Tornados On The Road

The horse was likely minding his own business in a pasture. He didn't take a direct hit from the tornado, he took a direct hit from the debris - in this case a fence post. The debris doesn't always come from above, a lot of the time it comes straight at you. The funnel cloud tosses it out roughly parallel to the ground at a high rate of speed, kind of like when you pull the lid off a blender full of liquid before it stops. Even a little tornado can toss a fencepost a quarter or maybe even a half mile. If that horse had had sense enough to get into the barn or to duck into a ditch, the fence post most likely would've missed him.

So much for horse sense.

ZZZING!

Dang it. I screwed the quotes up.

I am sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree with that article.

1. Who wrote it and where did they get their information? Experiments? 2. You have steel reinforced concrete above and below you, plus, you have the embankment for support as well. They make a good projectile barrier. Looking at it In a north, south, east, west, up and down threat area, an overpass takes at least 50% of that threat area away. A ditch gives you down and maybe two sides. So, if you are taking a "direct hit", where would you want to be? If you are in a 200 plus mph wind, I just do not see where a tunnel effect will make a difference in either scenario. Just my logic. 3. The article says "roads were blocked at times". Well, you wouldn`t be trying to out run the tornado would you? Do emergency vehicles show up in seconds because that is how long the tornado will last.

With all that said, if there is quick access to a strong structure, that is where I would be heading. Otherwise, overpass (or underpass).

While I will agree with the logic of the points you made in your post if it's a highway over pass that's the absolutely worse place to be. Why? Limited space. If you and 50 of your closest friend (other Highway drivers) all stop under the over pass where are they going to park? They will Park in the middle of the road and on the shoulders blocking the interstate and what will happen when some one comes through there at Highway speed? One of the biggest wrecks, possible explosions, seen around there in while.

OK that was an extreme example but let me give you a real world example. This past May. May 5th to be exact I was driving West on I-10 in Louisiana and one heck of a hail storm started. The cars hit the shoulder AND yes stopped in the middle of the interstate also. I had to stop in the middle of the road, on the interstate, and blow my horn for a minute before people even thought about moving. Only reason they moved was a state police showed up and made them move out of the road and onto the shoulder of the road clearing the interstate. As they pulled over he was taking licenses from the police. I assume to give them tickets once things were clear.

See this is one of the cases where it's safer to keep moving than it is to stop. I was barely able to stop in time from hitting 2 cars that were partially blocking the right lane. Another truck was not so lucky and clipped a car as he went past it. The car spun around and narrowly missed 2 people.

Sure it's good to be in a safe place but not when it endangers other people's lives.

I go ankle-deep in the ocean... that's it.

Yup, that's far enough for me, too. Let the idiots get eaten by sharks. Natural selection at work!

I am much more afraid of earthquakes and hurricanes. Even scarier to me are spiders that creep up on you at night when you're sleeping. They are so light you can't even feel them. Spiders want to kill you - don't let anyone fool you into believing otherwise. You can usually get out of the way of a tornado, or into a basement or a ditch. There are spiders everywhere (at least in the Carolinas) and you almost never see them coming.

Hurricanes aren't nearly as scary to me because you know they are coming. You have plenty of time to get the hell out of dodge. But tornadoes can spring up on you in a moment. I would feel somewhat safe if I had a basement to run into but being out on the road in a giant, wind-catching vehicle? That's another story!

Imagine your truck being wiggled like a snake moving at 68 MPH, it was a good adrenaline rush.

This is exactly what I mean. I can only imagine how freaky that would be. Yikes!

I guess given the option between overpass or ditch, I would choose the ditch. The 'dodging bullets in a war' analogy makes perfect sense to me. Or maybe I would keep driving, it's hard to say. I think keeping an eye on the weather app and avoiding getting into that situation is the best option overall though.

Any, Guy, people stopping in the middle of the interstate in bad weather? How stupid can you get? This is why defensive driving is so important!

Never driven a truck before but been in a couple.

I was under the impression that one could just come to a safe stop, hit the parking brake, roll up the windows and take cover in the sleeper. I guess the truck isn't so armored to take a hit from a projectile?

Never driven a truck before but been in a couple.

I was under the impression that one could just come to a safe stop, hit the parking brake, roll up the windows and take cover in the sleeper. I guess the truck isn't so armored to take a hit from a projectile?

No not even close. Best bet in open country is to get out and get in a ditch. It does not suck you up like a straw. If w tornado can put a 2x4 through a brick wall then your sleeper would make the tornado laugh at you.