Oklahoma Tornado's ...
Beau Schwabe
Posts: 6,566
Early detection of these beasts saves lives! So much research has gone into studying Tornado's and we still have a long way to go ...
Here is some footage of a Tornado that happened on Mothers day in Oklahoma ... There were some horses that got loose on the property near the tornado hitting the barn in the video. Some injuries but none of the animals were killed. (<--hard to believe).<-- Update, apparently there were some dogs that were severely injured and some horses received injuries, but nothing life threatening. The trainer that we bought our horse from had a few horses on a nearby property and had to try and recapture some of the horses that were loose.
Here is some footage of a Tornado that happened on Mothers day in Oklahoma ... There were some horses that got loose on the property near the tornado hitting the barn in the video. Some injuries but none of the animals were killed. (<--hard to believe).<-- Update, apparently there were some dogs that were severely injured and some horses received injuries, but nothing life threatening. The trainer that we bought our horse from had a few horses on a nearby property and had to try and recapture some of the horses that were loose.
Comments
That video is why I have avoided living in tornado alley for the last 40 years.
Jim
I don't think that design would hold up. An F3 to F4 tornado will strip bark from a tree from just the wind shear alone, combine that with debris and you have the most effective sand blaster nature has to offer. I have a friend that lives south of Norman, Oklahoma that owns a storm shelter manufacturing and installation business. Most of what he offers and what he recommends are all under ground shelters with reinforced Steel and concrete 10 feet under ground.
The "Red neck" joke in Oklahoma is that if you don't have a storm shelter or a safe location within your house, then the next best thing is to just grab a case of beer and a box of pop-tarts and watch the damn thing. :-)
Personally, I have lived in Oklahoma most of my life, even lived in Atlanta Ga for about 7 years and moved back to Oklahoma about a mile from where I grew up as a kid. The tornados are interesting part of life around here, but at least you have some kind of warning... we also have Earthquakes on a regular basis, in fact the annual amount of registered quakes above a 3.0 in Oklahoma is more than the entire state of California. (That's another story though). It definitely takes a certain kind of individual to live here ... perhaps that explains my stubborn attitude for freedom of honest expression. We are hardened individuals here and have seen a lot in the community. I was in the heart of the April 19th, 1995 bombing when it happened and volunteered many hours of service helping with the victims and donated two full paychecks to the Red Cross at the time. Words cannot express the sense in a community that experiences something so horrific... It's as if people communicate without saying a word... you speak with your eyes and just know in your mind without uttering a sound. The aftermath of a tornado promotes a very similar sense of community. I volunteer when I can.
I found it a little Odd and funny (<-- tongue in cheek) at the time when I worked at Parallax, every time we had bad weather and tornados rolling through, "Someone" at Parallax would contact me and ask if the Propeller was okay ... never mind me and my family ... Even though the Propeller database was always backed up in California.
Different strokes...
Any time one of my cycling peeps has a crash or accident, everyone first asks "how's the bike?" since many wannabees have bikes costing $8-10K. People heal for free, but a nice bike needs to be kept dent, crack, and scratch free.
-Phil
At the same time the tornado sirens were sounding.
So if you're in an earthquake you're supposed to go outside.
But if there's a tornado you're supposed to stay inside.
The local wags deemed these the syfy-influenced "Quakenados".
BTW, I've lived here 18 years and never seen a tornado. I've seen the damage (helped clean up in Moore) but I'll watch them on tv. Or maybe I just need to buy more beer...
Walter
You generally watch once they have started and you can see them off in the distance and which direction they are traveling and think you have plenty of time to get to shelter if they head your way.....then I watched one drop out of the sky and eat a house a few blocks away. If you're a "watcher" you don't want to forget that they need to START someplace too!
Waterspouts are lots of fun too! Generally not as destructive but fascinating to watch the spinning column of water dance across a lake.
You have changed my mind on a tornado shelter, I have had a stack of lumber down in my basement for ten years. It was intended for a rec-room, until it was repurposed for a shelter. Now it's back to the original intent. Concrete block, heavy re-bar and a lot of strong morter, seems more suitable for the job. If I don't get that accomplished, is there a dehydrated beer product suitable for long term storage?
As a teenager growing up in Ohio, this storm made a big impression on me. It was a big mid-west type that cost many lives and lots of damage. It was on the other side of the state, but still scared the Smile out of us. These days when we're under the gun for a few day's at a time, it's very stressful, I don't know how you folks cope with it on a more regular basis.
http://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/ddn_archive/2011/04/19/xenia-tornado-of-1974/
In the morning the wall of a taller neighbouring building was blown out. Fell through the slate roof of our three story home and filled up the bedrooms with bricks, slate and timbers.
I was still in bed. I was buried under a meter of rubble. No way could I move. The bed had been punched through the floor to the room below.
Amazingly when the fire guys arrived and dug me out there was nothing broken and hardly a scratch on me. Despite heavy clumps of bricks and timbers having landed inches from my head.
Returning from the hospital after a checkup, the town, Canterbury, looked like a war zone, walls down, roofs off, trees down, roads blocked, everywhere.
We were homeless. On visiting the house to see what could be salvaged a work man trying shore up the building next door looked down through where the roof had been and said "Lucky nobody was sleeping in that bed at the time".
Strangely there are stories and images of that day all over the net but I don't find any mention of our case.
That was a freaky event for the quite south of England.
This universe is just frikken dangerous. There is no safe place.
Amazing indeed.