This
week I would like to venture into a situation that can be very costly both in
property and loss of life. Let’s
examine the tornado. This is usually a rather small storm, but extremely
violent. Tornadoes generally affect an area only, perhaps, a mile wide. However, it can move along the earth for many
miles, affecting all those located in its path.
Tornadoes usually develop from severe thunderstorms. Generally, the
scenario goes like this. Hot and humid
air exists in the Gulf States. Cold air
comes racing south from Canada.
Meanwhile, dry air is filtering into the area from the west, coming down
slope from the Rocky Mountains. The
mixture of hot moist air with cold dry air plus in infusion of air from the
west makes the atmosphere extremely unstable.
First, the severe thunderstorm, then the spinning funnel appears. Some funnels never touch the ground, others
do. Much study is being devoted to the dreaded tornado. Great advances have been made, but still much
is unknown.
Now
during the month of February tornadoes begin affecting the states bordering the
Gulf of Mexico. As March and April
approach, tornadoes begin to develop in the Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska area and
surrounding states. Come the months of
May and June, it is common to see tornadoes ripping across the landscapes of
Iowa, Missouri, and Minnesota, even the Dakotas. It is safe to say, however, very few places
in the United States never experience a tornado.
During
the spring and summer, it is not out of the question that a tornado touches
down in the northeast. Unlike the
tornadoes in the Gulf States and the mid west (tornado alley), tornadoes in the
northeast are usually of very short duration.
Some funnels just skim the ground, other remain on the ground only for a
few minutes. Tornadoes out west, where
the ground is flat, can stay alive for an hour or more, causing devastation
everywhere in its path. Some tornadoes
travel for hundreds of miles, knocking down huge trees, telephone poles, wires,
throwing cars and trucks around like they were toys, even flattening buildings.
Many people living in areas that are prone to tornadoes construct storm cellars
in order to survive.
Stories
about tornadoes are quite common. Unfortunately, many of them are true. We hear about a baby being ripped from a
mother’s arms and found a few blocks away with only a few scratches and
bruises. We hear of cars and huge trucks
being carried high in the sky and being whirled around in the funnel, finally
coming back down to earth as the tornado weakens. One man went into his storm cellar and his
dog was following. As the tornado went
overhead, the dog was sucked out of the cellar into the tornado. The dog was never seen again.
So
what should you do if a tornado is heading for your area and you do not have a
storm cellar? Cars are not safe. Holding on to a tree is no solution. The best thing one can do is finding a
structure. If you are close to home, get
into your house. If you have a cellar,
go down into the cellar and stay away from windows. If your house has no cellar, and many do not,
get to the center of the house …again, away from windows. If you can, get on
the floor, perhaps under a bed. Some
have suggested get into the bathtub and if possible cover yourself with
something to protect yourself from falling objects. Do not, I repeat, do not go
outside to take pictures of the tornado.
Many a life has been lost doing that.
Next
week I will discuss another killer storm, the dreaded hurricane. When does it
occur? Where does it occur? And how does it usually kill.
