re: At least 23 dead in Mississippi tornadoes

I had the same thought, but also don't want to be in the way. I live about 2 hours away. Friend has a big smoker and floating the idea of driving over and just cooking for whomever needs it. Know several people from Rolling Fork and really can't imagine what they are going through right now.

Hell last night I think the professional storm chasers got caught off guard

That part of the Delta has been through it. Two terrible floods on 90% of the farmland in the last 4 years, while Rolling Fork is high ground so it didn’t flood, but only to be wiped off the map by this.

I think they’re just trying to make sure they don’t have a bunch of people pouring in unorganized and then things get clogged up. I think there will be a lot of opportunities to volunteer in the coming days once the search and rescue phase ends.

The tornado didn’t go through mobile homes. It went straight through Rolling Fork. The problem is most homes are small and don’t provide much more protection than mobile homes do in the rural south. The damage is devastating. The pictures don’t do it justice. It’s horrible.

I’m not watching much more. Awful. Made Mississippi look like Kansas. Is Rolling Fork coastal? Because it looks coastal after the storm. Nothing higher than 9 feet left. What is left at 9 feet is dead.

Sorry for any of you fellas who are from there or know or love someone from there.

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Nah, people realize when they live in a mobile home what the tradeoffs are.

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Yeah, we all do. Every area has it's problems. That don't stop us from trying to make the situation better and safer.

Your point is kind of like you knowing what Alaska is about but not having a coat because you know "what the tradeoffs are".

Some of those stacks of rubble look to be 20’-30’ high…one had a car on top. Awful.

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Another example of why I believe people should be taught to leave if they don’t have underground shelters in these extreme cases.

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To the average person I never recommend leaving, especially at night. If you cannot read a radar (and I'm not talking about looking at the screen and saying, "The storm is there....") you have no business in a vehicle during a high end tornado threat. Your chances of survival in a vehicle during a tornado (without having to actually take a direct hit) are slim, and the margin for error is extremely high.

That's why whenever that question is asked, and it was last night, I always answer, "There are way too many variables to adequately answer this question."

Another issue which has been proven in Oklahoma and the OKC metro is the traffic that a panicked evacuation causes. It is a mess, and it results in more people being on the roads at the worst possible time.

The best approach will always be to have your tornado plan in place and implement it in advance of an actual warning. If you don't have adequate shelter, find some. If you're in a mobile home, go to that shelter before the storms get to your area, before a warning is issued, before the weather turns to shite. Know your shelter, know your plan. In short, as made famous by "Twister", "Hope for the best; prepare for the worst." Hope is not a plan.

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That is crazy damage. The force it takes to twist a tree and break it is unimaginable

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What a lot of people who haven't really looked at much tornado damage don't understand is that it doesn't take a violent tornado to do unbelievable damage. EF0-EF1 tornadoes can do damage that will leave you scratching your head. Those same "low-end" tornadoes can lift mobile homes and turn them into scrap metal. That's why if you live in one you do not have the luxury of playing the "Should I stay or should I go?" game. You go. The threshold for major damage in those is zero, and the same can be said for a vehicle.

I saw damage from a QLCS EF1 that completely lifted and lofted a huge, open air traffic shed. The remnants of that shed hit a house and shifted it off of its foundation. The remnants ended up in a road and caused a three car wreck. It also completely destroyed a house trailer that, fortunately, was unoccupied at the time. That was a Winter tornado that had no warning on it.