Major storms hitting Kansas - major damage in Greensburg, Kan.

Weather Channel now saying downtown Greensburg has been destroyed by that tornado. I feel horrible for the people there.

 

As scary as seeing a tornado would be, I can't imagine the fear of having one hit at night. I haven't seen/experienced one yet and I really hope I get out of Texas before I do.

 

It sounds like a train whistle? I always heard it sounds like a freight train, but I assumed people meant the rumbling of a freight train. I kept waiting to hear that sound the other night in Arlington, but never did.
A whistling noise sounds very frightening.

 

The F-4 that went through Hoisington -- a town of about 3,000 that's getting hammered by this storm as we speak -- six years happened on a Saturday night ... on prom night.

Fortunately, that prom was held at the Knights of Columbus hall in town and not at Hoisington High, where the tornado ripped off portions of the roof and destroyed the gym and football field. Had the prom been at that gym, who knows what would have happened. Instead, they went to the basement at that Knights of Columbus hall and were safe, despite sirens not sounding until the tornado had already hit town.

 

The siren thing is new to me - having lived in the Northwest my whole life. I was pretty surprised to see sirens on top of the major buildings in downtown Fort Worth. I was told the sirens went off Wednesday night in Fort Worth, though I never heard any in Arlington even though that was where the worst of the storm hit.
How do they decide to sound the sirens and what are you supposed to do if you hear them? What if you are in a hotel?

 

An earthquake is more like the rumbling of a freight train, actually.

In fact, outside my work are railroad tracks. Our floor shakes whenever one of those suckers comes rolling down the tracks.

Except every once in awhile -- twice that I know of, since we moved into our new building -- the floor has shaked ... but there was no train outside. Those were quakes. Just had one last Saturday, in fact. About 3.5 or so, nothing much. Just a little rumble for a few seconds. That's what happens when you're about a mile from the San Andreas, though ...

 

I've been in a couple of earthquakes in Seattle, but I don't remember hearing them. Though I think I was watching TV both times. I just remember the floor started dancing.

 

They're supposed to sound the sirens when a tornado touches down in your area. How close it needs to be, I'm not sure about that, or even if it's the same across the board or whether it differs from town to town.

But when you hear sirens, you hit the basement ASAP. If you don't have a basement, go to the safest part of the house, wherever that might be. Hotels have shelters in tornado alley, I'm sure, and they would take care of you there. And then you wait.

And supposedly, the northeast corner of the house/building is the best place to be.

 

I'm assuming the bathroom is the safest part of the house if you don't have a basement?
My town doesn't have sirens as far as I know, though a tornado hasn't hit here in 40 to 50 years.
The Weather Channel just interupted its programming to show what is going on and it looks brutal. The entire storm is rotating. This is seriously fucked up.

 

It looks like it will just miss Salina, though there is a chance it will hit there. How big is Salina?

 

They just said ambulances are being brought in from 100 miles away.

 

Sirens were always late in my town. I don't know what the trigger was for them going off, but I only heard them once living there for 15 years. Granted, that one passed directly over my house and hit my high school, 1 mile away. You could see the path through the trees and the fields, like some crazy Tasmanian Devil.