Comments on: Toronto’s recent brush with tornado weather http://quotulatiousness.ca/blog/2009/08/23/torontos-recent-brush-with-tornado-weather/ Quotations, comments, and whatever else I'm interested in at the moment. Tue, 22 May 2012 11:21:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Chris Taylor http://quotulatiousness.ca/blog/2009/08/23/torontos-recent-brush-with-tornado-weather/comment-page-1/#comment-128 Chris Taylor Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:12:00 +0000 http://quotulatiousness.ca/blog/?p=655#comment-128 It's also not rocket science. While an evacuation plan would help, all you have to do is use your own God-given brains. Ask yourself "What is the safest place to hide from glass shards, bricks and 2x8 beams travelling laterally at 120kph?" Many people tend to take shelter in the bathroom or the bathtub but honestly, what bathroom has walls that can sustain that sort of impact? Basement is a good idea, or for people in apartment/condo highrise buildings, an enclosed fire stairwell. These will tend to be protected with cinderblock and heavy doors, and are a whole lot better off than hiding in your bathroom, which is protected only by plaster or drywall. It’s also not rocket science. While an evacuation plan would help, all you have to do is use your own God-given brains. Ask yourself “What is the safest place to hide from glass shards, bricks and 2×8 beams travelling laterally at 120kph?” Many people tend to take shelter in the bathroom or the bathtub but honestly, what bathroom has walls that can sustain that sort of impact?

Basement is a good idea, or for people in apartment/condo highrise buildings, an enclosed fire stairwell. These will tend to be protected with cinderblock and heavy doors, and are a whole lot better off than hiding in your bathroom, which is protected only by plaster or drywall.

]]> By: Nicholas http://quotulatiousness.ca/blog/2009/08/23/torontos-recent-brush-with-tornado-weather/comment-page-1/#comment-123 Nicholas Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:54:35 +0000 http://quotulatiousness.ca/blog/?p=655#comment-123 > The locals in the car were all “whew! That’s > a relief.” Whereas I was, “Oh, can we see that > again? That was _so_ _cool_!!” And here we have proof again that the geek mindset <em>isn't</em> always pro-survival! > The locals in the car were all “whew! That’s
> a relief.” Whereas I was, “Oh, can we see that
> again? That was _so_ _cool_!!”

And here we have proof again that the geek mindset isn’t always pro-survival!

]]> By: James Bow http://quotulatiousness.ca/blog/2009/08/23/torontos-recent-brush-with-tornado-weather/comment-page-1/#comment-122 James Bow Tue, 25 Aug 2009 04:01:52 +0000 http://quotulatiousness.ca/blog/?p=655#comment-122 On the other hand, tornados _are_ dangerous. And as we are largely out of Tornado Alley, we really have no clue how to deal with one. In Iowa and Nebraska, most public buildings have two maps: one showing the quickest routes _out_ of the building in the event of a fire, and the other showing the quickest routes _into_ the building in the event of a tornado. At the University of Waterloo, where my wife worked, there was a tornado warning a few months ago. The news circulated around the office. My wife, born in Iowa, asked "so, what do we do? Where do we go?" And they all looked at her like she had two heads. "Why should we go anywhere?" they asked her. My wife then looked up at this two-storey-tall room, lined with floor-to-ceiling windows, and told them, "if anybody needs me? I'll be in the basement." And I remember, on a drive through Vermillion, South Dakota, we encountered a large storm, with a dark funnel cloud dipping down. And you really could tell the difference between the locals and the tourists (me) here, after we watched this thing rope out, nearly touch the ground, and then dissipate. The locals in the car were all "whew! That's a relief." Whereas I was, "Oh, can we see that again? That was _so_ _cool_!!" On the other hand, tornados _are_ dangerous. And as we are largely out of Tornado Alley, we really have no clue how to deal with one. In Iowa and Nebraska, most public buildings have two maps: one showing the quickest routes _out_ of the building in the event of a fire, and the other showing the quickest routes _into_ the building in the event of a tornado.

At the University of Waterloo, where my wife worked, there was a tornado warning a few months ago. The news circulated around the office. My wife, born in Iowa, asked “so, what do we do? Where do we go?” And they all looked at her like she had two heads. “Why should we go anywhere?” they asked her. My wife then looked up at this two-storey-tall room, lined with floor-to-ceiling windows, and told them, “if anybody needs me? I’ll be in the basement.”

And I remember, on a drive through Vermillion, South Dakota, we encountered a large storm, with a dark funnel cloud dipping down. And you really could tell the difference between the locals and the tourists (me) here, after we watched this thing rope out, nearly touch the ground, and then dissipate. The locals in the car were all “whew! That’s a relief.” Whereas I was, “Oh, can we see that again? That was _so_ _cool_!!”

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