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A friend of mine asked why I'm being absolutely obsessed with the weather this week, the projections and the TOR:CON and the forecast, for things that haven't even happened and won't happen for a couple of days.
Because if you wait for the tornado warning, you're too late to do everything you could to survive.
And because if anything happens to you, and you could POSSIBLY have prevented it, local opinion will eat you alive (because nothing victim-blames like people who were randomly spared by a catastrophe). Case in point, this week during a tornado a woman drowned in her storm shelter. (Link to story here) Comments ranged from "you shouldn't say it was a storm shelter" (what? it was a cellar... underground... the kind of place we tell people to get to) to "anyone who lives in certain areas deserves what they get, storms hit there all the time." (It may be true that storms hit some areas more than others, but that's very tacky to say about someone who just died.)
But even leaving local opinion aside, there are plenty of situations where a little preparedness could save your life, your health, your pets, or your ability to cope with the aftermath of the storm.
And now, I'm off to clean out the closet. Yeah, I'm a little obsessed, because I want us to do the best we can, and previously we've failed at "get dressed and downstairs in 5 minutes or less" drills. (I sleep pretty deeply sometimes, and especially if it's dark and rainy... mmm... which is perfect tornado weather.)
Link roundup:
NOAA's explanation of the Fujita scale of strength
Tornado History Project maps of all tornadoes in the county I live in
Wikipedia article on the 1999 Moore tornado including a picture of the radar 'hook'
Tornado safety (well, 'safer') instructions
2013 Moore tornado overhead images with before-and-after sliders
Because if you wait for the tornado warning, you're too late to do everything you could to survive.
And because if anything happens to you, and you could POSSIBLY have prevented it, local opinion will eat you alive (because nothing victim-blames like people who were randomly spared by a catastrophe). Case in point, this week during a tornado a woman drowned in her storm shelter. (Link to story here) Comments ranged from "you shouldn't say it was a storm shelter" (what? it was a cellar... underground... the kind of place we tell people to get to) to "anyone who lives in certain areas deserves what they get, storms hit there all the time." (It may be true that storms hit some areas more than others, but that's very tacky to say about someone who just died.)
But even leaving local opinion aside, there are plenty of situations where a little preparedness could save your life, your health, your pets, or your ability to cope with the aftermath of the storm.
And now, I'm off to clean out the closet. Yeah, I'm a little obsessed, because I want us to do the best we can, and previously we've failed at "get dressed and downstairs in 5 minutes or less" drills. (I sleep pretty deeply sometimes, and especially if it's dark and rainy... mmm... which is perfect tornado weather.)
Link roundup:
NOAA's explanation of the Fujita scale of strength
Tornado History Project maps of all tornadoes in the county I live in
Wikipedia article on the 1999 Moore tornado including a picture of the radar 'hook'
Tornado safety (well, 'safer') instructions
2013 Moore tornado overhead images with before-and-after sliders
no subject
Date: 2015-05-08 05:50 pm (UTC)From:mainly because this is where TheEngineer's WORK is. oil business, you *have* to be where the work is. he could be doing this same work in singapore, or in dubai, or in houma, lousiana and working for the same company...but we're here.
in hurricane season? i'm checking the weather just as much as you are now. here's hoping you and yours come through all of it unscathed.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-11 09:44 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2015-05-13 08:13 am (UTC)From:Church and tornadoes are the bread and circuses of my people.