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[Fruit Pie Jones]

Originally posted by Indignus IV@Jun 15 2005, 08:32 AM
You just draw a big square and say "somewhere in here"

That's a tornado watch, not a warning. Watches cover large, rhomboidal areas that often include parts of several states. A tornado watch means only that atmospheric conditions in the region are favorable for tornado formation. It by no means guarantees that a tornado, or even a severe storm, will occur in the watch area. Tornado warnings, on the other hand, are issued on a county-by-county basis and indicate that a tornado has been seen and reported by someone in the field or is indicated by a radar signature. If a tornado warning is issued for your county, you should consider taking shelter unless you're acutely aware of what the storm is doing and are certain that it's not heading for you. If nearby storm sirens are going off at the time, you should seriously consider taking shelter, especially if you cannot actually see the interesting part of the storm due to clouds, darkness, or what-have-you.

As for why people live in disaster-prone areas, everyone's got their own reason. Personally, I enjoy severe weather. That's not why I came to Oklahoma, but I wouldn't leave because of it, either. Huge storms are awe-inspiring for me, and if I didn't have other responsibilities that take a higher priority, I'd be chasing them all over the plains in the spring with the rest of the nutjobs.