Weather: Tornadoes kill 20 in South; 8 deaths in high school...

[tucsoncoyote]

Related Link(s): http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17397486/

There's an old saying that for the Month of March, March usually comes either in like a lion or a lamb and goes out like it's opposite.

and this year it's coming in like a lion... with a roar of tornadoes.


I was busy yesterday watching the weather reports and i heard about what happened yesterday afternoon at about 1:50 PM Central Standard Time in Enterprise Alabama.

One tornado actually struck a high school in Enterprise, Alabama, just moments before school was to let out, and sadly for 8 students, they didn't even get a chance to go home.

but tornadoes are fickle weather phenomena. And later in the day another storm hit a hospital in Americus, Georgia, and another 2 people were killed.

in all there were 20 people who aren't going to live, who are going to even grow up further (Considering the age of victims range from 7 years old on up to as old as 80 something seniors...

But the bottom line is this: Tornadoes like other natural disasters, don't discriminate, or pick and choose their targets. A lot of deaths are usually random and are usually because of the fact that the people who die don't heed the warning signs or know what to do.

But let's hear from the folks and hear what you have to say about this. After all Tornado season is starting to "Wind up" and soon in the days/weeks ahead the growl of tornadoes will be all to common place.


:coyote:

[Tenku]

To tell you the truth, I was a bit scared when I heard of the tornado going through the high school. I only live about ~100 miles away from Enterprise, and to hear that was just... I don't know.

I've been down there before, and to visualize the destruction... it even destroyed the stadium, which is one of the biggest I've been to, and it's made of concrete.

Of course, our campus shut down at around 2 CST, but luckily I don't have classes on Thursdays so I didn't have to drive in the mess.

It just put things into perspective. If Spring is going to be like this, then I'm just plain scared of what's going to happen when a storm occurs.

[tucsoncoyote]

To tell you the truth, I was a bit scared when I heard of the tornado going through the high school. I only live about ~100 miles away from Enterprise, and to hear that was just... I don't know.

I've been down there before, and to visualize the destruction... it even destroyed the stadium, which is one of the biggest I've been to, and it's made of concrete.

Of course, our campus shut down at around 2 CST, but luckily I don't have classes on Thursdays so I didn't have to drive in the mess.

It just put things into perspective. If Spring is going to be like this, then I'm just plain scared of what's going to happen when a storm occurs.


Well when you are talking about what you are describing here DJ, it sounds like this storm that hit the high School in Enterprise Alabama is near the top of the (Standard) Fujita Scale.. an F5.. and considering how the stadium is built? This storm probably was a Full Blown (Enhanced) Fujita Scale, EF5, as well..Total devestation.

It's funny that a lot of folks tend to joke about how tornadoes tend to go after just Mobile homes and what not, but in reality it's what is in the path of the storm that is destroyed and Damaged. Just this last week I talked to a friend of mine who lives in Little Rock and he described to me the damage of one storm that hit Dumas, Arkansas (About 80 miles southwest of where he lives, and from what i saw of the pictures, the storms this season are being extremely violent.. some of them pushing the upper end of the Standard Fujita Scale..(F4 and F5)

Frankly this disturbs me that this year we could see a very active Tornado season.. we could also see a very active Hurricane Season (which starts in just 12 weeks), and this year could be the highest weather related incidents on the books..

But what will happen is really not controlled by us, but rather what might happen if we don't start changing our building design plans .. After all a few thousand dollar renovation can make a building more "Storm Resistant, but in the end, it's really up to whether or not the people owning the building will make those changes..

But as for the Alabama School Incident.. My hearts go out to those families affected by it..(Same with the Folks in the Georgia Hospital that was hit as well.)

:coyote:

[Zeonic Freak]

My youth pastors whole family lives in the town that got hit...

From what he said, on of his uncles and aunts house got destroyed, but i think there ok and the rest of his family is as well...

[tucsoncoyote]

My youth pastors whole family lives in the town that got hit...

From what he said, on of his uncles and aunts house got destroyed, but i think there ok and the rest of his family is as well...

Well you know Tornado season is gearing up and in the days and weeks ahead from now until July we'll all have to keep an eye out on the weather, (yes even we in Arizona get twisters), and in fact it's funny, even though we are outside the tornado alley, it seems that we get them usually when our Monsoon season starts.

and then of course don't forget hurricane season in June.. Tornadoes usually can form during hurricanes as well, (Usually in the right front quadrant where there is enough spin..

Ah well at least this season might be slow, but then again tornadoes are like Snipers, they jump out at anyone who's not paying attention.

:coyote:

[Kagetsu]

Was afraid of tornadoes when I was younger, but never the actual storms that could make them. :sad: Go figure.

Because of our mountains, the tornadoes we get are mostly small. Tearing up a few trees and an occasional roof.

[tucsoncoyote]

Was afraid of tornadoes when I was younger, but never the actual storms that could make them. :sad: Go figure.

Because of our mountains, the tornadoes we get are mostly small. Tearing up a few trees and an occasional roof.

Well I was scared of tornadoes initially when i was a kid watching The Wizard of Oz. (of course i later found out that it was all that movie magic. Of course I never really have seen a tornado up close and personal (but I would love to before my life ends.)

Now as for the second part of your comment about tornadoes being blocked by Mountains and what not? Well I got some rather surprising news about the Rules that Tornadoes play by.. and in fact here's the surprise.

There are No Rules.

In short, Tornadoes can easily go over rivers, they can climb over mountains and even go right over bluffs. Perhaps the most destructive outbreak ever recorded happened on April 3rd and 4th 1974. and in that one outbreak there were 148 tornadoes in just a 25 hour period.

Now what is surprising about this outbreak is that it shows that Tornadoes don't play by any rules whatsoever. If there's a bluff that you think will deflect tornadoes? Nope not true. A river won't stop a twister either (in fact 15 of the 148 tornadoes that were in this outbreak crossed every known body of water, (Lakes, Rivers, Ponds, you name it).

Also there is one case in Georgia and another in Kentucky during this outbreak where two tornadoes were powerful enough to go up over a mountain ridge and plunge into a valley below. (in the Georgia incident the storm climbed over a 4000 foot mountain, dove into a valley 3000 feet below and then climbed over a second 4000 foot mountain, without losing an iota of power.

In fact the tornado that Struck Xenia Ohio (Which was an F5 on the Fujita scale) on the 3rd of April 1974, had crossed the Ohio River just 20 minutes earlier, and lost not an ounce of strength.

and some places like Guin, Alabama, didn't get hit once.. some places got hit as many as 3 Times. (also in one tornado, it even crossed an international border and ravaged the outskirts of Toronto Quebec, Canada.

so if you think a mountain range will protect you? Think again. I still remember how my grandparents used to think that the bluff outside Manhattan Kansas would protect them from a tornado, well on June 3rd 1966, that myth was broken outright when a twister went over the bluff and right through the University of Kansas Campus...

In short, Tornadoes don't play by any rules. They are indiscriminate powerhouses that can lash out at anything, be it mobile home or Business, House or School, even hospitals have been hit by these storms.

and yet people sometimes get foolish notions thinking that twisters can only play by certain rules. but Like I said, there are no rules when it comes to these storms. So if you ever see a tornado coming the best thing to do is get to a basement or underground, barring that get into a bathroom on the loweest floors near the center of a building. Barring that, under a bed or get a mattress over you. Any way you can, protect yourself. After all Houses and buildings can be rebuilt.. Human life however can not.

and that's from someone who's never seen a tornado in person, but who knows the lessons all too well.

:coyote: