THE END IS COMING THE END IS COMING!!! Everybody run around like Kermit on crack with your arms flailing over your head screaming incoherently “The end is coming!”
By all means panic or do nothing and die in the disaster.
Okay now that I have calmed down a little let me tell you a little about my natural disaster background. I am from California, so I know how to deal with fires and earthquakes. Pack needed and living things and leave or duck and cover respectively. Lightening storm, not that they were bad in my neighborhood but my parents knew what to tell us for ‘just in case’…stay inside. Due to the military, I lived in Japan for awhile and so I know how to handle typhoons. Reorganize military things to prevent damage and trust my son is okay where he is at.
But tornadoes… those are terrible unavoidable evil happenings that I have no experience with. When, for the first time in the three years that I have lived in New Mexico, there was a tornado watch I naturally thought ‘shit we are going to get rubbished’ and I thought I was going to panic and watch my loved ones die. Then my husband, whom has experienced these things before, interrupted my manic episode to inform me that a ‘watch’ is basically not that big a deal and to simply pay attention for the upgrade to ‘Warning’ or our house flying away or listen for the base warning horn. This was not so comforting and so I went to the ‘net’ to find out what the tornado levels are and what to do in case it actually occurs.
Oh yes FEMA, although has been under fire for some things in the past, is still a good source of info. “Tornado Watch- Tornadoes are possible. Remain alert for approaching storms. Watch the sky and stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio, or television for information. Tornado Warning- A tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. Take shelter immediately.” Apparently my husband was not all that off.
I found the fact that “Occasionally, tornadoes develop so rapidly that little, if any, advance warning is possible” a bit disturbing. Fortunately there are some things to watch for if you know to watch for it. Such as, “Before a tornado hits, the wind may die down and the air may become very still. A cloud of debris can mark the location of a tornado even if a funnel is not visible. Tornadoes generally occur near the trailing edge of a thunderstorm. It is not uncommon to see clear, sunlit skies behind a tornado.” And watch out for trailer parks as tornadoes might be God’s rejection of such a terrible way to live.
The FEMA website also gave this pertinent advice table that I thought I would share with you too.
“If you are under a tornado WARNING, seek shelter immediately!”
| If you are in: | Then: |
| A structure (e.g. residence, small building, school, nursing home, hospital, factory, shopping center, high-rise building) | Go to a pre-designated shelter area such as a safe room, basement, storm cellar, or the lowest building level. If there is no basement, go to the center of an interior room on the lowest level (closet, interior hallway) away from corners, windows, doors, and outside walls. Put as many walls as possible between you and the outside. Get under a sturdy table and use your arms to protect your head and neck. Do not open windows. |
| A vehicle, trailer, or mobile home | Get out immediately and go to the lowest floor of a sturdy, nearby building or a storm shelter. Mobile homes, even if tied down, offer little protection from tornadoes. |
| The outside with no shelter | Lie flat in a nearby ditch or depression and cover your head with your hands. Be aware of the potential for flooding.
Do not get under an overpass or bridge. You are safer in a low, flat location. Never try to outrun a tornado in urban or congested areas in a car or truck. Instead, leave the vehicle immediately for safe shelter. Watch out for flying debris. Flying debris from tornadoes causes most fatalities and injuries. |
As with any type of natural disaster that may or may not occur in your area, please have necessary supplies as thus may save your life, and if nothing else let you feel like you did something and are prepared. I think natural disasters is like having children…no matter how ready you think you are there is no way you can prepare for the experience you will have. You can sure as all try though. Have a plan for you and your children for were to meet up or contact each other after the fact. Have water, none perishable food, candles and a way to light them for cooking and visibility. Also, a first aid kit to handle wounds till help arrives.
It is also a good idea to take courses in first aid and get involved in the disaster prep plans in your area. This way if you survive you can help others survive too.
Or you can take the easy ignorant route and scream like a maniac till they take you away in a paddy wagon. Your choice.
I have to confess... I have meltdowns when tornadoes near. I know what to do (how could you not living in Arkansas?) but I still panic. Tornadoes terrify me, thanks to not so lovely experiences 10 years. And all the recent outbreaks haven't helped any at all. In truth, now that Aloshua has been home with us and is on the ventilator and the other medical equipment... I get even more panicky. Any other crisis I can handle... tornadoes make me crazy.
I'm glad you wrote this. It's been a hell of a year for many states and it always helps to have that information out there for those who haven't had to deal with such nasty beasties before. And I won't even bitch about recent FEMA failures
:D
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~Fallon~
"If I fall asleep with a pen in my hand, don't remove it - I might be writing in my dreams."- Pace
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I am experienced with earthquakes and would have had no problem doing what I was taught to do for so long. After the China quake though I am pretty sure that nerves will be a big issue.
Running out like a nut case could have saved some lives?
~T
All truths are easy to understand once discovered; The point is to discover them ~Galileo
I think it's the unpredictable nature of tornadoes. Even when there's a tornado warning, there's no guarantee that it'll even come anywhere near you. It's not like with hurricanes, where there's no possible way to doubt if you're going to get hit and you know it days and even weeks ahead of time. Or even general thunderstorms (or snowstorm, even), where you see the giant storm system on the radar, you see the black clouds rolling in, you feel the temperature drop and the wind change direction. And earthquakes just don't have much, if any, warning at all, so they just catch you by surprise.
Tornadoes, on the other hand, could be anywhere, come from any direction within the storm, hit at any time, and don't generally last in one spot for more than a few seconds (but could still send a few 2x4s through your window in the meantime).
And off topic...nice quote. :)
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
One of my worst nightmares is being followed by a tornado. Small ones pass through here in New York State once in a while (normally in the summer time) and it does freak me out. It helps to know what kinds of things we should be doing to be prepared though. It kind of takes off the edge, I still might end up one of those screaming Kermit types (great imagery by the way!)....
I think tornadoes are cool. I live in the Midwest, so we have had a few in this area. I would always go outside and try to watch when there was a tornado. Yes, I know I am completely insane, but there's just something about tornadoes that fascinates me.
Great post, both enjoyable and informative. Keep up the good work, tgunn!
Tornadoes are quite rare in my area (they aren't all that frequent in PA) but we've gotten some crazy wind that can do a lot of damage. The one tornado we did have during my lifetime made a tree fly over our house and the rain pour from the gutters UP into the air. Now that was an interesting if not totally scary experience.
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Where in PA are you? Northwestern PA is riddled with the scars of tornadoes. They're usually small, of course, but if you go up on top of the hills, you'll find the fun "parting of the trees" they do. The area I used to live in gets three or four a year. The hills make them unpredictable and keep them on top, though, so the valleys don't usually see them.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
As someone who's experienced tornadoes as well, keep an ear out for them, too. They make two rather distinct sounds. The first being the famous "freight train" sound when they're actually on the ground. If they jump (and I suspect when they haven't quite touched down yet), they sound like a 747 is flying 10 feet above you.
And that sudden calm before it hits? Yeah, that's really eerie, especially in the more violent storms. And yes, the sky does turn unnatural colors (I've seen it usually green), it's only a tint, though, but sometimes it'll tint everything, which is weird and cool at the same time.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
I've seen the sky after tornando's! A few years ago when I was at camp we had one and the sky was green... I don't mean a little green either! It was almost neon!
Green doesn't scare me all that much, because most of the storm clouds we have around here end up with a greenish tinge (don't know why)... It's scarier when they go orange.
Also, another scary thing is that I live right in front of train tracks, so if I hear the rumble before I hear the horn, I flip out.
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You're in the midwest arent you?
we're in a tornado watch too. haha!
im in indiana. lol. best of luck with that air spinning sucker! lol
I'm an Iowa girl, but don't think I'm some hick living on a farm in the middle of no where, I actually live in Des Moines which is a fairly large city, we have skywalks downtown and everything... you don't even see those in Chicago... but that's all besides the point, Living in Iowa I have my experience with tornados. I have to say though, as long as you have a plan and you listen to the weather you should be fine. Just remember to stay under the strongest part of the house (under staircases are good if your basement is unfinished). We had 7 deaths in the Northern part of our state about a week ago. Stay safe!
I'm also from Iowa, and that being said am so experienced with them. One tore my house to pieces, and demolished everything inside completely. I just don't see the point of this post. I guess to entertain, but otherwise completly irrelevant to an barely predictable natural disastor if it is even predictable. One just hit omaha near where I live & the sirens never went off, people were sleeping. No one died, but I wouldn't contribute that with precautions taken by anyone.
I have trouble defining hard.
Did I do something upsetting or offensive?
I think i covered that they are basically unpredictable and that any precautions you take might only make you feel like you did something.
The point was to share, share info, and a wee bit entertain. Mostly I wanted more info for me and others out here.
What would you suggest?
~T
All truths are easy to understand once discovered; The point is to discover them ~Galileo
Ha to entertain just messin with ya. Got to have some fun on this site, otherwise we'll be wearing ties to mcdonalds because we're so stiff.