Missouri –
Matt Suter
was 19 years old when he had an experience that he will never forget. He survived after being swept up inside a tornado. … More than a dozen tornadoes spawned from the supercell thunderstorms that day, claiming the lives of two people. But Matt was lucky.
Can you survive a tornado inside?
Although there is no completely safe place during a tornado, some locations are much safer than others.
Go to the basement or an inside room without windows on the lowest floor
(bathroom, closet, center hallway). If possible, avoid sheltering in a room with windows.
Can you survive being inside a tornado?
Unlike most natural disasters,
being caught in the middle of a tornado is actually survivable
. There have been multiple reports from people who were caught inside the eye of a tornado and have walked away without any injuries.
What happens if you fall into a tornado?
Even
relatively weak tornadoes can overturn and roll vehicles
, and stronger ones can lift them into the air completely and throw them long distances, causing injury and even death to any occupants. (This storm chaser risked it all for tornado science.)
Can you breathe in a tornado?
Researchers estimate that the density of the air would be 20% lower than what’s found at high altitudes. To put this in perspective, breathing in a tornado would be
equivalent to breathing at an altitude of 8,000 m
(26,246.72 ft). At that level, you generally need assistance to be able to breathe.
Is a bathtub safe during a tornado?
If you don’t have a tornado shelter at home, the safest place to take cover from a tornado would be on the lower level of a building in a room with the most interior walls. If your bathroom lacks windows and is surrounded by interior walls then, yes,
the bathtub might be a safe place to hide during a tornado
.
Can you outrun a tornado on foot?
Can you outrun a tornado on foot?
DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO IN YOUR CAR
. Tornado winds can blow large objects, including cars, hundreds of feet away. Tornadoes can change direction quickly and can lift up a car or truck and toss it through the air.
How much weight can a tornado pick up?
What is the heaviest thing a tornado has ever picked up? The Pampa, Texas tornado moved machinery that weighted more that
30,000 pounds
. Whether it was slid or picked up, we don’t know. A tornado would certainly have no trouble tossing a 2000 -3000 pound van into the air.
Do tornadoes have eyes?
There is no “eye” to a tornado
like there is in a hurricane. This is a fiction largely caused by the movie Twister. Tornadoes are complex and can have multiple small structures called “sub vortices” rotating inside the larger parent circulation.
How cold is it inside a tornado?
That expansion brings down the temperature of the air and also makes it thinner. The more the pockets expand, the colder it gets, then the thinner the air gets. In the case of the 1955 tornado, the temperature dropped from
80.6 to 53.6 degrees F
(27 to 12 degrees C).
Is the inside of a tornado calm?
Is the inside of a tornado calm?
Evidence suggests that tornadoes mostly have calm, clear centers that have very low pressure
.
What does being inside a tornado feel like?
Tornadoes are extremely loud. People have described them as sounding like
a freight train or locomotive
. “Feels like a freight train is going to go up your back,” said one. Says another: “I heard one heck of a freight train barreling through the field.
Why go in the bathtub during a tornado?
If the most centrally located room in your home is a ground floor bathroom, designate it as your storm shelter. And since the idea is to get as many walls between you and the approaching tornado, by all means
take shelter inside the bathtub
, where the fiberglass sides of the tub add another layer of protection.
Will my phone alert me of a tornado?
According to experts,
modern mobile phones are supposed to receive alerts for severe weather
, such as tornadoes and flash floods. Some residents in the area say their devices didn’t get those alerts during the height of the storm on Sunday night, while others say they got the alerts on some phones but not others.
Where should you not go during a tornado?
In a house with
no basement
, a dorm, or an apartment: Avoid windows. Go to the lowest floor, small center room (like a bathroom or closet), under a stairwell, or in an interior hallway with no windows. Crouch as low as possible to the floor, facing down; and cover your head with your hands.
What is the average lifespan of a tornado?
Tornadoes can last
from several seconds to more than an hour
. The longest-lived tornado in history is really unknown, because so many of the long-lived tornadoes reported from the early-mid 1900s and before are believed to be tornado series instead. Most tornadoes last less than 10 minutes.
