Of all the weather phenomena, tornadoes are probably the most feared--and the most dreaded. Such funneling power concentrates on destruction of anything that leaves nothing standing from within 150+ miles long within the cyclic path, traveling at the speed of 35 to 45 miles per hour. North American midwest people call them "twisters," but twister hardly describes its violence. Any news about a hit by a tornado lately? Stay safe.
In 2009, we had experienced a typhoon named Ondoy. It was actually a storm and not a typhoon because the winds were not that strong. The havoc he wrought was the unimaginable flood that seemed to make the waterways stagnant (not flowing). Scientists said that the receivers of water from the creeks and rivers was already full, that is the Laguna Lake which is heavily silted. That flood inundated the whole of Metro Manila and some suburbs including our town which was submerged in floodwaters for more than 48 hours. I would dread the day if another Ondoy would hit us.
Ive only had to go in to our crawlspace once in Indiana, living in the midwest there were always sightings and warnings but thankfully none ever hit our neighborhood.
I heard last night on the News that a "Godzilla of El Nino" is currently stirring up some powerful storms that will be hitting millions in California like never before seen and will trigger more across the country. Link: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather...en-california-crosshairs-wild-weather-n460796
Yes, there is lots of talk about it this year. Seems we already are getting more rain then this time last year. I also dont know what it means for central California but my drives to my daughter's will be treacherous, its bad enough we get the killer fog in the winter. But...we need the rain!
In 2011, we had an F-4 tornado that devastated whole towns in Alabama. In Huntsville, we were without power for almost 2 weeks. Houses were literally blown apart, and roads were impassable because of all the trees and powerlines that were down across the roads. There were several tornadoes that came through that day, and the first one took the roof off of our rental house. For most of the rest of the day, we were either sheltering in the back corner of the basement (which was by then flooded), or peeking out the door, watching for more tornadoes. We had no idea how bad the damage actually was because we could not get past the downed trees on the road near our house, and we didn't hear any sirens until the next day. It turned out that even emergency workers could not get into our area, and once they finally had the road open, the sirens blared, and ambulances came by for the whole next day, rescuing people. Part of our house still had a roof on it, and we had been able to move some bedding before it got ruined in the downpour, so we all lived in that one room, which was the large living room. We had a little pedestal gas fireplace (like you would use on a patio) and we used that to heat water for instant coffee, and everything else, we ate cold, and out of the can. (My son, Michael , was out visiting us, and he said that he has seen all he wants to see of a tornado.) Because the cell towers had been blown over, we could not even call Robin to see if she was okay, but as they got some of those working again, we were able to send a text, since that only took a few seconds to send, as opposed to trying to make a phone call. Eventually, they got the roads open again, and electricity back on, and then stores could open up again. Until then, it was emergency traffic only, and no place you could go anyway, because no stores or businesses were open. It really taught me that it is important to have at least a small supply of canned food that can be eaten cold if necessary, have a solar powered charger for cell phones and tablets, and keep some cash on hand, in case banks are closed, and cards don't work. Stocking up on staple foods and water is even better, and a small propane cookstove and heater would also be an excellent thing to have.
As luck would have it we live to far north for their to be much concern about Tornadoes, and we are far enough in-land that we do not have to worry about hurricanes. One thing we do get our fair share of it extreme cold and lot's of snow. It was about this time last year that we were buried by 7 feet of snow in a period of less then 48hours. Now I am no stranger to snow and cold, I have lived in this region all my life and you do learn skills, like how to drive in the blinding whiteout's (which is perhaps my least favorite thing EVER.) The type of danger is actually in a few different areas, there Is always a travel danger in extreme snow, also there is the danger that the weight will collapse your house, and that does happen. By far the scariest is if the power goes down because most furnaces do also need electricity. I have been in this situation so when I bought the home we have now I made sure we had an old fashion wood fireplace just in case. More then once it has been a lifesaver. The danger of the power going out can men that your pipes will explode and the damage is un-real. I think besides twisters I find earthquakes to be scary. We occasionally get tremors, I do not know if I could deal with this all the time like they do in California.