Why Are You Supposed To Get Out Of Your Car During A Tornado?

[orleans]

and lay down in a ditch?
(what if there is NO ditch? what if the ground around you is flat?)

if a tornado can lift a car can't it lift a person off the ground?

if things are flying around wouldn't you be better protected in a car than out in the open?

[Broken_Hero]

1. Haul ass to a highway underpass

and hold on for dear life....

[PinkTiger]

3. I have heard that highway underpasses are not that safe.

"f you're caught outdoors during a tornado, don't try to outrun it in your car, says III. A tornado can change directions quickly. You should seek shelter indoors immediately. If that isn't possible, get out of your car and duck down in the lowest spot you can find, such as a ditch or gully. Because a tornado doesn't suck objects up, but blows them around, a highway underpass is not safe since it leaves you exposed to flying debris"

http://www.insure.com/articles/homeinsurance/tornado-tips.html

[Broken_Hero]

5. true, I don't think much is safe when a tornado is around

I guess when its down to the brass tacks, you gotta do what you gotta do. I don't see many decent ditches, or gully's in my area...underpass to me seems a safer bet, but with tornado's, what is really safe, unless you are in a cellar 8 feet below ground....:)

BTW, long time no see, :hi:

[MuseRider]

24. I've looked around

too for decent ditches and gullys. Seems there are electrical lines over most of them. Doesn't sound too safe to me. Still, as you said, nothing is really safe. Getting ready here for tornado season. So far so good but it is early.

[PinkTiger]

25. I've been hanging out for dear life

in the Astrology forum. But now it has been infiltrated by partisans, so I'm thinking of leaving altogether. I can't stand the hate.


:rant:

[timtom]

41. Excuse me for butting in, but my curiosity is piqued.

How does an astrology forum become hate-filled?

I mean my question respectfully.

Thanks.

[timtom]

49. Hmmm

Guess I'll have to go over to astrology forum and see for myself. I would've been interested in you sharing your experiences there.

[girl gone mad]

9. I read a study not long ago..

that said people who fled in their cars were safer.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

4. Actually, no.......

The suction generated underneath an overpass is supposedly even worse if it passes overhead.

[Broken_Hero]

6. Okay,

I stand corrected, again...:) I figure its safer than trying to find a tiny ditch...what really is safe around a tornado, unless you are in a cellar 8ft underground

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

7. Hey, I know.........

....I think you're screwed no matter what!

[Broken_Hero]

8. I'd hate to be a test subject on this matter...

the odds don't look good either way, :)

[uppityperson]

38. There are very very very few underpasses with a cavity to crawl into

That one that made the rounds a while back was one of the very few. People have gone to underpasses because of that and died. Problem is you are higher off ground level, and get a wind tunnel effect, both leading to stronger winds and faster moving debris.

[hedgehog]

19. My experience at the base of tall buildings or between buildings

during high winds makes me dubious of this. That overpass could possibly act as a giant air foil and do some pretty strange things to air flow. You should hear some of my daughter's stories about the winter winds indown town Buffalo!

[seriousstan]

2. Because a tornado can terminate 3 feet above the ground. It is possible

for it to pick up the structure you are in and not you. Play the odds. Remember, What happens in Vegas. stays in Vegas.

[Muttocracy]

10. Here's what Natl Weather Service says:

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/brochures/ttl.pdf

MYTH
If you are driving and a tornado is sighted, you should turn and drive at right angles to the storm.
TRUTH
The best thing to do is to seek the best available shelter. Many people are injured or killed when
remaining in their vehicles.

MYTH
People caught in the open should seek shelter under highway overpasses.
TRUTH
Take shelter in a sturdy reinforced building if at all possible. Overpasses, ditches, and culverts
may provide limited protection from a tornado, but your risk will be greatly reduced by moving
inside a strong building.

...
Tornado Safey Rules

In a home or building, move to a pre-designated shelter, such
as a basement.

If an underground shelter is not available, move to a small
interior room or hallway on the lowest floor and get under a
sturdy piece of furniture. Put as many walls as possible
between you and the outside.

Stay away from windows.

Get out of automobiles.

Do not try to outrun a tornado in your car; instead, leave it
immediately for safe shelter.

If caught outside or in a vehicle, lie flat in a nearby ditch or
depression and cover your head with your hands.

Be aware of flying debris. Flying debris from tornadoes
causes most fatalities and injuries.

Mobile homes, even if tied down, offer little protection from
tornadoes. You should leave a mobile home and go to the
lowest floor of a sturdy nearby building or a storm shelter.

----

So maybe it's about not being hit by flying stuff - it'll pass over you - rather than avoiding being carried off?

[Broken_Hero]

11. sounds good to me,

:thumbsup:

[orleans]

12. my daughter is planning a two - three hour car trip tomorrow to visit a college

and the weather.com is saying there is going to be a line of severe thunderstorms and possible tornado outbreaks--their little video is saying if there is one day you follow weather this year make it be thursday. parts of tx, la, entire state of ak, mo and entire state of illinois. (we're illinois and she wants to head south--straight into the line of fire!) a huge possibility of long tracked tornadoes.

great.

i show her this video and ask her if she can make other arrangements, etc.
she glares at me. (i worry too much--too much of a weather freak)
"some people don't pay attention to the weather. some people just go where they are going."

nail-biting emoticon.

[Mind_your_head]

15. That's a nasty looking line of thunderstorms moving in alright

I don't know that I would let my daughter drive in that either. It's not any fun driving in rain like that, even for a very experienced driver. Perhaps your daughter can postpone her trip until the line of thunderstorms passes - leave later in the afternoon or go on Friday? You could always tell her that "the worrying about her would just ruin YOUR day, and you don't want her to go driving in a storm".

I'm like you - I always check the weather before a trip. Good luck with whatever you decide about her trip.

[seabeyond]

18. i have driven thru texas with storms and concerns of tornados. is scary

especially at night. it has happened more than once. i let hubby know to keep eye out (i was alone on trips) and he watches for me. can call me on my cell

wouldnt it be nice to be one of those that dont look at the sky all the while driving. i have been feeling much better last couple years having weatherunderground and able to see myself.

[Jed Dilligan]

44. The only time I ever had a tornado chasing me was in West Texas

There isn't a single building along the ten sturdy enough to qualify as shelter. I just drove balls out, perfectly straight highway with my wheel cranked about thirty degrees against the wind. When I stopped to get gas the wind had taken the nozzles off their cradles and they were whipping around like water snakes on the ground. Damn, it was scary, but there was no way I was staying in that gas station. I remember when the wind finally stopped I was in New Mexico and the sky was the clearest I've ever seen. Milky way in full view and shooting stars everywhere. Man what a trip.

[Hekate]

13. Auntie Em! Auntie Em! Open the storm cellar!

I think I'll stay out of Tornado Alley, is what I'll do. Best of luck to all you sturdy folk who dwell there. :hi:

Hekate

[Wcross]

26. Wildfires, earthquakes, blizzards, hurricanes & floods.

Mutha Nature is out to get us if she can.

[Lasher]

14. The Kansas Overpass Tordado - April 26, 1991

Here is a video clip that includes the famous footage of a news crew taking refuge beneath an overpass of the Kansas Turnpike:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHBZylcxIvw

They were actually not inside the tornado vortex itself, but instead in a surface inflow jet -- a small belt of intense wind flowing into the base of the tornado a few dozen yards to their south. Even then, flying debris could have caused serious injury or death.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/papers/overpass/slide04.html

I once watched a documentary about this event. A structure such as this overpass can work like a funnel to make the wind stronger. You're better off laying down on flat open ground if you can't find a ditch or something like that.

FEMA: What to do during a tornado

http://www.fema.gov/hazard/tornado/to_during.shtm

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. That tornado was also a baby twister

Had it been stronger, it would have sucked them out from under that overpass.

[Lasher]

27. Right, they were very lucky to have survived.

Others have been killed in just such a situation.

Congrats on the NCAA Basketball tournament win.

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. Thanks

It was sure a great game.

[Lasher]

33. And not a bad footabll season either.

Jayhawks ended up ranked #7, just after **ahem**

[pokerfan]

42. I understand that most injuries/deaths are due to flying debris

which is why lying down in a ditch is advised but even lying prone on open ground is better than nothing. Imagine what a flying piece of sheet metal could do to the human body. Culverts might sound nice but remember that flash flooding often occurs during these kind of storms.

I see that they advise you to leave your vehicle but they don't explain why. I suspect that this is because that, while vehicles are heavy, they are also large with lots of empty space. A human body is mostly water and is overall more dense and therefor somewhat less likely to get tossed. But I'm no expert. Just do what the FEMA and NOAA sites recommend.

[Lasher]

43. The thing with vehicles is that they have flat surfaces to suck onto.

And I guess that makes sense to me. I can remember seeing footage of cars swirling around the funnel. Cows too but not so much as cars.

Hope you never have to face such a situation.

Lasher

[pokerfan]

46. "We have cows!"

Hope you never have to face such a situation.

Knock on wood but not likely here. We had barely an F1 a couple of years ago in this county and it was considered the tornado of the century. On the other hand, we can get nasty ice storms.

[Lasher]

48. Mr President, we have confirmed incoming cows.

Not really a problem here either, in the hills of West Virginia. If a twister ever does touch down it hits our hills and goes right back up into the air. Similar for all types of extreme weather. But I do have a fascination with tornadoes, as well as a great deal of empathy for those who suffer from them.

[BootinUp]

16. Wanna go for a ride? nt

[KharmaTrain]

17. Does This Answer Your Question??

A 200 plus gust of wind will toss a car like a toy...and if you're inside, be prepared to be the last thing on the radio.

The old tornado drill is to expose as little of your body to the wind...thus laying flat...preferably in a ditch, but if there is none, just duck and cover...that you expose less body surface to the winds and stand a good chance of survival.

Those who say to run for an overpass are asking for disaster...not just because the overpass could collapse, but also that the winds howling up and around it can either suck a person out in a bad storm or it becomes a magnet for flying debris.

Damn it for paying attention to those grade-school tornado drills...we had those the weeks we didn't have our "duck & cover" nuclear drill.

[hedgehog]

20. I think the key here is that a car can act like a sail and catch the wind

while you nice and flat on teh ground won't. You may be lighter than the car, but you're denser. Most of the car's volume is empty air.

[uppityperson]

39. Cars flip, laying flat there is more chance debris will pass over you.

It's not just the wind blowing you around but all the crap in the air. Having lived through a class 5 tornado as a child, have been fascinated by them, and terrified. What took out parts of our town was the debris from the first couple buildings hitting the next ones, and the debris from them hitting the next ones, etc. I lived in a part with stronger built buildings and we lost less because there was less buildings debris blowing around. 1 child died in "my" tornado because he had a picket fence stuck in him.

Laying flat, more likely the debris will blow past. Going 10 ft up into an overpass gets you up into higher winds, and then there is the wind tunnel effect making them stronger and blowing all the debris into you faster.

[Echo In Light]

21. I've been in two while driving, never got out

Ducked under an overpass once. The other was driving home from playing a gig late one night, interstate, pitch black, fuckin scared the bejesus belt outta me.

[Pithlet]

22. I'm going to be another to add that overpasses are a bad idea for shelter.

I was driving through a tornado damaged area last February, and there was an overpass near a wooded area. Some of the trees had been sucked right underneath it and jammed up under the roadway. If someone had taken shelter up under there, they wouldn't have survived.

I'm right in the line of fire again today. Living in Tornado Alley isn't much fun. :scared:

[cynatnite]

30. Well, an overpass saved my life...

and my mom's and my sister's. That's not to mention the other folks who took cover there. This happened about thirty years ago.

We crawled up as far into it as we could and held on to each other for dear life. The tornado came right through. Afterwards, about four people lost their cars. The tornado took care of them.

Far more preferable than being out in the open.

Grew up in Oklahoma and tornados were a part of daily life.

[seabeyond]

31. panhandle of texas. so many go right over us.... to, oklahoma. lol

isnt that the truth about oklahoma. we get plenty starting up here in the panhandle but geeez.... okl, ks...

out in the open, under an underpass... either, scary

[cynatnite]

32. I was about 12 at the time it happened...I was too stupid to be scared...

my mother and everyone else was. My sister cried a little, but I just didn't know that I was supposed to be scared. Now, if this happened today...oh, yeah, I'd be scared to death.

We don't live in Tornado Alley anymore.

[seabeyond]

35. lol lol that is funny. i grew

up in calif. i cant even count the earthquakes i have felt. give me the earthquake to tornado any time.

[cynatnite]

45. We were living at Ft. Ord when the '89 quake hit...

Shook the hell out of the house.

That one and the tremors I'd felt over the years I hated with a passion. I'll take the tornado. LOL I can see it coming.

[Pithlet]

36. You were lucky.

I'm glad you were safe. That must have been terrifying. It's true though that it's not good to take shelter under an overpass. People have been swept out from under them to their deaths by taking shelter there. If anyone out there today is caught out on the road, please try to resist the temptation to do this. It's counterintuitive, but laying flat in the lowest place you can find is the safest. I wish I could have taken a picture of that overpass I saw.

http://www.tornadoproject.com/myths/myths.htm

From NOAA: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ddc/?n=over

http://www.weathersafety.ohio.gov/TornadoDangersOfOverpasses2007.aspx

A story about people killed taking shelter under an overpass: http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/briefings/vol3_no2/overpass.html

[Seeking Serenity]

28. Because tornadoes don't suck things up

a la Dorothy's house in "The Wizard of Oz," but just blow things about. If you can lie flat, thus reducing your verticality with respect to the wind being blown at you, you're less likely to be blown about. Also, ensure less vertical surface area for you to be struck by flying debris.

Cars can be tossed about like a child's Matchbox toy in a tornado. And they offer precious little protection from flying debris.

[AngryOldDem]

34. Here's a clue.

A weak tornado could easily overturn or blow a car off the road. A strogner tornado could possibly send it much farther. The reason why you're told to lay in a ditch is to make yourself as close to the ground as possible. You might be fucked regardless, but your odds are a little better if you're not in a car.

[Mugu]

37. I have a very simple strategy that I use for dealing with tornadoes.

Be someplace else. As long as the car will operate and I have open road, I plan on being someplace that the tornado isn't.

Regards, Mugu

[ThomWV]

40. You get out of the car so you can watch it fly away from the safety of the ground.

The car has at least 6" of space under it, if you are laying flat on the ground you don't. It seems to me that should make a difference.

[LibertyLover]

47. Don't go under an overpass -

wind from a tornado can be very strong under a highway overpass. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/papers/overpass.html or
http://www.weathersafety.ohio.gov/TornadoDangersOfOverpasses2007.aspx

Years ago Dr. T.T. Fujita, developer of the Fujita scale for tornados, was a guest lecturer in my meteorology 101 class at the University of Chicago. His advice was to (a) get to shelter or (b) if you couldn't get to shelter, lie in a ditch and cover your head or (c) if you couldn't find a ditch, lie in the open away from trees, etc. and cover your head. I think it's still good advice.