Top Five Tornado Myths

FOX19 -

Now that we're in March, thunderstorms and severe weather will become more common across the country including the Tri-State. We at FOX19 NOW want to make sure you're prepared! There's a lot of bad information about tornadoes out there that needs to be corrected. Here are the top five myths that stand out to me as being the most common and just plain wrong:

5. You Can Rate a Tornado Just by Looking at it.

I blame the movie Twister for this one. Throughout the movie, they constantly look at tornadoes and say, "That's a F-3," or "There's a F-5 heading our way!" This is all wrong.

The width of a tornado gives a general idea of the intensity, but there are plenty of examples of relatively skinny tornadoes that had higher winds than wider ones. It is nearly impossible to measure the wind speed of a tornado as they are happening as the instruments would likely be destroyed. Instead, the wind speed within tornadoes is estimated based on the damage they leave behind.

The method that is used to do this is the Enhanced Fujita or EF Scale. The evaluation of the damage can't occur until after the tornado has passed, which is why the official rating of a tornado is usually not announced by the National Weather Service until the day after the storm. So you might not know how strong a tornado is before it hits, but it doesn't matter. Every tornado is dangerous and requires your immediate action.

4. It's Better to Stay Inside a Mobile Home Than Leave.

While it is almost always better to be indoors than outdoors during a tornado, there is an exception when it comes to mobile homes/trailers/manufactured homes. Mobile homes are much more likely to be destroyed by a tornado than a permanent building. Most mobile homes are only designed to sustain winds up to 70 mph; the strength of an EF-0 tornado. Mobile homes also frequently flip over in tornadoes, because it is so easy for winds to get underneath the home and lift it. If you are in a mobile home and a tornado warning is issued, get out! If a permanent building is nearby, go there and seek shelter on the lowest floor. If there is not one nearby, you're still better off getting in your vehicle and driving to another location or seeking shelter in a low lying place outside the mobile home than remaining inside.

3. A Highway Overpass is a Safe Place to Take Shelter.

It's no mystery that a car is not the safest place to be in a tornado. They can be flipped over relatively easily and outrunning a tornado only works under ideal circumstances.

Stopping your car under a highway overpass and taking shelter underneath it is NOT a better option though. There are documented cases of people surviving a tornado under an overpass, but there are more cases of people not surviving.

Overpasses often act like a wind tunnel, enhancing the speed of the wind and providing a location for debris to gather.

If you find yourself in a car during a tornado warning, do not stop under an overpass, but continue driving to the closest permanent building. If you see the tornado and have no direction to escape in, then you're better off getting out of your vehicle and taking shelter in a ditch or other low lying area than taking shelter under an overpass.

2. Tornadoes Do Not Cross Rivers or Hills.

Some believe that if they can get to the opposite side of a river from a tornado they will automatically be safe. Once again, not true. Tornadoes have been documented crossing rivers and lakes before continuing on the other side. A tornado is just as likely to occur over water as land. Another common belief is that tornadoes only occur in flat areas and cannot cross over hills. This too has been proven false. While most tornadoes do form over flat terrain, they also occur in mountainous areas and can track for miles over hilly terrain.

1. Opening the Windows in a House Before a Tornado Hits Will Help Protect It.

This is the No. 1 myth to me, because I've run in to more people that believe this one than any other.

The idea is that opening all the windows in a house will help equalize the pressure between the inside and outside of the home and keep it from being destroyed by a tornado.

While tornadoes are associated with lower atmospheric pressure, research has shown that it is the winds and debris within tornadoes that destroy buildings, not the pressure change. Taking the time to open all the widows in your home only wastes valuable minutes when you could be taking shelter in the basement or most interior room in your home.

Tornadoes will break your windows regardless of if they're open or closed, so make sure the room you take shelter in is window free to avoid the threat of flying glass.

So there you have it, the top five tornado myths! If you want more information on tornadoes and tornado safety this is a great website to check out: http://www.ready.gov/tornadoes ^[1]