December 10, 2021 Over 30 Tornados Across Six States

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mickey2942 said:
Wow @RAISINISBACK what an experience! I grew up in "tornado country", I remember tornado drills at school, we went to the hallway, tucked up against our lockers, and kiss your azz!

Thank goodness there were no real tornadoes! I know what the sky looks like though, green black, and that earthy smell...and watching the funnel clouds in the sky, wondering if/when they will drop. Fortunately, I have missed them...
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If you see rotation above you in the sky, then you are safe, the tornado will not touch down for about 10 or more miles. But get to safety!!!!!!! It can turn and come back straight at you.

Hubby and I were chasing one and reporting by ham radio to the NWS on it's direction. The NWS told us according to radar it was on a highway to the east in back of us as we were headed west. Next thing we knew it was crossing the highway we were on right in front of us. It had turned and came back.

No guarantees where a tornado is concerned. Three fellow storm chasers we knew well were killed in the El Reno tornado when it changed directions and headed straight at them. They didn't have a chance in their car and no warning so they could get out and get in a ditch. Now the cars are equipped with drills that anchor them to the pavement and are constructed with steel like an armored tank.

Remember during a tornado, storm chasers are considered emergency vehicles so pull over and get out of their way. Often they are traveling at high speeds to follow the path of a tornado to report back to the NWS.

We haven't been chasers for about 20 years now since we are old but our son sometimes is if radar spots one close to our town since only him and a couple other people are civil defense here. But he doesn't go out to other areas hunting them anymore.
 
Spyralflare said:
I’ve learned a lot reading your tornado stories here - wow. I see the photos of the damage, and I’m amazed anyone survived. Do most people have storm cellars as far north as Kentucky? I didn’t even know tornados touched down there.
It looks like it will take so long to recover from this. So heartbreaking.
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Financially, a few years, emotionally 20 years if ever.
 
CSIDreamer said:
Calm down. :) I was asking another poster a question out of curiosity. I've lived in tornado prone areas all my life.
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So sorry. You scared me for a minute there. I was thinking no way would I ever use a crawl space since tornados shift homes sometimes inches, sometimes feet off their foundations. I was imaging you with half your house sitting on you. Again sorry. Didn't mean to panic there. lol Being used-to-be chasers I take tornado safety seriously. Not for myself anymore since I am old and in bad health, but for others yes.
 
RAISINISBACK said:
I agree they are shifting east. Of course being old I remember some really bad tornados. But we haven't had many here in Oklahoma since the one in El Reno in 2013. I think it has to do with the earth shifting on it's axis during that huge earthquake in Sri Lanka. I think they said it shifted 4 degrees or about 40 miles. Tornados mostly travel the jet stream. If a cold or usually warm front comes in it stalls at the jet stream and if conditions are right, moisture, humidity, heat ect then a tornado will likely occur. Like I said the Doppler and TORCON system needs to be put in place further east now. Saying here "If the TORCON is high, watch the sky."

On another note, storm shelters and safe rooms are not that expensive. Safe rooms (which are the best since they can be installed in any room in the house) are sold at places like Home Depot and Lowes and easy to install in your house. Some for 1-2 people can be bought here cheaply and are priceless. Or if you can weld make your own.

Survive-a-Storm Shelters Twister Pod 4 ft. x 6 ft. Tornado Storm Shelter-SASAS04D - The Home Depot

I think a lot of the fatalities further east is due to people not being educated on tornado safety.

1. If you are in a car GET OUT!!!! You are safer lying flat on the ground and covering your head. Cars are death traps in a tornado and you cannot outrun one. You never know which way it will turn. I have seen them turn and double back on themselves going over the same area again.
2. If you are in a mobile home or trailer house GET OUT!!!! Those things are shredded even in an F2. Get to a neighbors house or shelter such as a school or other designated shelter.
3. If you live in a constructed home get to an interior room like a bathroom or closet. Preferably one with no windows. Cover yourself with blankets or a mattress. Get into the bathtub and cover yourself with a mattress. Many people have rode out a tornado in a bathtub with a mattress off their bed over them.

Remember people are killed by flying debris during a tornado. So get somewhere that anything flying through the air can't hit you.

Cover your head!!!!!!!!! Keep motorcycle helmets available for all members of your household. Good ones that cover your entire head. It could mean the difference between your surviving or dying.

Buy and have installed a certified storm cellar or safe room. Basements can offer some protection but remember the ceiling above your head is wood so it can collapse on you. Wouldn't recommend using the crawl space under your home either since you could end up with the entire house sitting on you if the tornado shifts your home off it's foundation.

JMO
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Tornados are so unpredictable that sometimes a person can do the right thing and still not survive.

When I lived in Illinois in 2004, 8 people who lived in a mobile home park left their mobile homes and sought shelter in a nearby building. All 8 were all killed when the building collapsed but their mobile homes were untouched by the tornado.

Tragically ironic that if they had remained in their mobile homes they would have survived the tornado.
 
It seems the Team Western Ky Relief Fund's first priority is funeral costs for those who died... which I thought was a very good thing. But, my friends in Dawson Springs want people to consider who owns Beshear Funeral Home (the Governor's first cousin). I hate to bring negativity to this but it made me think twice.
 
CSIDreamer said:
Have you ever used your crawlspace for storm shelter? I've never done it, so just curious.
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Nope.... thank goodness. We lived in that home for many years and only once did I even consider taking shelter in the crawlspace.
 
JaneEyre said:
Kentucky IS used to tornadoes. I lived most of my adult life there. The notion that tornado alley is just through the great plains is outdated. (Scientists want us to quit using the term because it makes people outside of that area feel too safe.)

The frequently hit areas have been shifting east for some time and the deep south gets hit more often and worse than states like Oklahoma now. While Kentucky is not in the deep south, it is solidly within the current map for frequent tornadoes.

Study: Tornado Alley Shifting East
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Very interesting article. Thank you for sharing.
 
IceIce9 said:
Tornados are so unpredictable that sometimes a person can do the right thing and still not survive.

When I lived in Illinois in 2004, 8 people who lived in a mobile home park left their mobile homes and sought shelter in a nearby building. All 8 were all killed when the building collapsed but their mobile homes were untouched by the tornado.

Tragically ironic that if they had remained in their mobile homes they would have survived the tornado.
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That is very sad! You're right, they did exactly what they were supposed to do.
 
I am in CA and only know earthquakes and fires. Thank you for giving me more info about tornados. Just sounds so frightening. Trauma (tornado) on top of trauma (Covid) for everyone affected.

I’m hoping these states can rebuild using stronger construction baselines to prepare for the increased ferocity of these storms.
 
Items people are finding in their yards after a deadly tornado rolled through the midwest | Daily Mail Online


The deadly tornados that tore through Kentucky were so powerful that they blew residents' personal belongings up to 130 miles away, and now people are reuniting devastated families who lost everything - family photos, a VFW card, checks and even pets - with pieces of their lives that turned up in unusual places.

Midwesterners have taken to social media to locate the owners of pictures, Bibles, baby quilts, Christmas ornaments and other keepsakes after deadly tornadoes swept across six states this weekend.

A Facebook group, Quad State Tornado Found Items, is flooded with posts detailing items - and even pets - that people have found. In many cases, the owners lived 100 miles away from where their belongings ended up.

A black and white photo of a woman in a striped sundress and headscarf holding a little boy on her lap traveled almost 130 miles in winds that reached up to 140 miles per hour in the storm.
 
Kentucky candle factory bosses threatened to fire those who fled tornado, say workers (msn.com)

Haley Conder, 29, said she was one of a number of employees who approached three managers again at about 9pm when the alarm sounded a second time.
“‘You can’t leave, you can’t leave. You have to stay here,’” Conder said the managers told the group. “The situation was bad. Everyone was uncomfortable.”


Sad but once the sirens went off a second time the managers were right not to let them leave. They were safer in the building than out in their cars.

The casinos my tribe owns has a policy not to allow any workers or guests to leave once a tornado is confirmed to be on the ground near them. Security locks the doors and employees are told to take shelter in the bathrooms or hallways. Guests are also asked to move to the hallways or bathrooms. You would be really surprised at how many of the guests refuse and remain at the slot machines to keep playing. Security literally has to cash out their tickets and order them off the machines. Especially older people.

JMO
 
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