'Goodbye mama... it's heading straight for me' sad sad

originally posted by: Fylgje
a reply to: TrueBrit

You're right. If people are gonna live in tornado alley then they need to build underground or something. I couldn't live there unless I was underground.

Sad story. I hate hearing this stuff as I have a soft heart.

There are some places where the soil does not support underground building.

This is a very sad story, but tornados are so hit and miss. My parents live in a farm house in the middle of KS that is pushing 150 years old. Never been hit by a tornado. Of course, it could get hit by one tonight even, but the odds of one forming right where it needs to are worse than the odds of a home being damaged by an earthquake or hurricane. With either an earthquake or hurricane, you are looking at a probability of damage in the periods of 100s of years for a location, but for a tornado to hit a specific location, the probability of damage is in the 1,000s of years.

So, yes, tornado damage looks flashy and we see it every year, but it is very confined in scale for the most part compared to a major earthquake or hurricane. They happen much less often, but do magnitudes much more damage when they do hit, so they easily outclass anything tornados can manage to do.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Hi TrueBrit,

I understand what you are saying, but sometimes it certainly makes more sense to make an intelligent decision and move away from a threat than trying to live with it. People who keep rebuilding in flood zones or multiple properties being built over potentially known sink holes just makes no sense to me. Especially when eventually it ends up costing not only the people who live on the property their homes (sometimes multiple times) but can also cause a large section of the populace to end up paying huge insurance premiums to cover people living in these types of areas.

In Florida, for example, because of past hurricane damage and the potential for it happening again and again along coastal properties, the insurance industry jacked the rates up (by 200-300 percent) of almost everybody in that state to try and cover the past/potential future damage. Real fair to those not living along the coastlines to have to pay for someone elses choice of location... In Florida, as well, much of the land is known to be susceptable to sink holes, yet they continue to build on the land to make a buck. Then they are surprised when homes start disappearing into the ground. It doesn't matter if your house is made out of wood or Titanium, it still hits the bottom like a rock!

In sections of the country where tornados are prevelant, then yes, build the homes/shelters out of the best materials possible. But if your home gets blown away 5 times and/or family members are killed, I think it is time to find a SAFER place to go.

Just saying...

a reply to: alienjuggalo

Maybe as a society we should be more mobile, as an option. Many indigenous tribes figured it out a long time ago. Go with the flow and avoid problems and potential bad weather.

Just a thought...

a reply to: BendingTheTruth

I give it less than a century before that sort of thinking results in humanity having no where to go.

We either overcome, or we will be overcome.

a reply to: alienjuggalo

Damn you.. it's almost Mothers day and you have to go and make a 46 year old man cry thinking about his 85 year old mum. LOL ( she aint dead, just old)

*Sigh* Good story. A good reminder too for those who don't get along with their moms. You might be ATS's biggest jerk but your Mom will still love you no matter what you do. I hope no one neglects their mom on Sunday. If your mom has passed, visit her grave and bring flowers. She'll know.

I thought by the year 2000 we would be living in, ya know, MODERN homes? Nevermind. If something actually worked and served it's purpose it would cost 10 million dollars. Poor folks. I'm glad I don't live in a tornado environment. All I have is volcanoes in every direction I look. They don't blow yearly like tornados, but when they go, they really GO! Or so I've

see that guy just needed a real big gun. like on south park. "it's coming right at me!" he would've been fully within his legal rights....

Whilst a sad ending for anyone I can't help but think that if he had time to unlock his fone , text , wait , and then text again that maybe he had time or at least some to get out of harms way?

a reply to: alienjuggalo

Rest in peace buddy! You done well, after all nobody can beat a Tornado!

A 22 year old son was texting his mother right before an ef4 tornado struck his home killing him in Vilonia, Arkansas.

As sad as this is, I cannot help but wonder why he spent time texting rather than getting out of Dodge. Young people of today make videos of other being attacked or otherwise injured, but do not render aide. Cellular communications in lieu of a useful reaction is the bane of the "plugged in" society.

Wow good thread, but not in a good way I mean.
Very touching and it should remind us all of the fact that "Life Is Fragile" and can end at any moment.

S&F to the OP

Regards, Iwinder

a reply to: TrueBrit

mate, i like the way you think...

i too, have pondered this. a house built to withstand a tornado could not only LOOK, friggin awesome, but be comfortable to live in, and safer than anything anyone's lived in, since caves...

we should totally start a project, to design something that would be just as easy to build as a conventional house, and be affordable to most people....this kind of thing (people dying in tornadoes) is just so stupid, and unnecessary..

I live in a Tornado prone area. One Tornado passed within a few hundred yards of where I live.
The reason people don't built more tornado proof houses is simple economics. To make a house tornado proof would cost a lot of money.
People wonder why someone would live in a trailer in an tornado area? Because that's all they can afford.
And if you have the money do you spend the thousands of extra dollars it will cost to make a house tornado proof, on top of the $200+ you already spent to build the house, on the one time chance a tornado might hit it?

As far as shelters go a lot of time you just can't build one.
Just down the street a neighbor has a underground shelter half stuck in his front yard.
They bought a pre-made shelter, buried It and a few weeks later it popped right up out of the ground because the water table is too high here. Or the ground is nothing but solid rock in some areas.
Also in this recent outbreak there was the story of one family that had a shelter and another family that just had a bathtub.
The family in the shelter all died.

Geodesic homes? Good luck getting a building permit for that.
In some counties you can't even get permission to build a simple shack.
I'd hate to see the Rednecks at the county planning office even spell geodesic.

As far was why some one would not just "get out of dodge" Some Tornadoes spin up and touch down within minutes.
You can be looking at a stormy sky and then be looking at a tornado a minute later. They can form that fast. Also some tornadoes can be from 100 feet to 2 miles wide. Which direction do you go? You could be putting yourself into more danger.

I hate to say this put it really is a case of prep as best your can and say your prayers when it comes to Tornadoes.

a reply to: andy06shake

after all nobody can beat a Tornado!

Tornado ground speed is 10-70 mph, usually around 34-40 mph. You can indeed "beat them", particularly if you don't try to escape in the same direction they are traveling.

a reply to: LifeIsPeculiar

The problem is a lot of times they are obscured by rain.
So it's hard to see which way they are going.

a reply to: LifeIsPeculiar

I suppose that depends on the direction and speed said Tornado is approaching and your ability to run at over 10 miles an hour for an extended period, or until you reach some kind of safe haven. How long can you maintain 10 mph for? I could probably manage around 500m and i'm skinny and fit, hardly the profile of a typical American these days. Also it's my understanding that Tornadoes generally travel faster than 10mph.

The boy done his best and said goodbye to him Mother, no shame in that, certainly has my admiration!

a reply to: mash3d

The problem is a lot of times they are obscured by rain.
So it's hard to see which way they are going.

It seems the young man in question knew it was coming.

a reply to: andy06shake

your ability to run at over 10 miles an hour for an extended period, or until you reach some kind of safe haven. How long can you maintain 10 mph for?

First, consider using a gasoline powered vehicle for your escape. Second, just get out of the house and lie in a ditch, culvert, or benieth a bridge. The idea is to go someplace where junk cannot be hammered or dropped through you. You are better off just lying flat on the ground than in a house. Anything is better than texting mom that you are going to die! At least TRY to save you own life!

a reply to: LifeIsPeculiar

"First, consider using a gasoline powered vehicle for your escape"

And what if there are no cars around, or no ditches to hide in? What if he could not drive?

The boy is dead and his mother is obviously taking solace in the fact that his last actions were directed towards her!

Its hardly a good idea to pick apart a tragedy such as this, the dude done his best, simply respect that fact.

What you or I, or any one else for that matter would have done differently is neither here nor there.

a reply to: andy06shake

And what if there are no cars around, or no ditches to hide in? What if he could not drive?

Running on foot is better than giving up and spending the time it takes to escape by just texting. (Note: run perpendicular to the tornado's path. Make no attempt to outrun it.) Just getting outside of the house and lying down on the ground is preferred. Making ANY attempt to get away is the only correct response. As tragic as it is, I still have to label this as a potential Darwin award. I blame the mother. No training in tornado country.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: DietJoke

A house in a tornado prone area, should be UNINSURABLE if it has four walls at 90 degree angles to the ground, a wooden substructure, and no hardened basement! The building and insurance industries KNOW this! They know the weaknesses that exist in these buildings, and to continue to build and insure them in their current format amounts to fraud!

One of the problems that comes with that thinking is WHERE ARE THE TORNADO PRONE areas? Sure here in the USA the midwest is considered the 'tornado belt' but with the freaky weather changes of late who can make that decision? I live in Mesa, AZ and we have dust devils and sandstorms but tornadoes are unheard of... well, almost.. a few years ago we had a tornado warning issued and a few years before that we had a Hurricane watch and we are a LONG way from the Gulf of Mexico!
By the way, a few of the local radio stations had hurricane parties on some rooftops downtown but we didn't get more than a bit of wind and it didn't even rain at my house in the east valley!