Tornado.......ever been in one? Are you afraid of storms?

[qgirl692003]

I have been in at least on confirmed tornado and one suspected tornado...The first one was in a rural area of northern Micigan, it was the 4th of July, I believe in 94. We were enrt to a fireworks display in a nearby town, when we decided they would be cancelled due to lightning in the distance. Instead we went to a friends party near the lake. Myself and some other went across the street from the party to a small cabin to play cards. While we were in the cabin the lights flickered many times and then the power went out. We looked out the window to see what I can describe a a dark cloud coming our way, then I saw a weeping willow tree bent almost in half and the chairs on the patio were floating! The tornado luckily turned right before hitting us and went behind the party into the woods. They classified the tornado as an F1, there were only minor injuries, because it ripped thru a campground destroying it, it also overturned many boats on the lake. There were no thunderstorm or tornado watches or warnings for that one! The second tornado(at least I suspect it was), I was driving south on US131 from upnorth when I heard on the radio the national weather service issued a tornado warning for the exact area I was driving thru. It was raining so hard I could barely see, and was going about 15-20 MPH, when the front end of my car lifted off of the ground and spun around several times. Luckily I was not injured. I have hydroplaned before and it was definately not that! I believe that I got caught up in part of a very weak, small tornado, however due to the heavy rain and being dark out I did not see anything. I still love storms and am fascinated by tornados! I good web site to check out is www.tornadoproject.com.

 

[abby7625]

I've never been "hit" by a tornado, but have had 3 really close calls. I'm not the least bit unnerved when I hear there is a tornado in the area because I don't want my kids to grow up being terrified of storms.

The first was in 1995, my husband at the time and I were on his motorcycle about 30 miles south of home when out of the blue a storm hit. We jumped on and took off towards home. It was hailing so we pulled off in an old barn because being on a motorcycle in a hailstorm HURTS!!. It was the worst storm I had ever seen, the wind was horrendous. The next day we found out that the town we were in and the building we were outside of when the storm hit was destroyed.

The second was in 1999 and I was pregnant with my second. There were tornado sightings 2-3 miles from us. Alot of damage in that area but it only tore the trees apart where we lived.

The third was 2002. Jon and I were at the last race of the season in October and a huge storm came thru. The race officials were on the PA system telling everyone to be on their toes because a tornado was 30 miles east and heading straight towards where we were. It got so windy and awful that the trailer was rocking back and forth and the roof vents were rattling. It did finally veer off in another direction and lose force before it got to us, but the race was delayed 3 hours while they cleared the tracks for the race the next day.