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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / April 2006Tornado Safety purrs
My greatest fear is tornados that strike in the night when I'm asleep, but I am too tired to stay awake any longer tonight and don't want to sleep in the dank basement which I have so far not had time to clean. Would appreciate some purrs to keep me & the owners safe tonight. > My greatest fear is tornados that strike in the night when I'm asleep, > but I am too tired to stay awake any longer tonight and don't want to > sleep in the dank basement which I have so far not had time to clean. > Would appreciate some purrs to keep me & the owners safe tonight. Been there done that. Night storms suck. Purrs. If you leave your TV or radio on the emergency warning should be loud enough to wake you up. > My greatest fear is tornados that strike in the night when I'm asleep, but I > am too tired to stay awake any longer tonight and don't want to sleep in the > dank basement which I have so far not had time to clean. Would appreciate > some purrs to keep me & the owners safe tonight. Pat, youve just still got mobile home mentality about storms. If you have a basement, you're really quite safe. Sometime you might get a NOAA weather radio; the ones that wake you up when there are warnings in your area. I lived through and survived the F5 that hit Moore, OK in 1999. After that, I wasn't afraid of storms anymore. I realize now, how you have to be *in the path*; and even then, they are so hit-and-miss. Our house was untouched, but the houses behind us were leveled. 3500 homes were destroyed, yet the injury/mortality rate was amazingly low, and the majority of those were folks caught out in their cars. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I used to think that if a tornado came within a mile of me, I was going to die. That's just not true. And warning systems are so good now, we have plenty of warning time. I still respect the weather here, but I'm not afraid of it. Sherry > Pat, youve just still got mobile home mentality about storms. If you > have a basement, you're really quite safe. Sometime you might get a > NOAA weather radio; the ones that wake you up when there are warnings > in your area. I do want a weather radio. Ava has sirens, but I've heard them in the daytime and I know I could easily sleep through their sound. > I lived through and survived the F5 that hit Moore, OK in 1999. After > that, I wasn't afraid of storms anymore. I realize now, how you have to > be *in the path*; and even then, they are so hit-and-miss. Our house > was untouched, but the houses behind us were leveled. 3500 homes were > destroyed, yet the injury/mortality rate was amazingly low, and the > majority of those were folks caught out in their cars. The mere idea of being near an F5 is almost enough to scare me to death. > I guess what I'm trying to say is that I used to think that if a > tornado came within a mile of me, I was going to die. That's just not > true. And warning systems are so good now, we have plenty of warning > time. I still respect the weather here, but I'm not afraid of it. I could never live in Oklahoma. I'm too much of a wuss. >> My greatest fear is tornados that strike in the night when I'm asleep, but I >> am too tired to stay awake any longer tonight and don't want to sleep in the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >NOAA weather radio; the ones that wake you up when there are warnings >in your area. We don't have a basement, so we go to interior hallways when a tornado warning happens(1). I understand that interior hallways are now 2nd choice over bathrooms, because bathrooms these days tend to be on an outside wall. (1) when we're not doing something really stupid, like standing outside trying to spot one, or, even worse, jumping in the car to go *find* one... >I lived through and survived the F5 that hit Moore, OK in 1999. After >that, I wasn't afraid of storms anymore. I realize now, how you have to >be *in the path*; and even then, they are so hit-and-miss. Our house >was untouched, but the houses behind us were leveled. 3500 homes were >destroyed, yet the injury/mortality rate was amazingly low, and the >majority of those were folks caught out in their cars. Now *that* must hae been an "interesting" day... The Learning Channel used to have a show where they'd ride around with EMTs and Paramedics (kind of like "Cops"). They happened to be filming in OKC when all that went down, and it made for really wild and scary programming. I lived through the April 3, 1974 outbreak through Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Spent most of that day in an interior closet with a school friend I'd gone to visit and her family and pets. On April 4 we went to a neighboring town that had been hit to help out some friends (got through the roadblocks because dad was a state trooper at the time and we were in his patrol car). It was as you describe - the houses on all 4 sides of our friends' house were damaged or demolished, but the extent of the damage to their house was a bent TV ariel. And a block away, it looked like absolutely nothing had happened at all. I saw a show about the OKC tornado just recently, and the current thinking based on paths of destruction on the ground (they don't have good photographic evidence yet) is that the hit-and-miss damage from the big twisters is because the 1 big twister is really multiple small twisters rotating around each other. So the neighbors' houses get hit but yours in the middle gets missed. >I guess what I'm trying to say is that I used to think that if a >tornado came within a mile of me, I was going to die. That's just not >true. And warning systems are so good now, we have plenty of warning >time. I still respect the weather here, but I'm not afraid of it. Definitely! Pay attention to the weather alerts, but don't let them rule your life (within reason) On April 3, while I was taking cover at my friend's house, my parents didn't have a clue that anything unusual was going on! (they were on the other side of town, but the town just isn't that big!) Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha ============ http://www.jhedge.com >>> My greatest fear is tornados that strike in the night when I'm >>> asleep, but I am too tired to stay awake any longer tonight and [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > unusual was going on! (they were on the other side of town, but the > town just isn't that big!) When I was about 15 a girlfriend was spending the night. As teens will do, we stayed up most of the night talking. I was sleeping on the floor; my friend was in my bed. Sometime around 5AM my mom came into the room saying, "Jill! You guys, get up, there's a tornado coming! You have to come with us into the bathroom!" (It was an interior bathroom, dead center in the house) Mom must have been very frustrated, not to mention scared, because she couldn't rouse us. Finally she said, "Well at least get Libby down on the floor with you!" I remember mumbling, "Libby, get down on the floor" and as an afterthought, "bring your pillow." When we got up later that morning we found the tornado had cut a swath down a hillside less than 2 blocks from our house. Luckily it missed any homes and only touched down briefly, but she and I didn't hear a thing. Jill > When I was about 15 a girlfriend was spending the night. As teens will > do, [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > a hillside less than 2 blocks from our house. Luckily it missed any homes > and only touched down briefly, but she and I didn't hear a thing. At 15, a close encounter like that might have been exhilarating. At 35 or so, I probably would have taken it in stride. If it happened now, I think the fright would kill me, even if I was safe in the basement! >>>> My greatest fear is tornados that strike in the night when I'm >>>> asleep, but I am too tired to stay awake any longer tonight and [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > Jill As a child, my family lived in Altus OK. We had a neighborhood storm shelter. There were tornadoes there all the time. Mom says one time she came to wake me, then went to wake my brother. When she came back for me, I was sound asleep again. She just grabbed me, bedsheets and all, and bundled us off to the shelter with the rest of the family. Once time I actually was awake, I remember throwing a fit because we weren't allowed to take our dog :( I hope you're all safe tonight, MMJ. I see you've got tornado warnings all over the place where you are (and we've got our fingers crossed the storms have weakened when they get down in this direction in another hour or two) Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha ============ http://www.jhedge.com > I hope you're all safe tonight, MMJ. I see you've got tornado warnings > all over the place where you are (and we've got our fingers crossed [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > ============ > http://www.jhedge.com We had hail, high winds and a heckuva time rounding up all *12* furrballs so we'd know where they all are! Tennessee is *still* hiding under the sofa :D da big chicken (he was joined for a bit by Weeble and Missy, the others were locked in the bedroom, office or bathroom). >We had hail, high winds and a heckuva time rounding up all *12* furrballs so >we'd know where they all are! Tennessee is *still* hiding under the sofa :D >da big chicken (he was joined for a bit by Weeble and Missy, the others were >locked in the bedroom, office or bathroom). Ditto us, in Scott Co (except for the hail part, and the 12 kitties). Natasha slept through all the fireworks, I think (there's something to be said at times for being nearly 19 years old and hard of hearing <g>) I had to go out to my brother's place in the country when it was still approaching (just before the tornado warnings for Jackson and Jennings Co (to our north) were dropped and just before they went up for Jefferson Co (IN) to our east). There was an amazing cloud-to-cloud lightning display going on, and it was very windy too. I fortunately made it back home *just* before we got hit with what seemed like a solid wall of rain! I don't mind driving at night, but I *do* mind doing it (day or night) with that sort of a storm front coming in! (you're in Brown Co, right?) Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha ============ http://www.jhedge.com >> We had hail, high winds and a heckuva time rounding up all *12* >> furrballs so we'd know where they all are! Tennessee is *still* [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > be said at times for being nearly 19 years old and hard of hearing > <g>) Tennessee is afraid of loud noises - thunder, fireworks, loud movies (he will not be seen if DH is watching Black Hawk Down :D) > I had to go out to my brother's place in the country when it was still > approaching (just before the tornado warnings for Jackson and Jennings [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > solid wall of rain! I don't mind driving at night, but I *do* mind > doing it (day or night) with that sort of a storm front coming in! That light show was phenomenal, wasn't it? We watched a bit of it after the worst of it passed us, and it was eerie. When I first saw it, I though it was emergency lights (ambulance or fire trucks) being reflected on the ultra-low cloud cover - but it was way too intermittent to be that, and then I actually saw a thread of lightning spread throughout the lower layer. Very pretty, but still frightening. I *abhor* driving in rain as well > (you're in Brown Co, right?) Monroe county, Northwest of Lake Monroe. >> (you're in Brown Co, right?) > >Monroe county, Northwest of Lake Monroe. Hang on, MMJ! They're coming through *again*! I hope Pat has done ok today Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha ============ http://www.jhedge.com > Hang on, MMJ! They're coming through *again*! > > I hope Pat has done ok today We had a watch for a while but nothing too severe, a mild hailstorm in town, but out west of town they had softball-size hail. > >I lived through and survived the F5 that hit Moore, OK in 1999. After > >that, I wasn't afraid of storms anymore. I realize now, how you have to [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > (kind of like "Cops"). They happened to be filming in OKC when all > that went down, and it made for really wild and scary programming. It *was* interesting. In the aftermath we dealt with things I never thought about before. Most bizarre was, since the houses behind us were leveled, rats moved into the neighborhood in droves. I guess they were after the rotting household food in the rubble. Then cats everywhere, cats that had been displaced by the storm or just strays, probably because of the rats! Another thing I learned is, a tornado really does sound like a freight train, just like they say. I was in the stairwell closet with two arguing teenagers and three cats. If it hadn't been for that freight train sound, I'd have never stayed in that closet. > I lived through the April 3, 1974 outbreak through Illinois, Indiana, > Kentucky and Ohio. Spent most of that day in an interior closet with a [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > ariel. And a block away, it looked like absolutely nothing had > happened at all. Yes! That's exactly the way it was in Moore. Sherry > Another thing I learned is, a tornado really does sound like a freight > train, just like they say. I was in the stairwell closet with two > arguing teenagers and three cats. If it hadn't been for that freight > train sound, I'd have never stayed in that closet. > Sherry Oddly enough, I, too, can verify the "fast train" sound of a tornado. I was about 22, just after my first offspring arrived, and the tv was talking about "tornados" and a warning to local area. Being in a citiy *way* hip to *hurricanes* but really dumb as to tornados (in my entire upbringing there, none had ever hit there before, to my knowledge), we went to bed and thought no more about it. About 2:30am, I awoke to loud noise like a fast-moving train sounding very near our house......but saw nothing ouitside,but I did know there were NO railroad tracks nearby!. Morning tv told us a tornado had cut a path 2 blocks away from our house, straight down a busy (not at night) artery-street in our section of town, destroying several storefronts and overturning several empty police cars parked there. I don't think that tornado was very big. I always thought it very strange that they sound just like trains, after actually hearing one in RL. >> Another thing I learned is, a tornado really does sound like a >> freight train, just like they say. I was in the stairwell closet [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > it very strange that they sound just like trains, after > actually hearing one in RL. Yep, when the one ripped through about a mile from me in 1998, I sure did hear the freight train. But there's also a warning siren on the corner so I heard that first. Jill >Yep, when the one ripped through about a mile from me in 1998, I sure did >hear the freight train. But there's also a warning siren on the corner so I >heard that first. Hope that siren isn't going off tonight. I just heard there's a tornado warning out for the area where I think you live? Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha ============ http://www.jhedge.com > My greatest fear is tornados that strike in the night when I'm > asleep, but I am too tired to stay awake any longer tonight and don't > want to sleep in the dank basement which I have so far not had time > to clean. Would appreciate some purrs to keep me & the owners safe > tonight. Stay safe purrs on the way.  SignatureAdrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera) Cats leave pawprints on your heart. http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk >My greatest fear is tornados that strike in the night when I'm asleep, but I >am too tired to stay awake any longer tonight and don't want to sleep in the >dank basement which I have so far not had time to clean. Would appreciate >some purrs to keep me & the owners safe tonight. Pat, from one resident of "tornado alley" (albeit the eastern fringes) to one in the middle of things - get a weather radio! You should look for the kind that goes off like an alarm clock if there are weather-related warnings in your area. Put it at your bedside, turn the volume up, and you'll most certainly wake up! (I once had one that would play the weather stations, but didn't have an alarm function) Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha ============ http://www.jhedge.com >> My greatest fear is tornados that strike in the night when I'm >> asleep, but I am too tired to stay awake any longer tonight and [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > ============ > http://www.jhedge.com We had one of those, but had to toss it as it kept going off for the simplest of *thunderstorms*, and we couldn't figure out how to change the settings! Talk about annoying! >>> My greatest fear is tornados that strike in the night when I'm >>> asleep, but I am too tired to stay awake any longer tonight and [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >simplest of *thunderstorms*, and we couldn't figure out how to change the >settings! Talk about annoying! My current weather radio, purchased at Radio Shack, allows you to choose both what geographical areas are covered (generally corresponding to counties) and what types of warnings should cause the radio to sound an alarm. You hook it up temporarily to your computer, use a program supplied with the radio to make your choices, then detach it from the computer. The radio has a 9-volt battery for backup power to preserve the settings. You only have to enter them again if the power is off for long enough that the battery goes dead. If I remember correctly, I paid around $40.00 for the radio. They have cheaper radios that lack the type-of-warnings feature, but it is definitely worth the extra money, from my point of view. A previous weather radio woke me up in the middle of the night several times with flash flood warnings. Since my house is on top of a hill, I don't need to hear about flash flood warnings until I get up in the morning. SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/ list of all radios and frequencies used for weather alert reports >>>> My greatest fear is tornados that strike in the night when I'm >>>> asleep, but I am too tired to stay awake any longer tonight and [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > I don't need to hear about flash flood warnings until I get up in the > morning. Heaps of Purrs coming to you Wilson and Jean. > My greatest fear is tornados that strike in the night when I'm asleep, but I > am too tired to stay awake any longer tonight and don't want to sleep in the > dank basement which I have so far not had time to clean. Would appreciate > some purrs to keep me & the owners safe tonight. |
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