Mitchell County Emergency Management

                                     "Helping to make Mitchell County a safer place!"

                                                       106 E Main       Beloit, KS         67420

                                                   (785) 738-6600         E-mail:  dloy1@leo.gov

There are several myths concerning Tornado's. Here are but a few:

Myth:  The best place to be during a tornado is in the southwest corner of a building.

Fact:  The southwest corner is no safer than any other part of the building.  The safest place to be is in a basement under something sturdy, like a workbench.  If there is no basement, seek shelter in a small interior room in the middle of the building (closets or bathrooms work well) and away from exterior walls and windows.

Myth:  Windows should be opened to equalize the pressure.

Fact: Opening windows to equalize pressure during a tornado is ineffective in reducing damage and wastes valuable time!  Don't worry about the window, worry about protecting yourself instead.  The debris being carried by a tornado that is about to strike your house will blow plenty of ventilation holes in your house before it strikes. 

Don't waste your time opening windows, it may be all the time you have!

Myth:  You can outrun a tornado in your car.

Fact:  I wouldn't bet my life on it!  A tornado is an unpredictable storm, you don't know which direction its going to go or how fast it is moving.  If you're in your car and a tornado is near, get away from the car and lie in a ditch or low area, protecting your head with your hands.

Myth:  Highway overpasses are a safe place to shelter from oncoming tornado's.

Fact: Despite several successes sheltering from weak tornado's, including the one that a Wichita news crew filmed a few years back, this is a poor idea that very well could get you killed!  By sheltering above ground you subject yourself to the entire force of the winds of tornado's (including all the debris they are carrying).  On May 4th, 1999 the idea of sheltering under an overpass got a woman killed when she was picked up by the intense winds and carried over a half mile to her death.  Don't try this one!

Local Myth:   Beloit is "protected" because tornado's never cross the river, instead they follow it.

Fact:  The Osage Indians, native to Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri passed on tornado legends to the early settlers.  One such legend is that tornado's will not strike between two rivers, near the point where the rivers join.  Emporia, Kansas, for example, had sat "protected" between the Cottonwood and Neosho Rivers for over a century.  Emporia was free of damaging tornado's until June 8, 1974 when a tornado killed six people and destroyed $20 million worth of property on the northwest side of the city.  Another tornado hit the west side of Emporia on June 7, 1990 and did $6 million in damages. 

Numerous tornado's have crossed the Mississippi River (a much bigger river than the Solomon) and hit St. Louis, Missouri.   Scientific studies have yet to prove that rivers have any affect whatsoever on the path of a tornado.  They can and do cross rivers all the time.

(Note - Of the 36 tornado's that have struck Mitchell County in the last 50 years nearly 1/2 of them have paths taking them to the area of the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Solomon River.....an area now covered by Waconda Lake.)

Local Myth:  Tornado's never strike Beloit because it sits in a valley and they just pass right over us.

Fact:  Tornado's can and will strike anywhere!  True, the city itself may not have been hit, but its only by sheer chance, not because of where the city sits.   We've just been lucky.  The actual area of the city only encompasses a few square miles.  Chances are, one day it will happen, its only a matter of time. 

Tornado's have hit much bigger cities than this in recent years.  Just look at Wichita, Andover, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, St. Louis, Kansas City, Miami...........need I say more? 

Well formed, mature tornado's may actually stretch themselves into valleys and intensify!  During this stretching of the vortex, the funnel may shrink in diameter and the tornado will spin even more rapidly.  

Click the Twister to the right on any page of our website to be swept away to the Tornado Safety page.

National Homeland Security Knowledgebase