Re: What Happened to Me

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I understand the _height_ of buildings

> in a community make a difference also. For instance, I have never seen > nor heard of a tornado in downtown Chicago (for example; is it even > possible?) nor in Manhattan, NY. I _assume_ it may have something to > do with the overall height on average of the buildings. Am I correct > on that? Our tallest buildings here in Independence are, approximatly > in this order: 'Professional Building' downtown, 6 stories; the 'Arco > Building' (also known as 'Independence Corporate Office Center'), 5 > stories; a portion of Mercy Hospital, 4 stories; 'Penn Terrace' (a > senior citizen housing complex), 6 stories; Saint Andrews Roman > Catholic Church, the Presbyterian Church, and Epiphany Episcopal Church > each of which have steeples about 50-70 feet high. And they are all > scattered about town, not right next to each other, as for example one > would see buildings along Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Unlike a place > like Chicago, where one town ends and another suburb immediatly > begins and the only thing you notice is a sign saying now leaving > suburb X and entering suburb Y, same style houses and continuing > streets, you leave one town here, go through a rural area and then come > eventually to the next town, five to fifteen or twenty miles > away. That may make a difference in air/wind patterns also. PAT]

The only infallible rule about tornado paths is "they go where they d*mn well please". E.g. the 'wisdom' that tornadoes won't cross a river valley. See Xenia, Ohio, 1974 for how accurate *that* wisdom is.

Since 1855 there have been 89 'significant' tornadoes in the Chicago area. One in 1876 ripped apart buildings in downtown Chicago, a large multiple-vortex tornado was seen moving out over Lake Michigan. 2 fatalities, 35 injured.

In 1896, one went through Park Ridge, Edison Park, and Norwood Park.

In 1912, one touched down in (now Skokie), and carried through Wilmette.

1920, a biggie, starting around Romeoville, going through Maywood/Bellwood, and all the way to Wilmette. a 53 mile(!) ground track. 1963, wholly inside the city -- from 91st & Western to 68th and the lake. $7 million in damages -- 1 killed, 115 injured. 1967, Palos Hills to Oak lawn, to Chicago's South side; over $50 million in damages, _33_ killed, 500 injured.

Several 'smaller' tornadoes have hit near Evanston since the 1950s, and, in 1961 and 1967, tornadoes hit just south of the U of C on the south side.

As for (modern) big cities being immune, on March 28, 2000, a twister went through downtown Fort Worth TX, killing 2, and causing $400 million in damages. Oklahoma City, Miami, Nashville, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Birmingham, and Washington D.C. have also been hit in recent years.

See:

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a picture of a tornado among the skyscrapers.

See:

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for stuff on big-city hits.

Reply to
Robert Bonomi
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