Tornado watches

[Guest sigequinox]

Howdy fellas,

 

I see TN is getting some severe weather/tornado watches. Tornados kinda scare the crap out of me (fear of the unknown). We get hurricanes up here, no tornadoes and I'm not one of those people who are rich enough or stupid enough to live on the shore (where they do the most damage).

 

Are you middle TN guys worried right now? is it something your just used to and don't think too much about? Any transplants on here that can give me their experience of adjusting to this new natural threat?

[TGO David]

Not real worried about it although this storm system is being hyped up quite a bit.

[xRUSTYx]

I come from earthquake country. It took a good 2-3 years to get used to the chance of tornados. Now - they don't worry me too much. The 2nd year we were here, I swear we were almost in the middle of one. Pressure got sucked out of our office and ears plugged up. Everything outside was completely sideways - the wind was entirely horizontal. If I wasn't so scared, I would have tried to get pictures. I still get a bit nervous when it's gets REAL rough ... but otherwise, not too bad :) With that said - the house we are buying and close on at the end of next month has a storm shelter under the front porch. Concrete on 3 sides plus roof :) ... sent from my pocket rocket ... my Samsung Note 3! Edited April 27, 2014 by xRUSTYx

[dawgdoc]

I don't live in middle Tennessee, but we have plenty of tornado watches on the TN/GA border.  I live about 1.5 miles from a tornado destroyed a good part of Ringgold, Georgia a few years ago.

 

Whenever there is any significant threat, the tv weather teams start living in their studios, interrupting regular programming.  You know it's really bad when they don't return to regular programming.

 

The two things that I have to make life easier--a weather radio and a good (livable) basement.  

 

The Ringgold tornado was part of a system that came in two waves.  The first wave took out a huge number of large trees, so power was out at work and I came home early.  We stayed in the basement watching the news.  I remember they were indicating that something was happening close by when the cable went out.  My wife went on the WRCB tv webpage and we started seeing Facebook posts in real time about the damage that was occurring right then just a short distance away.  In those first few hours, there were all sorts of rumor and speculation about a massive death toll that was pretty alarming (8 people actually died).  When we finally saw the damage a week later, it was pretty catastrophic.  Things were just gone--houses, trees, everything.  I did learn that if you are in a tornado while at a convenience store, hide in the coolers.  We saw a gas station that was completely obliterated; the coolers were the only thing still standing and recognizable.

 

The cable stayed out for a week, and that's when I learned that we got really good reception on an antenna.

[TripleDigitRide]

I'm hoping for enough of a storm to require a new roof.

[Garufa]

Tornadoes are just a fact of life in the South.  If you move down here don't live in a trailer, they are magnets for twisters.

[R_Bert]

Tornadoes are just a fact of life in the South.  If you move down here don't live in a trailer, they are magnets for twisters.

you beat me to it.

 

And as long as your Trans-Am  on points down on all 4 wheels, you're good.  If a tornado comes by, just push the dog out from under the porch (they ain't room for both of you).

 

Oh Yeah. Tornaders smell fear.  Especially from Yankees.

Edited April 27, 2014 by R_Bert

[Guest sigequinox]

you beat me to it.

 

And as long as your Trans-Am  on points down on all 4 wheels, you're good.  If a tornado comes by, just push the dog out from under the porch (they ain't room for both of you).

 

Oh Yeah. Tornaders smell fear.  Especially from Yankees.

 

Ill make sure to shoot that prejudice tornado in its stupid terrorist face....although I hear that doesn't do much.

[kieefer]

Not real worried about it although this storm system is being hyped up quite a bit.

 

As usual. Wasn't it suppose to be here ...at first noon and then 3pm. 

 

They really have no idea what the weather is going to do especially in TN.

[Guest sigequinox]

I come from earthquake country. It took a good 2-3 years to get used to the chance of tornados. Now - they don't worry me too much. The 2nd year we were here, I swear we were almost in the middle of one. Pressure got sucked out of our office and ears plugged up. Everything outside was completely sideways - the wind was entirely horizontal. If I wasn't so scared, I would have tried to get pictures. I still get a bit nervous when it's gets REAL rough ... but otherwise, not too bad :) With that said - the house we are buying and close on at the end of next month has a storm shelter under the front porch. Concrete on 3 sides plus roof :) ... sent from my pocket rocket ... my Samsung Note 3!

 

That sounds pretty freaky. I do love storms. Mother nature is cool as hell. I went for a jog when hurricane sandy hit, but tornadoes are just so foreign to me (and a completely different animal than hurricanes). I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually.

 

The areas we are looking at--franklin, brentwood,thompsons station, etc--don't generally have basements in the homes. I will probably invest the 5k for one of those garage safe rooms for some peace of mind. Although it pains me to dip into the "real gun" slush fund. I have this illness where I hate spending discretionary income on anything besides guns, especially all the fun ones I can own down there...  :(

Edited April 27, 2014 by sigequinox

[Garufa]

I would much prefer living with the threat of hurricanes than tornadoes.  At least you know it's coming and it's nothing but high wind.  Tornadoes are sudden, localized and extremely violent.  If one hits there will be destruction.

[Guest sigequinox]

I would much prefer living with the threat of hurricanes than tornadoes.  At least you know it's coming and it's nothing but high wind.  Tornadoes are sudden, localized and extremely violent.  If one hits there will be destruction.

 

 

House swap? lol. I feel like I'm more afraid than I should be because i'm a "damn yankee" and thus have a very dramatized perception of them--either in movies or from the annihilating F4-5s that make news up here.

[TNMTBik3r]

When I was young the place we lived at was about a mile from a spot that got hit at least once each tornado season. Down in Culleoka, strip off of Mooresville Pike before Peach Orchard for anyone in the area.
They were quite disastrous, especially to the one farmer who kept rebuilding his barn in the same spot only to watch it get demolished again the next year. Edited April 27, 2014 by jonathon1289

[enfield]

"Damnyankee" is one word. :)

Tornadoes are a lot less predictable than hurricanes and shorter lived. There's not much preparation you can do with 0 to 3 minutes warning. We, if we're smart, have basic precautions already in place - such as a good place to take cover, stored food and water, a well-maintained generator, alternate means of communication, and a meeting place for the family if separated. Then we pay attention to developing weather.

[peejman]

As usual. Wasn't it suppose to be here ...at first noon and then 3pm.

They really have no idea what the weather is going to do especially in TN.

Yep. The weather goons go on, and on, and on, and on about it so much anymore that it seems like most people just ignore them. Anytime there's a line of thunderstorms they talk about it. I quit listening to their drivel. Look at the radar and make up your own mind.

[TripleDigitRide]

Fox News - Breaking News: At least two dead in Oklahoma tornado.

[tartanphantom]

Howdy fellas,

 

I see TN is getting some severe weather/tornado watches. Tornados kinda scare the crap out of me (fear of the unknown). We get hurricanes up here, no tornadoes and I'm not one of those people who are rich enough or stupid enough to live on the shore (where they do the most damage).

 

Are you middle TN guys worried right now? is it something your just used to and don't think too much about? Any transplants on here that can give me their experience of adjusting to this new natural threat?

 

It's a trade-off-- Tornadoes come through fast and hard, and the damage is usually a pretty tightly defined area. The tornado comes through, the damage is done, and cleanup begins afterwards-- all in fairly short order.

 

Quite unlike government and politics in the northeast-- where the damage is done slowly but in a deliberate, often subversive fashion, and cleanup can take many, many years-- if it ever happens at all.

 

Having lived in the south most of my life (I did spend a 3-year stint living in the northeast), I'll take my chances living with tornadoes over life in the totalitarian northeast "blue states" every time.

 

Also,  if you are following the tornado info on either the Weather Channel or CNN, keep in mind that they both have vested interest in creating "reality TV drama" out of any weather event. It's about the only time they ever report on anything in flyover country, and usually their coverage is the broadcast equivalent of crying "wolf".

Edited April 28, 2014 by tartanphantom

[Spiffy]

Tornadoes are just a fact of life in the South.  If you move down here don't live in a trailer, they are magnets for twisters.

 

I have my own theory about that. I think it's something about all the metal together in one place.

[TripleDigitRide]

Confirmed tornado on the ground between Fayetteville and Flintville. NWS says catastrophic damage likely with winds over 170 mph possible.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

There is no closer companion than a dawg in heavy weather. I guess they actually think a human can protect them.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Just had the meteorologist on a local channel warn people about flooding. He wanted to remind everyone that because car tires are filled with air your car will float away if the water is too deep. I kind of chuckled. I guess it might if you are in a monster truck.

It is going to be a long night for me. I am bordered by trees on the back side of my house so winds are always a worry.

[peejman]

After all that hullabaloo, it didn't really even rain that hard at the house.  Both my kids slept through it.   Looked like Etowah got hammered. 

[bersaguy]

Yep. The weather goons go on, and on, and on, and on about it so much anymore that it seems like most people just ignore them. Anytime there's a line of thunderstorms they talk about it. I quit listening to their drivel. Look at the radar and make up your own mind.

Reasons for that is they have these new toys that can come close to pin pointing where they are located in a storm but can't tell you if it will touch down on you or not. he newest toy they have is locating the debris ball at the base of a larger tornado on the radar and the can show you were it is on the ground at now. Weather men have got to be life the news reporters and want to be the first one to announce the bad weather and they fight over ratings when they are dealing with peoples lives......... :rant: :rant:

[bersaguy]

As far as tornado's go back when I was a teenager growing up in middle Illinois in the heart of Tornado Alley it is so flat up there you can see one on the ground 5 miles away and when the sirens sounded in town a bunch of us kids would get together and chase them through to farm roads in pick up trucks throwing beer cans at them. Sometimes we might get to close and the truck would begin to lift and you had to be fast enough on the brakes and reverse to back away from it. Now I am much older and a little smarter, not much but a little and They scare the hell out of me now that I live in Tennessee. I don't know what it is or why but during the day if you can see it soon enough you can avoid it by driving in opposite direction of it's path but I have found that in Tennessee for some reason they always seem to show up after it gets dark and you can't see them so you don't know which way to run so you ride it out as best you can in your house  or basement. I know a guy up in Ridgetop TN. that built his own home home for him and his elderly mother and he built a tornado house. Cost $198,000.00 dollars and so far it has been struck directly but 3 . 2 F3 and 1 F4 and received zero damage to house. Not even broken window. He does allow neighbors to come in when the storms are coming and many times he has as many as 25 or 30 folks from nearby with him and him mother in during the storms. In all honesty I went from chasing them and throwing beer cans at the to being totally scared of them at night!!!!

[peejman]

The thing that bugs me most is the over saturation.  They issue so many warnings that don't amount to anything that people (including me) are becoming numb to it and just ignore most of them.  To me, a "tornado watch" means conditions exist where one could form; while a "tornado warning" means there is a tornado.  This business of blabbering on and on about "doppler radar indicates...."  is garbage.  It does nothing but scare people unnecessarily and desensitize them.  I know they're just doing their jobs and trying to help, but it's over saturating.  They really need to refine their computer models to better distinguish between what's real and what might be real.  Easier said than done, I know. 

 

 

As for the house thing... my parents' house quickly became known as the "bomb shelter" by the guys helping build it.  While it doesn't have a purpose built storm shelter or panic room inside (they weren't very common when it was built), the structure in the basement is considerable.