When you hear tornado sirens...

[Brolan]

We could never actually hear any where I grew up. We had to rely on randomly seeing it on the news or someone calling us up to say "get in your basement."

I dunno what I'd do if there were tornado sirens in the city. Probably stick my head out into the hallway and chat with neighbors like we all did when the power went out last week.

It would be very unlikely for a tornado to form in the city. The buildings prevent it from happening.

Totally not true.

Atlantans and Memphians would beg to differ.

And let's not even discuss Birmingham.

And I just started a thread on Joplin, Mo tonight.

 

[Amaris]

I'm not saying it's impossible or that it doesn't happen. My hometown was devastated by a tornado that killed hundreds of people when I was a child.

I'm just making sure that it's understood that buildings do nothing to ward off tornadoes, no matter how tall or densely populated. It gives some people a false sense of security.

 

[Kestra]

We could never actually hear any where I grew up. We had to rely on randomly seeing it on the news or someone calling us up to say "get in your basement."

I dunno what I'd do if there were tornado sirens in the city. Probably stick my head out into the hallway and chat with neighbors like we all did when the power went out last week.

It would be very unlikely for a tornado to form in the city. The buildings prevent it from happening.

Not really. Buildings do not prevent tornadoes from forming near or in cities. Plenty of large cities have been hit by tornadoes. You're actually in more danger if a tornado is heading into a large metropolitan area, as the tall buildings will create a wind tunnel and cause higher wind damage.

Wind? No, we don't have any strong winds in Chicago. Don't be ridiculous.

 

[Amaris]

It would be very unlikely for a tornado to form in the city. The buildings prevent it from happening.

Not really. Buildings do not prevent tornadoes from forming near or in cities. Plenty of large cities have been hit by tornadoes. You're actually in more danger if a tornado is heading into a large metropolitan area, as the tall buildings will create a wind tunnel and cause higher wind damage.

Wind? No, we don't have any strong winds in Chicago. Don't be ridiculous.

I know, right?

I'm just used to dispelling myths about tornadoes. The one I have to correct the most are the people who think they can hide under a highway overpass when a tornado approaches, when it's one of the worst things you can do.

 

[Kestra]

I feel bad saying this, but I've always been sort of fascinated with the idea of seeing a tornado in person. I know that it's horrible and I hope I'm not offending anyone, but I seriously have dreams about tornadoes, I'm so interested in them.

I'm terrified of moving to CA and feeling an earthquake, however.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I feel bad saying this, but I've always been sort of fascinated with the idea of seeing a tornado in person. I know that it's horrible and I hope I'm not offending anyone, but I seriously have dreams about tornadoes, I'm so interested in them.

I'm terrified of moving to CA and feeling an earthquake, however.

I'm actually the opposite - just the thought of a tornado is terrifying to me, but I find earthquakes fascinating.

Unless there is a very rare major earthquake, you probably won't even notice them when they happen. They are usually very small and could easily be missed unless you are sitting totally still. There have been only 2 or 3 in my life so far that I can actually remember feeling, and only one of those was bad (1989), the others were more fun than anything and caused no damage. I don't live in a very earthquake prone area anymore so I haven't felt one in quite some time.

 

[Amaris]

I feel bad saying this, but I've always been sort of fascinated with the idea of seeing a tornado in person. I know that it's horrible and I hope I'm not offending anyone, but I seriously have dreams about tornadoes, I'm so interested in them.

I'm terrified of moving to CA and feeling an earthquake, however.

Don't feel bad about wanting to see a tornado in person. I've seen one up close and in person, and I did it on purpose. The others, not so much on purpose, but I saw them up close. I used to chase them. They are fascinating.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Totally not true.

Atlantans and Memphians would beg to differ.

And let's not even discuss Birmingham.

The Oklahoma City metro didn't fare too well on May 3, 1999.

Interestingly enough, though, OKC did experience a derecho back in 1994. It knocked power out for 4 days in a huge swath of the metro. All of a sudden one Saturday night, the city was hit by 100 mile per hour straight line winds. It wasn't raining. No tornadoes. Just devastating, prolonged winds clocked at 100 mph. It was bizarre.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I guess I have not been as vigilant as I should be - I usually ignore the sirens. I know that is a bad idea...

I was only 5 when a tornado cut a huge swath through Omaha (let's just say 1975 was a horrible year for us - blizzard up to waist high snow in January, then tornado 5 months later), but it didn't go near our house.

 

[TerokNor]

I have no idea what I would do or what I should do when a tornado would aproach. Or in general what to do when some nature-event, like earthquakes or such, would happen.
That would be all new to me, never had to deal with it. Don´t live in an area that has much of a danger of such things. Hmm...guess I would feel quite nervous when hearing those serenes and hope I would keep my wits and do the right thing.

TerokNor

 

[Hoser]

I try to spin in the opposite direction, to drive off the tornado.

 

[Jetfire]

Here; http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/safety.html

In a house with a basement: Avoid windows. Get in the basement and under some kind of sturdy protection (heavy table or work bench), or cover yourself with a mattress or sleeping bag. Know where very heavy objects rest on the floor above (pianos, refrigerators, waterbeds, etc.) and do not go under them. They may fall down through a weakened floor and crush you.

In a house with no basement, a dorm, or an apartment: Avoid windows. Go to the lowest floor, small center room (like a bathroom or closet), under a stairwell, or in an interior hallway with no windows. Crouch as low as possible to the floor, facing down; and cover your head with your hands. A bath tub may offer a shell of partial protection. Even in an interior room, you should cover yourself with some sort of thick padding (mattress, blankets, etc.), to protect against falling debris in case the roof and ceiling fail.

In an office building, hospital, nursing home or skyscraper: Go directly to an enclosed, windowless area in the center of the building -- away from glass and on the lowest floor possible. Then, crouch down and cover your head. Interior stairwells are usually good places to take shelter, and if not crowded, allow you to get to a lower level quickly. Stay off the elevators; you could be trapped in them if the power is lost.

In a mobile home: Get out! Even if your home is tied down, you are probably safer outside, even if the only alternative is to seek shelter out in the open. Most tornadoes can destroy even tied-down mobile homes; and it is best not to play the low odds that yours will make it. If your community has a tornado shelter, go there fast. If there is a sturdy permanent building within easy running distance, seek shelter there. Otherwise, lie flat on low ground away from your home, protecting your head. If possible, use open ground away from trees and cars, which can be blown onto you.

At school: Follow the drill! Go to the interior hall or room in an orderly way as you are told. Crouch low, head down, and protect the back of your head with your arms. Stay away from windows and large open rooms like gyms and auditoriums.

In a car or truck: Vehicles are extremely dangerous in a tornado. If the tornado is visible, far away, and the traffic is light, you may be able to drive out of its path by moving at right angles to the tornado. Otherwise, park the car as quickly and safely as possible -- out of the traffic lanes. [It is safer to get the car out of mud later if necessary than to cause a crash.] Get out and seek shelter in a sturdy building. If in the open country, run to low ground away from any cars (which may roll over on you). Lie flat and face-down, protecting the back of your head with your arms. Avoid seeking shelter under bridges, which can create deadly traffic hazards while offering little protection against flying debris.

In the open outdoors: If possible, seek shelter in a sturdy building. If not, lie flat and face-down on low ground, protecting the back of your head with your arms. Get as far away from trees and cars as you can; they may be blown onto you in a tornado.

In a shopping mall or large store: Do not panic. Watch for others. Move as quickly as possible to an interior bathroom, storage room or other small enclosed area, away from windows.

In a church or theater: Do not panic. If possible, move quickly but orderly to an interior bathroom or hallway, away from windows. Crouch face-down and protect your head with your arms. If there is no time to do that, get under the seats or pews, protecting your head with your arms or hands.

Do not panic!

 

[Kirby]

Sadly I would most likely ignore it. I either lived or worked in downtown Denver for 19 years and every Wednesday at noon the tornado sirens would go off for one full minute.
If I heard a tornado siren now, much like Pavlov's dog, I would start thinking about lunch.

 

[Holdfast]

I'm lucky enough to live in a calm part of the world, weather-wise. If I was somewhere that had tornados, and tornado sirens, I'd probably ask someone else what's the drill under the circumstances.

The closest I've got to a tornado was seeing a couple of water spouts as a kid in the harbour of a village in Greece where we used to have a holiday home. I was young enough to be more excited than scared, though I remember my mother insisting I come back inside, well away from the windows (our place was near the seafront).

 

[RJDiogenes]

We don't have tornadoes around here, but since I've always ignored fire alarms, I'd probably ignore tornado alarms, too. In fact, I'd probably go looking for it so I could take pictures.

I feel bad saying this, but I've always been sort of fascinated with the idea of seeing a tornado in person. I know that it's horrible and I hope I'm not offending anyone, but I seriously have dreams about tornadoes, I'm so interested in them.

Heavy Weather by Bruce Sterling. You'll love it.

 

[iguana_tonante]

If I heard a tornado siren, I’d wonder WTF was going on. I live in California!

Tell me about it: I'm pretty sure if we heard sirens around here, old people will start yelling how the Allies are carpet bombing us again.

I feel bad saying this, but I've always been sort of fascinated with the idea of seeing a tornado in person. I know that it's horrible and I hope I'm not offending anyone, but I seriously have dreams about tornadoes, I'm so interested in them.

I'm terrified of moving to CA and feeling an earthquake, however.

I've never seen a tornado (or any other kind of extreme weather: the worst we ever get are thunderstorms), but I've been in a few earthquake (Italy is highly seismic country). Nothing big, thankfully, but they were quite... rocky.

 

[RoJoHen]

Sadly I would most likely ignore it. I either lived or worked in downtown Denver for 19 years and every Wednesday at noon the tornado sirens would go off for one full minute.
If I heard a tornado siren now, much like Pavlov's dog, I would start thinking about lunch.

I'm going to be in real trouble if there's ever an actual tornado at 10am on the first Tuesday of the month. That's when they test the sirens in Illinois.

 

[Winged Victory]

Totally not true.

Atlantans and Memphians would beg to differ.

And let's not even discuss Birmingham.

The Oklahoma City metro didn't fare too well on May 3, 1999.

Interestingly enough, though, OKC did experience a derecho back in 1994. It knocked power out for 4 days in a huge swath of the metro. All of a sudden one Saturday night, the city was hit by 100 mile per hour straight line winds. It wasn't raining. No tornadoes. Just devastating, prolonged winds clocked at 100 mph. It was bizarre.

So would Minneapolitans. We had a tornado barrel through the city yesterday afternoon, with hundreds of houses damaged, and thankfully only one fatality. North Minneapolis looks like a war zone right now.

And I live just south of downtown--there was a tornado in August of 2009 that damaged houses, church steeples, and hundreds of trees, all downtown or just south of it. Tornadoes can hit cities just as easily as a rural areas. It's false to believe that people are more safe in a downtown city.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I'm going to be in real trouble if there's ever an actual tornado at 10am on the first Tuesday of the month. That's when they test the sirens in Illinois.

At least where I live, I've noticed that on days where there's inclement weather at the time there would normally be a test, the siren test is canceled. That way, you know that if it goes off on a day like that, it's the real thing.

But I don't think that would actually be necessary in my town because our siren talks. That's right...it actually speaks, and tells you if it's a test or a warning.

In another place, where I work in the city, what tells you the difference is whether the siren is in alert (one constant tone) or attack (rising and falling tone, typical "air-raid siren" sound). So there are actually ways to get around that.

In this, you can hear both "attack" mode and a talking siren.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIDXV0e3uLI&NR=1

I feel bad saying this, but I've always been sort of fascinated with the idea of seeing a tornado in person. I know that it's horrible and I hope I'm not offending anyone, but I seriously have dreams about tornadoes, I'm so interested in them.

Ever since I was little, I've never been chased by monsters or people in my nightmares, but by tornadoes and freak weather. Probably because I watched The Enemy Wind way too many times when I was little. Also because weather is the ultimate "force you cannot control."

(Speaking of which...around that same timeframe, though I'd put this one a little after The Enemy Wind, did anyone else see the special in about 1994-1995 that showed EXACTLY what would happen to New Orleans in a Katrina-type scenario? I can't remember what it was called, but even with the crappy wireframe diagrams that were all that we had as far as CGI back then, but it was scary accurate, showing what would happen if the levees broke. That shot of the water going up around the Superdome...I could swear that was in it. Only one other person I've ever talked to thinks they remember seeing it too.)

I'm terrified of moving to CA and feeling an earthquake, however.

Earthquakes scare me, too. If the New Madrid fault ever does another really bad one, I'm screwed.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

If I heard a tornado siren, I’d wonder WTF was going on. I live in California!

Tell me about it: I'm pretty sure if we heard sirens around here, old people will start yelling how the Allies are carpet bombing us again. ....I've never seen a tornado (or any other kind of extreme weather: the worst we ever get are thunderstorms), but I've been in a few earthquake (Italy is highly seismic country). Nothing big, thankfully, but they were quite... rocky.

I'm from England. We don't get tornadoes or hurricanes or earthquakes (the occasional truly pathetic one, perhaps).

But we have rain! Miserable rain! Sometimes there is even the odd thunderclap with the rain!

Seriously, if we English people had to live anywhere else we'd run around like headless chickens and crap ourselves while the rest of you calmly deal with whatever's going on. It makes me feel rather embarrassed sometimes...