- Thread starter tboy
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Every year, tornados tear through the center of the United States, often ripping towns up with them. Some years the destruction is incredible. The Joplin Tornado of 2011 destroyed $2.8 billion worth of property. That same year, there were 358 tornadoes between the days of April 25th and April 28th, killing 325 people. So why does anybody live in tornado alley, a place where year after year tornadoes slide through and wreak havoc?
Well, there are a lot of reasons, but one recent study showed that living through a tornado doesn’t change our optimism about our chances of injury compared to other people. In other words, we don’t learn from our mistakes.
The study, published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, surveyed populations that had been hit by tornadoes and asked them about their perceived risks in the future. The Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) explains the results of the study:
Surprisingly to the researchers, people who lived in neighborhoods that had directly been affected by the storm – having experienced damaged windows, roofs, automobiles, etc. – were actually more optimistic for the first 6 months than people living in neighborhoods that had no visible damage from the storm.
Despite having just been impacted by a tornado, these people feel more optimistic about their chances of not being hit than those who’ve never experienced tornado damage. The study’s lead author, Jerry Suls, has some ideas about why that might be, telling SPSP that “we speculate that for a while, they felt ‘lightning wouldn’t strike twice in the same place…A year later, their optimism was comparable to the people in the undamaged neighborhoods.”
If this doesn’t make sense to you, you’re not alone. This is hard to intuitively understand for Suls as well. In fact, the whole impetus for the study came after he had his own close call with a tornado. “I had dinner as a guest in a home that was destroyed by the tornado the next evening,” he told SPSP. “It was hard not to think about future weather disasters while helping with the clean-up in the following weeks.” And yet while Suls thought a lot about the possibility of future disaster, his subjects seemed to be far more optimistic.
It’s unclear still whether this phenomenon is specific to tornado survivors. Perhaps there’s something about the midwestern ethos or the history of tornados in that region that contributes to the kinds of optimism that Suls found. But it’s also not uncommon for people to stay in all sorts of places that seem dangerous or even stupid to live in and this could be one of the reasons why.
Well, there are a lot of reasons, but one recent study showed that living through a tornado doesn’t change our optimism about our chances of injury compared to other people. In other words, we don’t learn from our mistakes.
The study, published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, surveyed populations that had been hit by tornadoes and asked them about their perceived risks in the future. The Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) explains the results of the study:
Surprisingly to the researchers, people who lived in neighborhoods that had directly been affected by the storm – having experienced damaged windows, roofs, automobiles, etc. – were actually more optimistic for the first 6 months than people living in neighborhoods that had no visible damage from the storm.
Despite having just been impacted by a tornado, these people feel more optimistic about their chances of not being hit than those who’ve never experienced tornado damage. The study’s lead author, Jerry Suls, has some ideas about why that might be, telling SPSP that “we speculate that for a while, they felt ‘lightning wouldn’t strike twice in the same place…A year later, their optimism was comparable to the people in the undamaged neighborhoods.”
If this doesn’t make sense to you, you’re not alone. This is hard to intuitively understand for Suls as well. In fact, the whole impetus for the study came after he had his own close call with a tornado. “I had dinner as a guest in a home that was destroyed by the tornado the next evening,” he told SPSP. “It was hard not to think about future weather disasters while helping with the clean-up in the following weeks.” And yet while Suls thought a lot about the possibility of future disaster, his subjects seemed to be far more optimistic.
It’s unclear still whether this phenomenon is specific to tornado survivors. Perhaps there’s something about the midwestern ethos or the history of tornados in that region that contributes to the kinds of optimism that Suls found. But it’s also not uncommon for people to stay in all sorts of places that seem dangerous or even stupid to live in and this could be one of the reasons why.
ShowmeThemoney
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That sums it all.
<We don't learn from our mistakes>
<We don't learn from our mistakes>
Maurice Boscorelli
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- May 30, 2010
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Possible tornado expected in southern Ontario
Possible tornado expected in southern Ontario
Be careful out there folks.
Possible tornado expected in southern Ontario
Be careful out there folks.
R
ReservoirDog
Guest
Tornado rips off roofs, tosses trees in southern Ontario
Officials declared a state of emergency in the community of Angus Tuesday evening after about 30 homes were severely damaged by the severe weather that swept across southern Ontario Tuesday evening
.
Some houses had their roofs ripped right off. Trees were ripped out at the roots, and piles of debris littered roads and property in the storm's path.
Mayor Terry Dowdall said it's an absolute miracle that nobody was seriously injured.
"It's absolutely mind-boggling. Some houses are not destroyed; others, there's no hope at all," Dowdall said.
The county, surrounding fire departments and nearby CFB Borden are all providing assistance.
"It was loud, like a freight train. I thought it was hail hitting the house, but it was stuff flying around out here," resident Henry Sledz said.
Environment Canada said a tornado likely touched down in Angus.
"Given the destruction I'm seeing on the Twitter photos, it certainly looks consistent with a tornado," EC meteorologist Peter Kimbell told QMI Agency.
At a storage facility, 20- and 40-foot-long shipping containers, weighing 5,000 and 9,800 pounds respectively, were tossed around, sometimes 20 feet or more. Some of them were sent were sent flying into a nearby backyard.
"It's something to see a container spinning around. You know the wind's got to be powerful," owner Elgin Bolton said. "One of the workers saw a 40-foot piece of steel turning in the air like a propeller."
Paul Wanzel looked out his patio window and saw large greenish-grey clouds swirling in a funnel cloud behind his house.
"I could see debris coming off structures and going around and up. I could see debris spinning and increasing in height as it was being carried up into the triangle of the funnel of the tornado," he said.
As the wind came from the southwest, Wanzel watched in horror as the clouds swirled towards a subdivision.
He said it was very hot and humid and then suddenly got very cold and chilly.
"I witnessed the whole thing. I saw the debris and then started hearing a whole lot of people yelling and then horns honking as they warned each other of what was approaching," Wanzel said.
Social media was alight Tuesday evening with residents from across the province posting pictures of ominous clouds, downed trees and power lines and flooded roads.
Kimbell said two other possible twisters had been reported, near Hanover and near Shelburne, but neither was confirmed.
All tornado warnings in Ontario ended just before 7:30, though areas in southern Ontario remained under severe thunderstorm warnings or watches as the extreme conditions moved across the region. Later in the evening, hydro companies were dealing with power outages affecting at least 50,000 customers.
On Monday, a five-year-old child died and dozens more people were injured as twin tornados tore through Nebraska.
"Pilger is gone," said Sanford Goshorn, director of emergency management for Stanton County.
The U.S. National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center reported at least one and perhaps two cases in which a pair of twisters touched down simultaneously -- a rare phenomenon according to meteorologists.
-- With files from Cherly Browne, Bob Bruton, Reuters
Officials declared a state of emergency in the community of Angus Tuesday evening after about 30 homes were severely damaged by the severe weather that swept across southern Ontario Tuesday evening
.
Some houses had their roofs ripped right off. Trees were ripped out at the roots, and piles of debris littered roads and property in the storm's path.
Mayor Terry Dowdall said it's an absolute miracle that nobody was seriously injured.
"It's absolutely mind-boggling. Some houses are not destroyed; others, there's no hope at all," Dowdall said.
The county, surrounding fire departments and nearby CFB Borden are all providing assistance.
"It was loud, like a freight train. I thought it was hail hitting the house, but it was stuff flying around out here," resident Henry Sledz said.
Environment Canada said a tornado likely touched down in Angus.
"Given the destruction I'm seeing on the Twitter photos, it certainly looks consistent with a tornado," EC meteorologist Peter Kimbell told QMI Agency.
At a storage facility, 20- and 40-foot-long shipping containers, weighing 5,000 and 9,800 pounds respectively, were tossed around, sometimes 20 feet or more. Some of them were sent were sent flying into a nearby backyard.
"It's something to see a container spinning around. You know the wind's got to be powerful," owner Elgin Bolton said. "One of the workers saw a 40-foot piece of steel turning in the air like a propeller."
Paul Wanzel looked out his patio window and saw large greenish-grey clouds swirling in a funnel cloud behind his house.
"I could see debris coming off structures and going around and up. I could see debris spinning and increasing in height as it was being carried up into the triangle of the funnel of the tornado," he said.
As the wind came from the southwest, Wanzel watched in horror as the clouds swirled towards a subdivision.
He said it was very hot and humid and then suddenly got very cold and chilly.
"I witnessed the whole thing. I saw the debris and then started hearing a whole lot of people yelling and then horns honking as they warned each other of what was approaching," Wanzel said.
Social media was alight Tuesday evening with residents from across the province posting pictures of ominous clouds, downed trees and power lines and flooded roads.
Kimbell said two other possible twisters had been reported, near Hanover and near Shelburne, but neither was confirmed.
All tornado warnings in Ontario ended just before 7:30, though areas in southern Ontario remained under severe thunderstorm warnings or watches as the extreme conditions moved across the region. Later in the evening, hydro companies were dealing with power outages affecting at least 50,000 customers.
On Monday, a five-year-old child died and dozens more people were injured as twin tornados tore through Nebraska.
"Pilger is gone," said Sanford Goshorn, director of emergency management for Stanton County.
The U.S. National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center reported at least one and perhaps two cases in which a pair of twisters touched down simultaneously -- a rare phenomenon according to meteorologists.
-- With files from Cherly Browne, Bob Bruton, Reuters
LIGHTNING STRIKE - 4 people injured at a golf course at 12808 Warden Ave. All 4 being transported to hospital.
https://www.torontosun.com/2014/06/17/deadly-storm-headed-towards-southern-ontario
https://www.torontosun.com/2014/06/17/deadly-storm-headed-towards-southern-ontario
W
Wanker
Guest
My umbrella didn't help much.
W
Wanker
Guest
[h=1]‘I’ve never seen anything like it in my life’: Massive tornado rips through tiny Illinois town[/h]
W
Wanker
Guest
[h=1]Tornado in Germany 2015[/h]
W
Wanker
Guest
[h=1]Lions, Tigers and Other Exotic Animals Set Loose in Oklahoma After Tornado Hits Zoological Park[/h]
https://www.newsweek.com/lions-tige...mals-loose-oklahoma-after-tornado-hits-329250
https://www.newsweek.com/lions-tige...mals-loose-oklahoma-after-tornado-hits-329250
W
Wanker
Guest
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