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Tornadoes that come barreling through my city causing serious damage are rare. The last one happened in 1990. The last one before that was in 1975. The destructive path of the two tornadoes was so narrow, none caused significant damage to the home I was living in. All it did to me was to convince me to have a storm shelter for my next home. So, to be well prepared for the next bad tornado, many people have installed storm shelters for their homes. Those shelters give people a lot of peace of mind for when the next tornado warning is issued. Having your home fully insured for loss due to tornado also helps.
Ice storms and hailstorms are probably more common and aggravate more people, perhaps to the point of wanting to move away from it.
It might be more stressful to live in an area where strong and highly destructive earthquakes have been known to occur. There is no prior warning issued. People knowing that hasn't kept San Francisco from growing.
San Francisco is in a geographically unique part of not just North America but the world. After living in places that deal hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes, I'd rather live in the place with earthquakes. I never got used to the tornado warnings growing up.
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Originally Posted by Spade
I believe some meteorologists have said that Tornado alley is outdated in a way that the most dangerous tornadoes occur there. It’s Dixie alley that should get all the attention from now on.
Which is interesting considering historically Dixie Alley has always had very high tornado threats. I think the reason Tornado Alley became more known was the destruction and tornadoes themselves are easier to see in the Plains states due to geography, and there were some pretty high profile tornadoes that hit larger cities.
You're referring to tornado watches, not tornado warnings. Tornado watches aren't very stressful.
Please stop "Mansplaining"
I was referring to Tornado warnings. We had them every single Wednesday for the entirety of the summer I was in Michigan. For the entire state. I remember because I thought it was so crazy. One of the contributing factors was that it doesn't get dark until about 10 pm in Michigan in June...so it took a while for the energy of the day to dissipate. While Boston gets dark at the earliest time point of time zone. Probably around 8:30.
I asked people -- how do you deal with it... they were like -- oh well the Sirens will go off... um.. yeh like 1 second before it hits. If that even happens as there are less spotters at night.
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Yup and here in Boston everyone has a basement too. Not sure i know of any house here without one. I was surprised to learn many houses in Tennessee don’t have a basement. At least then if tornado at night is a risk can just sleep in basement
See the fools who live in the midwest just don't know what it is like to have NO possibility of a twister OR an earthquake. And personally I would take an earthquake because they are less frequent. They are used to living in a terror landscape. This has to explain why every house / building is not required per code to have a shelter.
Some people will tell you to buy a shelter to install in your garage... but... if you house falls on that shelter you are trapped. People have died from water getting in the shelter and not being able to get out.
Then lets talk about getting hit if you are driving. I was fortunate to be in school so I didn't have to commute but so many storms came during the evening rush hour. So stressful if you are stuck in a traffic jam. Where are you going to go?
I even had a flight, in the middle of july, diverted because of a freak tornado in Chicago at 12 noon.
I live inside the 128 belt in MA and storms always just fall apart.. I think it is because they hit the cold air from the Ocean.
I was considering North Carolina but I am now thinking maybe Arizona might be a better pick.
Tornadoes and hurricanes present a hazard from flying debris much more than destruction of one's home by wind.
Ironically, there have been disaster resistant options available for decades.
But the prevalence of wood frame housing tends to support the narrative that there's nothing one can do but flee in panic.
. . . .
The most durable and frugal option is concrete. A 4" thick concrete wall can survive impacts from flying debris.
"Carolyn Richards standing in front of her recently finished new home. Former President Jimmy Carter and volunteers with Habitats for Humanity built these houses in fourteen days. Shortly after Hurricane Andrew hit, the Tridipanel homes survived quite well. "
Ironically, despite the evidence that SCIP homes are superior, Habitats for Humanity shifted back to wood frame houses for rebuilding of New Orleans and surrounding areas, post-Katrina. SMH.
Just for the people that might be considering it, this was my experience in the midwest.
- No one in the midwest told me this stuff... imho there is a conspiracy because they know no one would move there if they knew.
- Starting around April, at least ONE night of the week would be filled with the "threat" of severe storms. So, even if you didn't have twisters you could have lighting strikes damage from wind gusts and generally severe weather. So at least one night ever week plans would be cancelled or you would have to white nuckle it. A few times I lost power. Remember this is ONE NIGHT EVERY WEEK. Lasting until about August.
- Almost one night per week, there would be a tornado watch or warning that frequently lasted into sleeping hours. This of course did not make for a restful night's sleep.
- The siren went on frequently when I lived there. Even if no twister hit me.. I would say it was on at least 10 times during the summer.
-Some severe storms went on all night long so that made for terrible sleeping even if a twister was not an option.
Though we have had twisters in Mass they are always far out in the west and anything in the east is always like just an EF 1 and perhaps happens 1x every 10 years.
The good news imho in the midwest is that they do have the equipment to accurately forcast and in MA they don't.
Just for the people that might be considering it, this was my experience in the midwest.
- No one in the midwest told me this stuff... imho there is a conspiracy because they know no one would move there if they knew.
- Starting around April, at least ONE night of the week would be filled with the "threat" of severe storms. So, even if you didn't have twisters you could have lighting strikes damage from wind gusts and generally severe weather. So at least one night ever week plans would be cancelled or you would have to white nuckle it. A few times I lost power. Remember this is ONE NIGHT EVERY WEEK. Lasting until about August.
- Almost one night per week, there would be a tornado watch or warning that frequently lasted into sleeping hours. This of course did not make for a restful night's sleep.
- The siren went on frequently when I lived there. Even if no twister hit me.. I would say it was on at least 10 times during the summer.
-Some severe storms went on all night long so that made for terrible sleeping even if a twister was not an option.
Though we have had twisters in Mass they are always far out in the west and anything in the east is always like just an EF 1 and perhaps happens 1x every 10 years.
The good news imho in the midwest is that they do have the equipment to accurately forcast and in MA they don't.
Maybe it is just your own personal fears. Personally I am more scared of lightning, to an irrational amount. Even though the odds are just as low to die in a tornado. Only a few dozen people per year die from these things, mostly in states like AL, MS, GA, TN. Most years Michigan has 0 tornado fatalities and only a couple tornados.
I was referring to Tornado warnings. We had them every single Wednesday for the entirety of the summer I was in Michigan. For the entire state. I remember because I thought it was so crazy. One of the contributing factors was that it doesn't get dark until about 10 pm in Michigan in June...so it took a while for the energy of the day to dissipate. While Boston gets dark at the earliest time point of time zone. Probably around 8:30.
I asked people -- how do you deal with it... they were like -- oh well the Sirens will go off... um.. yeh like 1 second before it hits. If that even happens as there are less spotters at night.
See the fools who live in the midwest just don't know what it is like to have NO possibility of a twister OR an earthquake. And personally I would take an earthquake because they are less frequent. They are used to living in a terror landscape. This has to explain why every house / building is not required per code to have a shelter.
Now I know that's not true. I've lived in Michigan for 30+ years and I can only recall 2 times that I've been in a tornado warning. One of those times was for a water spout that came inland a mile before dissipating.
Tornadoes and hurricanes present a hazard from flying debris much more than destruction of one's home by wind.
Ironically, there have been disaster resistant options available for decades.
But the prevalence of wood frame housing tends to support the narrative that there's nothing one can do but flee in panic.
. . . .
The most durable and frugal option is concrete. A 4" thick concrete wall can survive impacts from flying debris.
"Carolyn Richards standing in front of her recently finished new home. Former President Jimmy Carter and volunteers with Habitats for Humanity built these houses in fourteen days. Shortly after Hurricane Andrew hit, the Tridipanel homes survived quite well. "
Ironically, despite the evidence that SCIP homes are superior, Habitats for Humanity shifted back to wood frame houses for rebuilding of New Orleans and surrounding areas, post-Katrina. SMH.
Im guessing timber frame homes are the way to go. Tornadoes seem to treat stick frame homes as a pile of “sticks.” Tornadoes have to respect for timbers a bit more
Maybe it is just your own personal fears. Personally I am more scared of lightning, to an irrational amount. Even though the odds are just as low to die in a tornado. Only a few dozen people per year die from these things, mostly in states like AL, MS, GA, TN. Most years Michigan has 0 tornado fatalities and only a couple tornados.
Yeah but even if a tornado kills no one it may tear apart dozens of homes
It’s like if a blizzard hits here in Boston it’s calming. I know i wont need to scavenge a mile from my house for old photo albums
Now I know that's not true. I've lived in Michigan for 30+ years and I can only recall 2 times that I've been in a tornado warning. One of those times was for a water spout that came inland a mile before dissipating.
It is just crazy the way people from the midwest try to lie about their situation...
Just google "twister michigan" and the entire page will be filled with them.
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Yeah but even if a tornado kills no one it may tear apart dozens of homes
It’s like if a blizzard hits here in Boston it’s calming. I know i wont need to scavenge a mile from my house for old photo albums
Not to mention the disruption. We get a blizzard maybe 3x per year. Twisters and severe weather in the midwest happens about 1x per week. Even if you don't get hit.
Things get cancelled. People don't come. Your entire summer is ruined. And then, in someplaces in the midwest, you get snow / blizzards too in the winter.
And in Boston you have trains and subways to get you home in bad weather. Nothing like that in the midwest -- driving is your option.
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Maybe it is just your own personal fears.
Yes, because in Boston you don't have these things. But also, you have summer where, most nights you can BBQ or do things. Even if you get a storm it is mild and no one cancels.
What I find terrible is so many people are moving to TN and TN actually is due for a major earthquake as well... and then to have twisters? I just wish people would be told the truth.
It is just crazy the way people from the midwest try to lie about their situation...
Just google "twister michigan" and the entire page will be filled with them.
I'm not disputing that Michigan occasionally gets some. But if the state averages 15 a year and a storm system usually spawns more than one tornado, the math comes out to maybe 4-5 times a year? Far from all the time.
Additionally, it doesn't impact the whole state the same like you keep on implying.
Finally, people get used to potential disasters that could happen. They usually don't strike very often though that would cause people to live their lives drastically different
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