Re: Re: Storms kill 45 across 6 states; damage widespread

[Guest guest]

Getting in the bathtub is an old tale that's been around for a long time. There are stories of some people surviving by hiding in a bathtub even when the rest of the house was blow away. However, that was more likely back in the day when the tubs were porcelain coated cast iron. I'm not sure I'd want to try it in the modern molded plastic ones.

I don't think I'd try it either if the tub was on an upper floor. The problem there is that in a strong enough tornado, the floor might get torn away and then the tub wouldn't have anything to stand on so it would go flying too. The best bet if you don't have a basement would be to get in a closet in the middle of the house. putting some mattresses against the walls might help. When this last tornado warning was up, I put a mattress against the front window of my room since I had to stay in here to keep up with the reports. It wouldn't have stopped the window being blown in but it might have caught some debris before it was blown over.

When I finally move to Alabama, I'm going to have a shelter put in at my house. There is one at the other house down there, but its not well sited and not particularly safe. I'd have a proper one installed. Of course, if I could build my own places it would likely be partly underground anyway or have a solid basement.

Okay I'll admit that I am not overly familiar with tornadoes, however I found it interesting that the article mentions people getting into bathtubs. Is it safer to be in a bathtub? My bathtub is upstairs in the house. I'm thankfull that the UK doesn't get many tornadoes (if any?).