Experts Take Aim at Tornado Myths 

BY VERONICA ROSMAN WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERS
 

You are driving in a car when a tornado is spotted nearby.

Seeing a highway overpass in the distance, you stop the car and make a run for it. Huddled under the overpass, you breathe a small sigh of relief.

You're in a safe place, right?

Wrong, say tornado-safety experts who are trying to shatter the myth that overpasses are a haven, following the deaths last year of three people seeking shelter under an Oklahoma highway.

Overpasses are actually one of the most dangerous places to hide during a tornado, said Ken Dewey, a researcher at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's School of Natural Resource Sciences.

"It's just like putting your thumb over the end of a garden hose to make the water come out faster," Dewey said. "The winds get compressed and become up to 50 percent faster than normal."

In addition, people scrambling to get under overpasses often haphazardly leave their cars on the road, causing traffic jams that can unnecessarily endanger lives, Dewey said.

Instead of overpasses, experts say, people should seek out buildings, a ditch or, in certain instances, keep driving.

The overpass myth - which started in 1991 after a television crew safely filmed a tornado from beneath an overpass - is one of several false, and potentially dangerous, tornado-safety tips that experts are looking to correct this year, said Brian Smith, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Valley.

"We never advised people to go under overpasses," Smith said. "People just decided it was a good idea, and it spread from there."

Another persistent myth, that the southwest corner is the safest part of a house during a tornado, started as a legitimate safety tip but later was dispelled by research.

The southwest corner is now considered the most dangerous section because it is often the first side to be hit by winds, Dewey said. People are now urged to seek shelter in a basement or in the middle of the house on the lowest level.

People also used to think that opening windows would reduce damage to the house, but it really has no effect, Dewey said.

"It's like breaking out windows when a jet airplane is about to crash," he said. "It really makes no difference."

Experts, however, are slightly altering their advice about tornado safety on the road. While they used to tell people to abandon their cars and find a ditch during tornado warnings, experts are now saying there are some situations when driving to get out of the twister's path can be safer.

If the tornado is a long way off and you are in a rural area with little traffic, people should consider driving away from the area where the tornado warning has been issued, Dewey said. They should then seek shelter at the nearest home or building.

"It's somewhat less risky to try and outrun it in order to find shelter," Dewey said. "Even ditches aren't very safe because of the flying debris."

However, if the tornado is close by, then a ditch is much safer than staying in the car, he said.

In any tornado situation, it's important for people to use their common sense and pay attention, the experts said.

"It's a struggle for us because we can't come up with rules to cover every situation," Dewey said. "All we can do is give people basic information and hope they use it to protect themselves."

The University of Nebraska, High Plains Climate Center provides this information as an educational service to the university community.  Please do not further reproduce this report without permission from The Omaha World Herald.