People who live in "tornado alley" &others tell me your story! Have you seen a tornado? what was it like?

Question

Im so interested. How scared were you? What do they sound like? Where do you go ? Im so interested/terrified! I like to watch them on youtube! thanks!

Answer 1

I live in the Midwest, which sees a fair amount of tornadoes. I've never actually seen a funnel formation, but I have been through several of them (i.e. I've been in a house on the street where one passed through). I didn't look out the window, I was too busy hiding in the basement :)

I used to be constantly terrified that there would be a tornado anytime there was a thunderstorm- whenever there's a severe storm, there are usually "tornado watches" and "tornado warnings" on TV. If one is spotted, they'll tell that viewing area to take cover. They say you should get in the basement or lower level of your house, or any inside area away from windows and doors. If you're outside, you're supposed to lay in a ditch or low point and cover your head with your hands.

When I've been in/near a tornado it just sounded like loud noise! :) Like a thunderstorm (wind, crashing, things hitting other things, hail, etc.) only amplified. I also heard something that sounded like a loud cracking/ripping, like somebody was smashing the windows out with a baseball bat, once.

The worst I was in, I was home alone, in the basement. I was sure that the roof had ripped off, that's how loud it sounded from down there. But when I went up it was still on; things were lying in our yard from other counties, though.

I was and still am a little scared when the weather gets that bad, but I understand that the chances of me personally actually dying as a result of a tornado are quite slim. I also know that I have a safe basement, so I'm better about them now. The more I sit through, the less afraid I am of them, strange as that sounds.

Hope this helped you out!

Answer 2

I to, live in the midwest. I have seen too many of them to talk about each one, so I will tell you about one that happened about 10 years ago. I was at my parents, working down in the farm lot. It was a clear, hot ,sunny day. My Mom called us in for supper, and we could see South of us, that a thunder storm was comming. The clouds were way off in the distance, but we could see the storm front (clouds) were WAY up in the sky. If you have never seen this, it's really amazing. The clouds way up, are white and puffy, and look kind of like a nuclear bomb cloud, Mushroom shaped. The clouds below, are dark, and flat. Anyways, we went into the house to eat, and we could hear the wind start to pick up outside, this was nothing new, you expect that. A few seconds later, we could hear Hail hitting the roof of the house, and the wind really started to blow. The sky went from sunny, to dark in a matter of seconds. The Hail was about the size of golf balls, and we stepped out onto the porch to take a look. We knew we better get to safety soon. South of the House, I'd say 1/4 mile away, all h**l was breaking loose. We could see the Tornado comming toward us. It was churning up dirt, trees, and debris. My mom was freaking out, my dad tried to be cool about it, but I could tell he was scared, when I seen it, all I could think was, "this is it". We ran into the house, went to the basement, and got into a huddle, with our arms around eachother. If we were going to die,we were all going.Thats when the power went out, and we could hear the wind blowing outside. The Tornado made a loud roaring sound, (like a train comming), and we could here the air in the house being sucked out through all the little cracks, and holes. That made a high pitched, hissing sound. It seemed like it lasted for an hour, but in fact, it was all over in about 2 minutes. When we went back upstairs, the house was still intact, (thank god), but the trees around the house were stripped of a lot of leaves, and limbs. The BBQ grill was gone, as well as lawn chairs, flower pots, buckets, lumber, just about  everything not nailed down, (and even somethings that were). The only major damage, was 2 huge barn doors. They were pulled off the Barn, and NEVER seen again. Nobody ever found them, that we know of. That one was the worst one I have ever been in. It makes you think. One minute your here, the next,??? If the house would have been tore off us, who knows what would of happened. It may have got us too. Like I said, I have seen several Tornados in my life time. Some of them are beautiful. They just move along, and do little, or no harm. When you see one off in the distance, they are something to see. When you see one comming right at you, it's a different story. I have said it before, and I'll say it again. I would rather live here in North East Kansas, than along the West Coast, were Earth Quakes occure. At least with a Tornado, you can see them comming.

Answer 3

I havenot seen one but i have been through 2. one on 3-7-08 and one on christmas morning of 08. e-mail for more at [e-mail] and leave your e-mail