# Now is Not The Time to Make New Regulations About Tornado Safety **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 21, 2013, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918 "2013-05-21T12:11:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/41 "2013-05-21T17:29:45Z")
If you outlaw tornado destruction, only tornadoes will destroy outlaws. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/42 "2013-05-21T17:51:13Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The only way to stop a bad tornado is with a good tornado. Wrong. Tornados aren’t good or bad. It’s the people wielding them who are. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/43 "2013-05-21T17:52:15Z")
Look at how well anti-tornado legislation has done in other parts of the world! You hardly ever hear about tornadoes killing people in other civilized countries like Canada and the UK, now do you? ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/44 "2013-05-21T17:57:13Z")
I’m waiting for our fine Senators, Coburn and Inhofe, to vote against federal aid to Oklahoma in the aftermath just as they did for Sandy victims. Also expecting Rand Paul to filibuster against the aid. Oh and our Govenor Fallin (rhymes with Palin - because I said so) with return any aid money much as she did with the PPACA funds because accepting aid would be a victory for Obama. On a serious, non-venting note; please donate to the Red Cross or other relief agency of your choosing when disaster strikes. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/45 "2013-05-21T17:58:54Z")
> [@fumster](#): > > I especially hope that the parents of the children killed will not be exploited and trotted out to testify on tornado safety. What we get instead is Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma insisting that the citizens of his own state shouldn’t get a dime in disaster relief from the Federal government unless spending for something else gets cut instead. Fine, Sen. Coburn. Find budgetary offsets that only affect Oklahoma. (I’d say there are probably some military bases in Oklahoma that could be closed, but apparently military spending cuts aren’t acceptable as an offset.) Or tell the state of Oklahoma that it will have to pay for its own fucking disaster relief. The rest of us would really like to just go ahead and help the good people of your state. You’re making it a big problem, and that’s a really assholish and hardhearted thing to do. So please, go tell the good people of Oklahoma, the people that the rest of the Union would like to help, that you and your party are the ones standing in the way. Tell them you’re sorry, but it’s a matter of principle, and principles are more important than people, so you’re ready and willing to fuck them over for the sake of a principle. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/46 "2013-05-21T18:15:15Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > A baseball bat can kill just as easily as a tornado. Also, swimming pools. A baseball bat couldn’t kill a swimming pool. Even if you gave it another bat. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/47 "2013-05-21T18:50:59Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > A baseball bat couldn’t kill a swimming pool. Even if you gave it another bat. Could too. Gun people have taught me that all weapons and non-weapons have equivalent lethality. Therefore a bat could easily kill a swimming pool. It could just throw a baseball at it. We should outlaw baseballs and tornados. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/48 "2013-05-21T19:02:04Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > I’m waiting for our fine Senators, Coburn and Inhofe, to vote against federal aid to Oklahoma in the aftermath just as they did for Sandy victims. Also expecting Rand Paul to filibuster against the aid. Oh and our Govenor Fallin (rhymes with Palin - because I said so) with return any aid money much as she did with the PPACA funds because accepting aid would be a victory for Obama. As \*\*RTFirefly \*\*said, Coburn wants to offset with cuts somewhere else (à la Cantor and the Virginia earthquake). Inhofe, on the other hand, [is insisting that the situation in OK is _nothing like_ the situation in NJ and NY with Sandy](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/05/21/inhofe-tornado-totally-different-from-hurricane-sandy/). ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/49 "2013-05-21T19:15:27Z")
Why don’t they build schools in Tornado Alley with basements? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/50 "2013-05-21T19:18:48Z")
High water table, apparently. Or something functionally similar. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/51 "2013-05-21T19:19:40Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Why don’t they build schools in Tornado Alley with basements? Because in many areas of Tornado Alley, high water tables and crumbly, shifting soils make basements very difficult to build. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/52 "2013-05-21T19:22:09Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > Because in many areas of Tornado Alley, high water tables and crumbly, shifting soils make basements very difficult to build. Why don’t they build them anyway? If it saves one child… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/53 "2013-05-21T19:22:30Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Why don’t they build schools in Tornado Alley with basements? “Tornado Alley” encompasses some 31 states. Check out the purple lines on the map [here](http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/20/18382215-curse-or-coincidence-scientists-study-tornado-alleys-past-and-future?lite). That’s an awful lot of basements. ---
**Author:** ![sich\_hinaufwinden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@sich\_hinaufwinden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sich_hinaufwinden)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/54 "2013-05-21T19:49:21Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Why don’t they build schools in Tornado Alley with basements? This school hit by the OK tornado had a basement. Unfortunately a number of kids drowned in it. > **[Several children drowned in basement as tornado leveled Okla. school as...](https://nypost.com/2013/05/21/several-children-drowned-in-basement-as-tornado-leveled-okla-school-as-officials-continue-recovery-efforts/)** > > Janae Hornsby ( ) Some of the Oklahoma tornado’s youngest victims died doing exactly what they were told to do — take shelter in the basement. Tragically, that’s where at least seven Plaza Towers E… ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/55 "2013-05-21T19:57:52Z")
Well we should certainly ban tornados of F3 through F5 strength. No weather system possibly needs such powerful Assault Tornados. We should also mandate that storm fronts undergo a background check and a waiting period before they can carry their tornados. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/56 "2013-05-21T20:14:17Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Well, it’s in the constitution that if we can’t live in mobile homes, then we have a right to bear homes. Dom’t be silly. Where are the bears going to live? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/57 "2013-05-21T20:15:00Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Dom’t be silly. Where are the bears going to live? Somewhere . . . Over the rainbow . . . ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/58 "2013-05-21T20:52:22Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Dom’t be silly. Where are the bears going to live? Bearland! All those stuffed animals that talk to me at home? That’s where they go when I’m not there. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/59 "2013-05-21T20:59:41Z")
Ivory tower eggheads can never understand the tornado culture. They only fear what they don’t understand. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918/60 "2013-05-21T21:24:15Z")
You’d be surprised at how many buildings in the Mid-West have no basements. Homes maybe, but large stores, like Wal-Mart? Nope. I heard someone saying that hospitals should have been prepared for this, as if you could pick up and move all patients to shelter. What a load of bull. Even if there was space there’s not enough _time._ On June 8th, 1966, a huge tornado ripped through my city, Topeka, Kansas, and if it had taken a path just six blocks or so further north it would have taken out two hospitals. A woman I know who’s just a little older than me stayed with her mother in the mother’s fourth floor hospital room, and watched the tornado march across town. She said if you were ambulatory you could get up and go downstairs. The doctors and nurses grabbed all the babies out of the nursery and took them to shelter, but that’s about all they could do. BTW, that tornado is what brought brought anchorman and news journalist Bill Kurtis to prominence. He was a law student, 26 at the time, at Washburn University(which was 3/4’s destroyed). During the summer he was interning at WIBW, the local station. When he was made aware of how the storm was going to go right across town, he said he considered crying, or cussing on air, to get people to know how serious things were. What he ended up blurting out, and the eleven year old me still remembers this, was “_For God’s sake, take cover_!” I saw the video that stormchaser had and what struck me was, okay, here’s this HUGE HONKING TORNADO on the horizon, and you cn still see people out in the storm, driving along. Why didn’t they stop somewhere, instead of maybe having that thing come along and pick them up? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-is-not-the-time-to-make-new-regulations-about-tornado-safety/658918.md?page=4)