Twisters

[bbobb]

I've had a few experiences with bad storms myself. Nothing as bad as locking myself out of the building though.
One summer I was out with a buddy and we decided to stop at Blockbuster to pick up a movie. While we were in there it suddenly went pitch black outside at 1:00 in the afternoon. Then suddenly the winds picked up like no other and the sirens started going on. So right away everyone in the store flocks to the windows to see what's going on. The first thing we see is a shopping cart from the nearby K-Mart literally flying through the air right past the store. At that point in time we decided it might be a good idea to get away from the huge plate glass windows if projectiles were going to be flying around.

[ruhztee]

Awesome story. I love storms - I hope this summer brings some good ones to Florida. I miss hearing the storm sirens and seeing the black skies every once in a while when I lived in Michigan.

[Master of 7s]

It's crazy. For all their destructive power, earthquakes really don't bug me anymore unless they get into 6.0-7.0 range. Anything below a 5.0 doesn't even register with me, I sleep through those.

A tornado though? The very thought of being in the same vicinity scares the shit outta me. So why would s person hang around to watch one? Crazy.

Of course Californians have a similar insanity. For some reason when it rains our brains think that means we should drive FASTER.

[Nomi]

A few years ago, there were funnel clouds at Cedar Point (amusement park for those that don't know). There was a HUGE stampede to get to the safe zone, and a lot of people got trampled or passed out. Tons of children were lost and crying, and a lot of people just decided to stand out in the middle of the open and watch as the four clouds swirled about. I can't imagine how bad it would be to be stuck on a ride during that.

It was fairly big news around here, despite there not being a tornado. Water spouts or something. Only tornado threat in Northern Ohio that I've lived through.

[Dyne]

the first time i went to kennywood it was like out of a movie. you park in the lot and their coaster the Steel Phantom looms overhead. well right over that was the biggest, darkest fucking doomcloud i have ever seen. wouldnt be so bad but there was a coaster right at the crest of the first hill......just stuck there with people in it. so here comes the rain, then some lightning. so finally they decide to get some people up there (i was too young at the time to know the workers could walk up the side of the tracks). but wait.....the things starts to move. now you got 3 of the cars over the edge when it decides to stop again. so like 4 people get out and start walking down when it starts to move.....AGAIN while theyre trying to get people out. it stopped one more time and they just left the people up there. finally like 5 minutes later (whole thing was only 10 minutes or so) the cars start to go down the hill. weirdest shit id ever seen.

well that and the time when a lightning bolt hit the sub station thats like 2 blocks from my house. im sitting there one really hot summer night playing games and the whole backyard, and subsequently my bedroom light up. fucking x-files abduction style with a reallt LOUD hum. im like WTF!? so i go to wake up my parents and theyre like "you're dumb go to bed" and luckily it happened again. whole friggin house lit up. it was the brightest thing ever.then we didnt have power for a couple days. that was fun.

[MarsVolta]

Damn man..thats a once in a lifetime thing...

I remember last summer we had 5 tornado warnings in 1 day. Seems that everytime i thought it was getting better another cell would stirr up. For all of you who have seen them before the sky had some mammatus clouds in them....or the humpy clouds that bring forth hail and tornadoes most of the time. The sky was awesome however it was quite scary to see the one funnel i saw. It hailed pretty bad but the tornadoes i never really saw in full form. Afterwards i went outside and admired the remnant clouds which were very cool. Some were kind of low and spinning. It was neat but i dont think i wouldve handled the situation u were in quite as well Jimmy

[Melf]

Living in the Caribbean, hurricanes are our natural disaster of choice. When Georges hit in '98, the destruction was incredible. Bridges were washed away, homes were demolished, and many roads simply ceased to exist.

My wife, who's family lives up in the mountains, spent the whole night of the hurricane huddled in the bathroom with her entire family, her two brothers fighting to keep the door from being blown away. Georges was a category 4 hurricane. with winds in excess of 90mph, so you can imagine what it was like. Her family lost their home, and the next day I rushed up to find them assessing their losses. I was lucky, since her uncle worked for the dept. of public works and had hijacked a bulldozer to clear the mud from the road. As I made my way to her house, I could barely brake, my car sliding down the muddy road, bouncing off the mud piles on either side. By the time I got there, my Toyota looked like something from Collin Mcrae '04.

The area was completely destroyed. Telephone poles were all over the place, trees were smashed, homes were missing whole rooms. I took my wife for a ride afterward so she could see the damage and we were in awe at what nature had done.

Strange thing is, my house was intact, with both cars parked outside. No damage at all.

[DirtySouth]

Being in the southeastern U.S puts you on a first name basis with severe storms and tornadoes. From March until May, this area becomes part of "Tornado Alley", before the storm tracks move north to the midsection of the U.S. It's been unusually quiet so far this season which somewhat worries me....like Mother Nature is storing energy for one big blast of destruction or something.
Tornadoes are especially dangerous here because due to the constant high humidity, the tornadoes are rain-wrapped, so around 80% of the time you'll never see the spiral, only a big wall of rain approaching where you'll get short glimpses of the spiraling mass, which ofcourse spells doom for anyone outside that's oblivious to the weather reports, or doesn't hear a siren.

I've been through countless severe storms and tornado warnings here, but I have never seen a tornado. One night last may during a particularly widespread and nasty tornado outbreak in the southeast, I was at work in the parking lot, which is up on a hill. The tornado sirens went off for what was probably the 15'th time that day, and I decided to try to rush and finish up my work as (hopefully) I can see any approaching tornado due to it being on a hill. A few minutes later I start seeing flashes coming from behind me, so I turn around and see the most ominous looking wall-cloud I've ever seen. The base was a few thousand feet off the ground, and the top of it extended a dozen or so miles straight up...looked like it extended into infinity. At the base of the cloud was the most mesmerizing and dazzling lightning display I've ever seen. An almost constant display of bolts arcing and twisting in every which direction. I stopped what I was doing and just gazed at it. Eventually the manager pulled everyone into the building and crowded everyone to the storm area. Fortunately, we weren't in any danger as the storm was many miles north of us.

[Jimmy Carter]

A tornado though? The very thought of being in the same vicinity scares the shit outta me. So why would s person hang around to watch one? Crazy.

I don't know. You sort of just grow into it. Everyone around here watches the things if they see 'em. I mean, one time, my family and I watched a circulating funnel cloud pass over us. It hadn't dropped yet; but man, was that stupid.

[Mzo]

I've been in a few earthquakes in Peru. They're no fun, lemme tell you.

And Florida loves to almost get hit by hurricanes. Hurricanes aren't NEARLY as fun to watch as tornadoes. I fell asleep halfway through Andrew and woke up to massive wanton destruction.

Good times.