Pingo Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Tornados are terrifying. Waterspouts are even more so. They're slower than tornados (because they've sucked up all that water), but when you're seeing them from the deck of a ship there's really nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide. I've never seen a tornado in the flesh, and I'm quite glad of that. The one time I've seen waterspouts, there were four of them and they were damned near surrounding the ship. It was extraordinarily impressive and I'll be just as happy if I don't see it again. I've been through a few tornadoes. More than I remember, actually. Our city has tornado sirens that test the first Tuesday of each month at 10AM, and I still jump a bit when I hear them. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Last Knight Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Hey, Red! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirithiliel Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 the tornado hit a few houses away, destroying the intersection, and luckily just ripped some shingles off my house, and left me a present in my backyard: http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d58/Sirithiliel/DSCF6352_zps636c1790.jpg and http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d58/Sirithiliel/DSCF2079_zps979a1e1d.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Last Knight Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Ugh. Siri, that second picture gave me the shudders. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buglips*the*goblin Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Do they sound like air raid sirens? Did I ever tell you guys about the day people thought the world ended here? Well, I'll tell it again anyway. Back in 1987 (possibly1988), which you will note was still in the 80's, still Reagan era, and still had the cold war, Mt. Pearl (where I lived at the time) finally became a city. They decided to celebrate this announcement by winding up the old disaster sirens. These would be the same sirens that would sound in case of imminent nuclear armaggedon. They didn't bother to notify anybody of this. This excellent example of planning resulted in rather a lot of panic, as everybody thought we only had 20 minutes to live. I was at the park when it happened. Turned white as a ghost and filled my pants. I hid under the slide. Best I could manage under the circumstances, though I doubt it would have made much of a bomb shelter. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Last Knight Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 I feel bad for YoungLips, but I can't stop laughing. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingo Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 I called in the situation to the producer and started explaining field expedient safety in tornadoes (which mostly involves lying face down in a ditch and hoping/praying really hard. Actually, lying in a ditch can be a real problem in tornadoes. Unless the ditch is *really* deep it won't keep you out of the wind, and it is at risk for filling with debris or floodwaters, since tornadoes are often accompanied by torrential rain. If you are in a car, your best bet is to drive, not straight away from, but at right angles to the tornado to get out of its path. Most tornadoes are fairly narrow, last year's monster notwithstanding. At any rate, leaving the relative safety of your car for a ditch is a really bad idea. Don't try to take shelter under a highway underpass either, in car or out of it. Those things turn into wind tunnels like jet engines during tornadoes. Of course, it you're out of doors on foot and there aren't any buildings or shelters nearby, lying down in a ditch may not be your worst option. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buglips*the*goblin Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 I feel bad for YoungLips, but I can't stop laughing. I have to wonder how many people decided to do something they'd never normally do, or confess something they normally wouldn't, or finally tell off their boss, and how many of the next year's babies resulted from those activities. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingo Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Do they sound like air raid sirens? Did I ever tell you guys about the day people thought the world ended here? Well, I'll tell it again anyway. Back in 1987 (possibly1988), which you will note was still in the 80's, still Reagan era, and still had the cold war, Mt. Pearl (where I lived at the time) finally became a city. They decided to celebrate this announcement by winding up the old disaster sirens. These would be the same sirens that would sound in case of imminent nuclear armaggedon. They didn't bother to notify anybody of this. This excellent example of planning resulted in rather a lot of panic, as everybody thought we only had 20 minutes to live. I was at the park when it happened. Turned white as a ghost and filled my pants. I hid under the slide. Best I could manage under the circumstances, though I doubt it would have made much of a bomb shelter. Oh swell, duck and cover. Yes, they sound exactly like air-raid sirens. We have actually had a few times in the city when they've gone off for real and the family has herded down to the basement with blankets and radios to sit under the table in the southwest corner to wonder what's going on where in the city and wait for the all-clear. Finding out what's actually going on is a lot easier now in the era of tablets and internet weather sites. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirithiliel Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Oh yes. So much nicer to have phones to watch radar while huddling in the bathroom For Siri has no basement or other shelter 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kay13 Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 the tornado hit a few houses away, destroying the intersection, and luckily just ripped some shingles off my house, and left me a present in my backyard: http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d58/Sirithiliel/DSCF6352_zps636c1790.jpg and http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d58/Sirithiliel/DSCF2079_zps979a1e1d.jpg Ohhh glad you didn't get badly damaged! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Sundseth Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 I called in the situation to the producer and started explaining field expedient safety in tornadoes (which mostly involves lying face down in a ditch and hoping/praying really hard. Actually, lying in a ditch can be a real problem in tornadoes. Unless the ditch is *really* deep it won't keep you out of the wind, and it is at risk for filling with debris or floodwaters, since tornadoes are often accompanied by torrential rain. ... Of course, it you're out of doors on foot and there aren't any buildings or shelters nearby, lying down in a ditch may not be your worst option. No argument. We were in a large meadow, about half a mile from the nearest building or vehicle. There were trees closer, but that's kind of like hiding from gunfire behind a barrel of diesel fuel. Sometimes it might help, but that's not the way I wanted to bet. The advantage of a ditch is that it at least gives you pretty decent cover from about 80% of the angles debris is likely to be coming in from. It's not ideal, but then ideal is to be far, far away. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thes Hunter Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Do they sound like air raid sirens? Did I ever tell you guys about the day people thought the world ended here? Well, I'll tell it again anyway. Back in 1987 (possibly1988), which you will note was still in the 80's, still Reagan era, and still had the cold war, Mt. Pearl (where I lived at the time) finally became a city. They decided to celebrate this announcement by winding up the old disaster sirens. These would be the same sirens that would sound in case of imminent nuclear armaggedon. They didn't bother to notify anybody of this. This excellent example of planning resulted in rather a lot of panic, as everybody thought we only had 20 minutes to live. I was at the park when it happened. Turned white as a ghost and filled my pants. I hid under the slide. Best I could manage under the circumstances, though I doubt it would have made much of a bomb shelter. I wonder how many babies were born 9 months later. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redambrosia Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Ye gods that was a lot! I'm finally at the end! Good afternoon everyone! You guys talk a lot 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buglips*the*goblin Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 I learned it from my great russian uncle, Tukyirirov. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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