Does anyone live in tornado alley?

[Bilberry]

I just moved from Illinois which is part of tornado alley. Every once in awhile a large damaging tornado would moved through where I used to live. It was rare but it did happen. This past summer a larger tornado came close to a friends aunt and uncles farm house. The family was huddled in their tornado shelter when the twister past close. Thankfully no one was hurt and the house was not damaged. An old barn was torn down though.

Over the 25 years I lived in Illinois I saw one tiny tornado. When tornado season began I dreaded the warning siren more than anything. Tornadoes are taken seriously where I lived. Any hint of a twister forming would cause the loud siren to go off and I lived a block from the siren. TV channels would switch over to show the weather, highlighting where the tornado(s) could be.

What is kind of funny to me is that more tornadoes occur where I now live in Florida compared to Illinois. The warning differences are huge. In Illinois when a potential tornado is in the area, it is a big production, giving warnings to take shelter immediately.

In Florida, when a tornado might be near hardly any warning is given - no sirens going off, no TV warnings provided. I only know of a tornado warning in Florida when I check in the internet weather sight. The tornadoes are not as large where I am in Florida but still can be deadly. There was a damaging tornado near me in Florida just a year or two ago. It's something I joke about with friends in Illinois over the lack of concern in Florida over twisters.

 

[MillauFr]

I would much rather deal with tornados that earthquakes. There is no warning with earthquakes. Western Washington is overdue for a 9.0 earthquake. The resulting tsunami will wipe out entire coastal towns.

 

[nighttowll]

Where I live in TN, we are in tornado alley and get a few through our area every year. Honestly, most of us don't give them much thought. You just get use to the warnings. People are usually more concerned about power outages than anything. We've had tornados hit close by many times and minor damage to the house and cars, but it just is what it is. I've never really lived anywhere where we didn't have tornados, so I don't give it a lot of thought.

The stations do a good job covering the areas. You get phone warnings, tv warnings, radio warnings, and sirens. Everybody does a great job keeping you up to date on exactly where the tornados might appear or are. Street by street updates. Usually you know a few days in advance that bad weather may be coming in. Then when the rain and thunderstorms start people start keeping an eye on the weather. Schools will let out early if it's looking like it might get bad and businesses will to. Everyone just keeps watch on the reports. You just keep working until they sound an alarm near you. Then you go to your shelter and continue to monitor the storm until it passes. Luckily, tornados move through areas pretty fast, so you usually don't have long to wait.

The only time I've ever been nervous was one time when I got caught out shopping. I was in a sporting goods shop, and the sirens started going off. The policy at most businesses is that you have to go to their approved shelter room or leave. Leaving wasn't an option as I couldn't see 3 feet through the rain outside that was blowing in sideways. Their shelter room was the archery range room. The walls of which were decorated with weapons! That was the longest wait ever for it to clear enough for me to leave. I was so worried if the tornado was to hit that those weapons were going to go flying everywhere. So, if you just have enough sense to stay out of sporting goods stores, you'll get used to the tornados and be just fine.

Also, look into purchasing a home with a basement or storm shelter built in. Make sure you let your real-estate agent know that feature is important to you. Many houses don't have one. Even large expensive houses. I've never lived in a house with one, and I only know one friend who has one because she built a new house and requested it be added. That will give you some peace of mind, and help you adjust quicker, knowing you have a safe place to go to.

OK, I have a question on the topic.

I'm a total weather geek. I watch lots of the Weather Channel shows. And I'm always surprised to find how many homes in that part of the country don't seem to have tornado shelters.

There's obviously got to be a reason. My home on Long Island has a basement. (I'm in it right now.) It's not a storm shelter, but would be safer than an interior room upstairs if necessary.

Is there something about the soil or something that makes it harder or more expensive for homes and schools and places of business to be built with basements? Why is it not automatically part of the building plans when a building goes up in the part of the country that has the highest incidence of tornados?

Flooding, many areas in the south that are in tornado alley also suffer from bad flooding. In these areas, you don't see basements or under ground shelters because of the flood plains. Some houses, usually custom builds, will have an above ground reinforced shelter room built into the middle of the house. These aren't standard or found in older homes and most people can't afford the renovation cost to add them. This is why you don't see shelters in many areas. I've neve lived in a house with a shelter. We just go into an interior bathroom or closet. We have bad flooding in my area. Honestly, flooding and downed power lines are our biggest fears when storms come through, not the actual tornado.

 

[Aliceacc]

OK, that's a great answer, thanks. I simply hadn't considered flooding.

I knew there had to be a reason, but simply could not come up with a good one.

 

[rastahomie]

I lived the majority of my life in Tornado Alley, and right now I live in Tornado-one-street-over. Never saw one with my own eyes, although I did live through one. I was at work when two F2's struck Springfield, Illinois; my workplace was right in the heart of the devastation from the first one. No one died.

Oddly enough, I lived for several years in Joplin, Missouri, but I was long gone by the time the deadly tornado struck that city.

If you're concerned, get a NOAA weather radio and for the sake of whatever deity you believe in, buy a house with a basement.

 

[bookgirl]

Most homes in Oklahoma don't have basements. The reason we are referred to as red dirt country is that we have a red clay layer. Makes basements unstable because of shifting foundations and water swelling.

 

[Wendy31]

Flooding, many areas in the south that are in tornado alley also suffer from bad flooding. In these areas, you don't see basements or under ground shelters because of the flood plains. Some houses, usually custom builds, will have an above ground reinforced shelter room built into the middle of the house. These aren't standard or found in older homes and most people can't afford the renovation cost to add them. This is why you don't see shelters in many areas. I've neve lived in a house with a shelter. We just go into an interior bathroom or closet. We have bad flooding in my area. Honestly, flooding and downed power lines are our biggest fears when storms come through, not the actual tornado.

Yes, our basement floods.

The floor is tile & not carpeted. When we built bookcases for the room, we built them so they'd be up off the floor. We've installed some kind of plastic/non-molding baseboards, & DH even put in something like a French drain outside to help w/ the problem.

We keep a wet-dry vac in our basement, & we've learned, whenever it's raining a lot, to go roll up the area rug.

 

[heatherwith3]

I've lived my whole life in tornado alley. As a matter of fact, we had a weak tornado pass within a mile of our house earlier this week. :O
Yes, you do get used to it. Warning times have improved drastically, which is nice.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Weather radio is a great thing to have (around $50 or so at Bed, Bath and Beyond a few years ago). Tornadoes at least around me they can happen throughout the year though much more common in spring/early summer (where as others have mentioned watches happen frequently). At least around me the news stations are amazing at getting the information out. Last year when two tornadoes were in my area (months apart) I also got text message alerts from my cell phone provider (Sprint), that resembled amber alerts, which was really good to have. You do get used to it and as technology has gotten better so has warnings and predictions of the path as far as more precise times for when the tornado may be in your area.

 

[mom2rtk]

Weather radio is a great thing to have (around $50 or so at Bed, Bath and Beyond a few years ago). Tornadoes at least around me they can happen throughout the year though much more common in spring/early summer (where as others have mentioned watches happen frequently). At least around me the news stations are amazing at getting the information out. Last year when two tornadoes were in my area (months apart) I also got text message alerts from my cell phone provider (Sprint), that resembled amber alerts, which was really good to have. You do get used to it and as technology has gotten better so has warnings and predictions of the path as far as more precise times for when the tornado may be in your area.

You know, in some ways technology is better but I often find myself less informed now than in years past. That's because I have so many viewing options that I'm seldom watching a local station air anything live. I have to remind myself to check in with a local station when it looks threatening outside. I should make sure I have weather alerts on my phone, but that's not always by my side either.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You know, in some ways technology is better but I often find myself less informed now than in years past. That's because I have so many viewing options that I'm seldom watching a local station air anything live. I have to remind myself to check in with a local station when it looks threatening outside. I should make sure I have weather alerts on my phone, but that's not always by my side either.

Well that I can understand.

I have Weatherbug app on my phone so I get alerts on that a lot too like Dangerous Thunderstorm alert (excessive lightning), or Tornado Watch/Warning, Severe Thunderstorm Watch/Warning, etc. My husband uses Accuweather for his weather app. I really liked the cell phone alerts for tornado warnings, which at least to me were new last year. If I'm in the car I know if there is a tornado warning they break in with the standard "National Weather Service has issued a Tornado warning for __" on the radio.

I just remember when I was a kid I was in the basement far more times than now and it was moreso because the pinpointing of where the tornado was and might pop up was less accurate. Now I feel like they can say it will likely be in so and so area at 6:17pm and in this area at 6:24pm, etc. But I do completely get what you're saying.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

This is what the cell phone alert for a Tornado Warning sent to my phone looked like last year, hopefully they continue to do these:

 

[mnrose]

You have to decide what risks you are willing to live with. I lived in NorCal for a long time, and experienced one "pretty big" earthquakes (Loma Prieta). Earthquakes really don't phase me much. You do what you can to protect your home (earthquake retrofit), and prepare a good emergency kit (supply of food and water, etc), and then you live your life.

I now live in tornado country. We made sure to purchase a home that was solidly built and had a very good place to shelter in the event of a tornado (a basement, with 10 inches of steel reinforced concrete above our heads). And, I let it go. What will be will be. I feel that we would survive almost any tornado if we were to experience one. And, if not, well, we all gotta go sometime, and a tornado would be an exciting way to exit. (LOL).

 

[Aliceacc]

Most homes in Oklahoma don't have basements. The reason we are referred to as red dirt country is that we have a red clay layer. Makes basements unstable because of shifting foundations and water swelling.

I'm not arguing, simply trying to understand. But doesn't that mean your home is built on that clay that can shift? Or is there another layer of something above the clay that stabilizes your homes?

 

[Earstou]

Lived in tornado alley all my life. We've always had a basement, and have a spot ready to hang out when there is a Warning. I've never seen a tornado or had damage from one. You get used to it!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I'm not arguing, simply trying to understand. But doesn't that mean your home is built on that clay that can shift? Or is there another layer of something above the clay that stabilizes your homes?

The way my parents describe it in their part of Texas is the expansion & contraction of the ground is so severe (in part because of the extreme heat), that it would basically destroy a typical basement & it would be impossible to avoid major leaks.

 

[gwynne]

DH is entertaining a job offer. I like everything about it except the fact that it is in tornado alley. I'm reading the FEMA preparation guide and well....

The wind speeds generated by some tornadoes are so great that designing for these extreme winds is beyond the scope of building codes and engineering standards.

I'm worried we'll move and I'll never leave the house when there is even the slightest hint of rain for fear of a tornado. Do you really just get used to it or will I be doing way more of this ?

I grew up in tornado alley and I'm moving back there in a couple of months. It's really not that big a deal. You pay extra attention to the local weather forecast in the spring and summer. Not every rainstorm is a potential tornado producer. Not every potential tornado producing storm will actually generate one. Some years there are more, some not many at all. I keep a weather app on my phone that updates me with a variety of weather alerts, including snow.

Just in case someone is interested, I included a link that has a map of what is considered "tornado alley". Scan down about 1/2 the page. http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/...ikely-to-occur-where-is-the-tornado-belt.html

 

[bookgirl]

I'm not arguing, simply trying to understand. But doesn't that mean your home is built on that clay that can shift? Or is there another layer of something above the clay that stabilizes your homes?

Yes lots of houses end up with foundation repairs. There is a dirt layer and most houses are built on a slab foundation but the clay layer is not deep so depending on where you build you might be able to have a cellar or basement but most do not.

We actually have a weird thing here because we are located where a lot of geological and ecological areas meet. We have sand dunes, grass prairie, mountains, swamps and the clay line all in one state so depending where you live a whole different set of rules apply.

Oklahoma has 11(12) Level three eco regions which makes us the fourth most diverse state (geographically) in the US if you go with 11. If you count us at 12 we are tied at second with Washington state and California. Alaska is 1st with 20!

And weirdly enough the reason we have so many tornados, and weird weather fluctuations in general is because the two major jet streams (gulf and polar) actually converge right above Oklahoma.

Gotta love being a freak of nature sometimes. HAHAHA

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I grew up in tornado alley and I'm moving back there in a couple of months. It's really not that big a deal. You pay extra attention to the local weather forecast in the spring and summer. Not every rainstorm is a potential tornado producer. Not every potential tornado producing storm will actually generate one. Some years there are more, some not many at all. I keep a weather app on my phone that updates me with a variety of weather alerts, including snow.

Just in case someone is interested, I included a link that has a map of what is considered "tornado alley". Scan down about 1/2 the page. http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/...ikely-to-occur-where-is-the-tornado-belt.html

Just as an FYI from the National Centers for Environmental Information: Note: Tornado Alley has no agreed upon boundaries. The boundaries of Tornado Alley are debatable (depending on which criteria you use—frequency, intensity, or events per unit area).

As I've grown up the map has changed over time and will continue to change as the years pass. The map included in the article you linked was a file created in 2009.

For example here is a map from a story from USA Today from 2012:



I'm in Northeastern KS on the border of MO in the Kansas City Metro and most citizens would consider themselves Tornado Alley and it's def. discussed in school. From 1952-2015 there have been 42 tornadoes in Johnson County (where I live)

Here's a map showing EF3,EF4,EF5s from 1950-2006. If you see where the red area is on the Northeastern part of KS along the border of MO that's Johnson County, as well as other counties.
map available on wikipedia page for Tornado Alley.

Those counties in the red area of Northeastern KS are out of the confines of the areas listed as Tornado Alley in the map from the link you posted (Kansas portion here only) and yet the greatest number of larger tornadoes were found in that area from the data up to 2006 aside from Central/South Central part of KS which is in the confines of the map in the link you posted.

It's actually kind of interesting because the USA Today map from 2012 closely resembles the map for EF3,EF4,EF5s where the "new tornado alley" was labled on the USA today map.

 

[Arkansan]

We lived in NW Arkansas for years--Joplin, MO was only about 45 minutes away and we lived there during the horrible tornado that flattened so much of Joplin. It is scary, but doable.

After Joplin, we hired a company from Oklahoma to build a FEMA rated storm shelter. It is basically a mini basement built under the garage. The opening is narrower than a car so you don't need to back your car out to access the shelter. Ours held 6-8 people and, after we had ours built, many of our neighbors built one too. They are expensive, though. Ours was over $5,000. With all the poverty in the Southern Mid-west, I can see why more people do not install them. We felt a real sense of peace when it was completed. And we lived there for over a year longer and never needed it! It helped us sell our home, though.