A car is not shelter in a tornado

Tornado deaths underscore risks of taking shelter in cars

Published Monday, May 12, 2008 at 6:05 p.m.

SENECA, Mo. — More than a third of the 22 people killed by a tornado that smashed parts of Oklahoma and Missouri over the weekend died in cars, troubling experts who say vehicles are one of the worst places to be during a twister.

"It's like taking a handful of Matchbox cars and rolling them across the kitchen floor," said Sgt. Dan Bracker of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, surveying the damage in and around Seneca, near the Oklahoma line, the hardest hit area. "This is devastating."

Among those killed were three people in Oklahoma who were rushing to reach a relative's house in their car; a woman whose car was blown off a road near Seneca; and four family members - Rick Rountree, his wife, his 13-year-old son, and his mother-in-law - who were in a van on the way to a friend's wedding when a twister packing winds of 170 mph struck the Seneca area on Saturday night.

"They were on the road when the warnings came," said Rountree's brother-in-law, Larry Bilke.

About 100 people have died in U.S. twisters so far this year, the worst toll in a decade, according to the National Weather Service, and the danger has not passed yet. Tornado season typically peaks in the spring and early summer, then again in the late fall.

This could also prove to be the busiest tornado season on record in the United States, though the final figure on the number of twisters is not yet in.
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One thing I thought of reading this is all the homeless people who live in their cars. They will have no way of knowing they are not safe in the cars when a tornado comes. If you know any homeless people or run a shelter, make sure you print the whole article and post it up with a warning to them to seek real shelter in case of a tornado. They will not want to do this because usually everything they own is in their car. Make them understand their "stuff" will not survive a tornado no matter if they are in the car or not. It's for sure, they will not be safe if they stay in the car.