give basic first aid and tetanus shots.
Kabir It Doesn't Matter, Concrete/Brick Solid Buildings/Houses Can't Defeat The Strength of Tornado's, Trust Me We Have Concrete/Brick Homes & Buildings Not Just Wood, But You Can't Beat Mother Nature, I'm Born/Raised In Alabama 58 Years & Never Experienced a Tornado 👍
Most homes these days are made with metal studs and hardi plank siding (which is made with concrete in it). It doesn't matter who you are or where you are, if a tornado comes near you, you are at it's mercy. Homes are attached to the concrete foundation. It doesn't matter what the building is made of it does have laws it has to meet. Most homes in the south don't have basements or tornado shelter because the water table is so high.
I was in an earthquake in 2000 while I was sleeping. I woke up and stumbled to my friend's room and asked if this was an earthquake and they said yes. I said ok thought so and went back to bed. When I woke back up 5 hours later they freaked out and said I was a psycho lol.
Since I live on the Gulf Of Mexico coast, I've seen many more waterspouts than tornados. There's one that I remember seeing. It about an F-3 in central Florida while driving down a highway. I did have an F-0 tornado a mile away from me. My ex stepdad and sister was in a tin garage. He did transmissions. It went right by them down a skinny road. Luckily no injuries to them. I had an F-3 happen 4 miles from me as a kid. That was bad.
We don’t have the sirens posted outdoors like in the tornado alley states. So my phone sounded an alert about 6 am a couple weeks ago with a text telling us to take shelter.
Pentatonix did a version of "Mary did you know" I think, but my favorite versions are by Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd, along with the version by Mark Lowry (should check it out).
I remember when I was a preteen and my mom who was pregnant had just been put on bedrest because the doctor was afraid my brother would come to early my dad decided to take my older brother, me and the brother after me to the movies to get us out of the house for a while but it had been storming pretty bad so we stopped by the little private airport down the road so dad could check on his plane before we headed on to the movie. While dad was outside making sure the airplane was tied down good my older brother looked out the back window of the car and saw a funnel forming. We yelled at dad who jumped in the car and took off but instead of going home like we thought he would we went on to the theater. Dad figured there were no windows in the theater so it would be a safe place to be. I hate tornadoes and am glad I no longer live in tornado alley!
Re grabbing a pot from the kitchen to protect your head - planning ahead and getting a correctly fitting helmet with chin straps to keep wherever you'd be sheltering is a better option, especially if you have a pet or a child you'll want to hold onto in a worst case scenario.
Did you not also notice the big pine tree go down behind the Starbucks? Tornadoes don't care. I've read stories of homes being destroyed, refrigerators beinging rolled and no eggs broken inside. It's part of their mystic.
Tornadoes are AWESOME and so are your movie reactions! You should do a film reaction to "twister" dope and super fun film starring glen Powell about tornadoes!!
Hi Kabir, I've been lucky enough to have seen five tornadoes without being hurt by one. However, I was almost certainly caught in one that I never saw. I was walking around 2 miles back to my car after a storm hit. I had been hunting, and when the weather turned nasty I headed back. I was walking along a narrow dirt lane between two peanut fields, with a barbed wire fence on either side. The rain began coming down hard and the wind was strong. There was a lot of lightning and thunder as well. The rain was so heavy and the wind so strong that I couldn't see more than a few feet. Suddenly I was thrown up against a small tree on the edge of the lane. I was pinned against the tree for about 10 seconds, unable to move. Then the wind let up and I could move again. During the time that I was pinned, l was pelted with blobs of mud, and small sticks. The rest of the walk was uneventful. The next week l went back to the same place. I noticed about 200 yards from the little lane l was walking on, a lot of large trees had been uprooted and overturned, all in a straight line parallel to the lane l had been on. It was almost certainly a tornado that I had encountered, though I never saw it. You're right about flying debris being one of the major dangers, though I have seen footage of railroad cars and even locomotives being tossed high in the air. When they're that strong, you are done for! It's also true that sn automobile isn't a safe place to be. You should get out and find a low area, like a ditch, lay face down and cover your head.
After all the tornado videos you've seen you still don't seem to understand their strength. Sometimes, it doesn't matter what a building is made of. I've seen poured cement block homes turned to dust.
Trust me, if a tornado can toss a pick-up truck or a car of a cargo train, it can destroy any building regardless of the material, be it wood, brick, cinder blocks, or concrete. In all these videos of tornadoes that you've watched, haven't you noticed buildings like schools, churches, and hospitals that aren't wood being totally destroyed?
Kabir, just FYI, for accuracy, there is no such thing as "suction". Physics recognizes anything as "suction". It is Al way high pressure pushing to low pressure. The funnel is very low pressure. I had a physics teacher who said if we ever used that word you'd get an F.
The 2nd to last video of the slidell tornado.. I was in that McDonald's when it hit that morning. There was actually 2 tornados that hit slidell that morning
@tinagarcia3571 That kid looked twelve. I'd demand a paternity test immediately, or there may be something illegal going on there. I'm not sure but it must be investigated!
