Interesting Tornado Video from Illinois 4/9/2015

originally posted by: eriktheawful
The guy says: "I'd better back up to get under this bridge." and then says he's never been in a tornado before.

Well, no DUH! If you had, you'd know one of the worst places to be is under a bridge or over pass!

Great video, but he was just a bit too close to it, and should have just continued backing away from the area.

He probly got that from all tgose tornado movies in the 90's.

originally posted by: texasgirl

originally posted by: Trueman
a reply to: eriktheawful



I never saw a tornado, I'm clueless. Why is not good to be under a bridge?

The wind gets caught under the bridge and intensifies, sucking you out. This is only hearsay, as I've never been under a bridge during a tornado. I have seen tornadoes, though. The one here in Dallas a few years ago that had the famous semis thrown in the air totally frightened me.

In that case he might as well left his truck right in path of tornado because what you say makes no sense at all. *derp*

If he parked really close to a wall under the bridge the convection would hold his truck more in place like drafting behind a race car. He is safer under the bridge as long as he is not in middle of bridge.

I'm sorry to be judgmental here but this guy is an idiot, quite frankly.

Last week, while driving back to the east coast from the Midwest, my car broke down in Joplin, Missouri where an infamous E-5 tornado destroyed most of the entire town in 2011: a high school, a couple of other schools, a hospital, 9,000 businesses and homes and countless cars.

Nearly 200 people were killed including little babies and teenagers--one that was coming home from his high school graduation was swept up from the sunroof of his car.

You just don't mess around with a tornado of any size. Ever. It's not just hazardous to trailer parks, people.

The man in this video had plenty of time to drive away from the tornado. In actuality, it doesn't take that much time to do so. Plenty of people have to do just that every year.

I'll tell you... being in Joplin was really eye-opening. The mechanic shop I was getting my car repaired in was in the path of the 2011 tornado and he talked a lot about it. His parents were buried in rubble behind the shop--and he knew a lot of people who were killed. I could still see the path the tornado took four years later. Joplin has slowly rebuilt, but it's still a big open wound to those people.

Don't mess with tornadoes.

Ever.

originally posted by: Skywatcher2011

originally posted by: texasgirl

originally posted by: Trueman

a reply to: eriktheawful







I never saw a tornado, I'm clueless. Why is not good to be under a bridge?

The wind gets caught under the bridge and intensifies, sucking you out. This is only hearsay, as I've never been under a bridge during a tornado. I have seen tornadoes, though. The one here in Dallas a few years ago that had the famous semis thrown in the air totally frightened me.

In that case he might as well left his truck right in path of tornado because what you say makes no sense at all. *derp*



If he parked really close to a wall under the bridge the convection would hold his truck more in place like drafting behind a race car. He is safer under the bridge as long as he is not in middle of bridge.

It may not sound like it makes sense to you but that's what I've been told all my life. I lived in the midwest (Illinois, Missouri) for many years and here in Texas. Tornadoes are a part of my life. The best advice for this guy is to find sturdy shelter if it's close enough. If not, get out of car and find a low area to take cover. Going under a bridge is dangerous because of debris flying through there, too. Getting out of the car and going up under the overpass can put you at high risk for being sucked out.

Here are some tornado safety myths that have been debunked:

www.livescience.com...

You may want to find shelter under a bridge but I, personally, would never do it!

originally posted by: Daughter2
Thanks for posting this - I live in Western Illinois. I noticed a pattern of severe storms in the last few decades.

It seems as soon as the storm gets close to 39, it goes Northeast or Southeast. So you have major storms staying pretty east of 39 or South of 80 - which is good because it avoids the City and populated suburbs. If that storm hit just 10 miles west, it would have been devastating because this is were Northern Illinois University is located with thousands of students living on and off campus.

I guess it's just luck but this lucky pattern has happened again and again. You might say it's because of the lake but the lake wouldn't make the storms move over 50 miles away - and generally they actually add to bad weather.

I live in the NW suburbs, and for years we've joked about the "weather dome" we're under. I don't want an EF-4+ rolling through my neighborhood, but we almost always get a 90% reduction (that's unscientific, BTW) in storm severity, compared to 20-30 minutes drive west, south, or north.

While lightning blasted away to our north & south & tornados & accompanying severe thunderstorms to the west, I was outside in shorts and a t-shirt, grilling and watching - occasionally popping in to avoid a spot of rain.

ETA - wth? Just watched the video. Was this guy snacking on a bottle full of xanax on his road trip or what? "Golly, it looks like a big spinny cloud is about to roll over me. No worries, I'll put my wipers on. I'll have to get out later and see if there's any damage to the truck. I wonder if my hotel will have free USA today. Maybe I should get out and walk to the store and buy a paper while this spinny cloud passes by, harmlessly.

originally posted by: Skywatcher2011

originally posted by: texasgirl

originally posted by: Trueman

a reply to: eriktheawful







I never saw a tornado, I'm clueless. Why is not good to be under a bridge?

The wind gets caught under the bridge and intensifies, sucking you out. This is only hearsay, as I've never been under a bridge during a tornado. I have seen tornadoes, though. The one here in Dallas a few years ago that had the famous semis thrown in the air totally frightened me.

In that case he might as well left his truck right in path of tornado because what you say makes no sense at all. *derp*



If he parked really close to a wall under the bridge the convection would hold his truck more in place like drafting behind a race car. He is safer under the bridge as long as he is not in middle of bridge.

The May 1999 tornado in OkCity was an EF-4. Tram Bui, 26, was killed when she got sucked out from under an overpass. Her body was found a short distance away.

Another family took shelter under an overpass and almost lost their 2 year old son. He was getting pulled out but the father managed to shield him.

A sports car got swept away from being under an overpass. That person, too, was killed.

www.tornadochaser.net...

originally posted by: dogstar23

originally posted by: Daughter2

Thanks for posting this - I live in Western Illinois. I noticed a pattern of severe storms in the last few decades.



It seems as soon as the storm gets close to 39, it goes Northeast or Southeast. So you have major storms staying pretty east of 39 or South of 80 - which is good because it avoids the City and populated suburbs. If that storm hit just 10 miles west, it would have been devastating because this is were Northern Illinois University is located with thousands of students living on and off campus.



I guess it's just luck but this lucky pattern has happened again and again. You might say it's because of the lake but the lake wouldn't make the storms move over 50 miles away - and generally they actually add to bad weather.

I live in the NW suburbs, and for years we've joked about the "weather dome" we're under. I don't want an EF-4+ rolling through my neighborhood, but we almost always get a 90% reduction (that's unscientific, BTW) in storm severity, compared to 20-30 minutes drive west, south, or north.



While lightning blasted away to our north & south & tornados & accompanying severe thunderstorms to the west, I was outside in shorts and a t-shirt, grilling and watching - occasionally popping in to avoid a spot of rain.



ETA - wth? Just watched the video. Was this guy snacking on a bottle full of xanax on his road trip or what? "Golly, it looks like a big spinny cloud is about to roll over me. No worries, I'll put my wipers on. I'll have to get out later and see if there's any damage to the truck. I wonder if my hotel will have free USA today. Maybe I should get out and walk to the store and buy a paper while this spinny cloud passes by, harmlessly.

I was in 8th grade when I saw a tornado outside my house in Illinois. My best friend at the time decided it was a good decision to run to Popeye's chicken and get lunch, even though I was yelling at her that there was a tornado coming. Popeye's was just across the street but it was a dumb decision on her part.

People don't make the best decisions even under the most dire of circumstances, unfortunately.