TimChgo9

You are right, a mass casualty tornado IS inevitable. In all my years in Emergency Services (including volunteer time, comes to over 15) every year I remember there being a tornado drill. Be it a radio drill, a response drill, or a full dress rehearsal. complete with simulated casualties, collapsed buildings and wrecked cars , I participated at some level every year I was a member of an emergency agency. It's not a question of preparedness, local Fire, EMS and Police are trained, and ready to handle it if it happens. I sat in on planning committees, participated in drills. I am fully aware it can happen here. The problem is, many Chicagoans don't believe it. And I do mean it, they don't believe it can happen. I shudder to think what would happen if two or three Tuscaloosa type tornadoes hit the area... and they could touch down anywhere from the WI/IL line to the IL/IN line, and it would stand a good chance of hitting a large urban/suburban concentration. We may have more basements, but I think we learned from the Alabama tornadoes that perhaps a basement might be of dubious value in some situations...

That is definitely the problem we have up around here. It's prevalent around here, that is for sure. There is an old saying that I have heard many times: "Familiarity breeds contempt". In other words, people who are used to a certain thing happening, tend to disregard any dangers that that event, or activity may hold. I live along railroad tracks, its' a busy mainline hosting easily 100+ trains a day. It's part of the normal routine to hear trains all day long, so much so, that after living here for 4 years, I tune them out. What does that have to do with weather? It has to do with this: The people in my neighborhood, me included, tend to "tune out" the railroad, to the point where it is almost ignored, and that leads to a few things: People playing "beat the train" at the crossing, and kids playing along the tracks, walking too close to the tracks, etc.etc..... We react that way because we are "used to it"... the trains are part of the environment, we think we instinctively know when they are coming, and what not... most of us have figured out the daily METRA schedule by just watching the trains go past..... The problem is, our complacency has led us to think less of the dangers because we "know" the railroad.... Same goes for weather on some levels... at least around here. I think that the people in the Plains, Southern Plains, and in a few parts of the Southeast have a better appreciation for tornadoes than we do up here, in and around the Chicago area specifically. We haven't had a tornado affect the Chicago metro area since the Oak Lawn tornado of, I believe, 1967. Plainfield doesn't really count, because Plainfield is 35 miles away, and "out in the sticks" as that area was referred to back at that time. Here in Chicago, there are several myths that people rely on, as to why there won't be any tornadoes.... 1. Lake Michigan protects us, because of the "lake breeze" 2. The "Urban Heat Island" effect, prevents the formation of tornadoes. 3. Tall buildings prevent tornadoes. 4. We are "too far north" to be affected by tornadoes, and not really part of "Tornado Alley". Since many Chicago area residents believe one or more of these myths, we get to the "Familiarity breeds contempt" way of thinking. In other words, we don't really worry about severe weather, because we are "protected" according to the above myths. We are also used to getting severe storms, with no tornadoes... Sure, watches are issued, and warnings are broadcast, but in my life time, there hasn't been a tornado touch down east of Route 53. And there is another factor. When it comes to weather, I have discovered, that, so it seems around here, no one takes weather dangers seriously, and there is a contempt, in some ways for weather forecasting. The Blizzard of Feb 1-2 is a perfect example of this. We knew, anywhere from 120 to 72 hours out, that the possibility existed for a powerful, if not paralyzing snow storm. NWS, the local TV and radio were talking about the storm. By 36 hours out, uncertanty had galvanized into certainty that we were indeed going to get heavy snow. Yet, there were many people that I ran across who didn't believe for a moment that we would get the storm. "The storm is going to miss" "They (forecasters) never get it right, it will miss" "Wrong time of year for a blizzard" "I doubt we will get it, the weather man is right only half the time anyway" And the remarks went on and on. There were those of us who prepared, and others who didn't. By the morning after the storm, there were plenty of people who were surprised at the amount of snow that fell, and the severity of the storm. As a 10+ year veteran of Public Safety (Firefighter, 9-1-1 Operator) when it comes to potential weather, or other natural emergencies, a few people will make every preparation for it, some will make a few preparations, but many others will make little, or no preparation, relying on myth, speculation, and in some cases ignorance to alleviate the dangerous situation. On one hand, when we got the blizzard, some people who were highly critical of forecasting began to think a little different, along the lines of "When the weatherman says it's could be dangerous, perhaps we should pay attention". Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, when that severe outbreak forecast for the area didn't happen. At least not around here. Attitudes went right back to "They can't forecast a thing".... and right back to the complacency. So, people play down, disregard, or flat out ignore the forecast for dangerous weather, because after years of never seeing a tornado, they are content to believe that it will never happen, and disregard any potential as "hype" In other words, their "familiarity" with the weather, as they know it, has bred contempt for it, and therefore they tend to ignore anything that doesn't fit what they think they "know". After the missed severe weather event, and after conversations with family, friends, Facebook friends, and even, complete strangers, the explanations (despite the fact that NWS LOT had an excellent explanation on their site for the lack of severe weather that day) I was hearing had little to do with science, and more to do with the reinforcing of the "myth" about the lake, or the urban heat island, etc etc. etc. So, regardless of the advances in warning times, forecast technologies, and etc.... The obstacle that has to be overcome is, well, to be blunt, stupidity. One last example. A couple of summers ago, my daughter had been invited to a birthday party. It was a fine summer day. The SPC had outlooked us for a Slight Risk. Anyway, I went to drop my daughter off, and arrived at the house to find mom and dad setting up the party outside, while weather conditions were deteriorating. It was obvious it was going to storm (NWS had issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch about two hours earlier). A line of storms was building on radar, I had checked before leaving the house. The mom was wondering if she should bring out more balloons. I said "Looks like a storm".. to which she replied, with a dismissive wave of her hand "This will blow over it's nothing." Meanwhile, my cellphone is chirping with storm warnings, and inside the house, the cable provider is issuing severe storm warnings over the programming. Other parents had shown up, and the mom hositng the party, still dismissed the warnings and all, and still, she went on, setting up the party. Then the storm broke, and her carefully laid out tables, with paper tablecloths, paper plates, and decorations wound up all over the yard, the neighbor's yard, and out into the driveway. Twenty minutes and 15 frightened girls later, the mom decided that having the party in the house was a good idea. Yeah, the storm, as severe storms go, was minor. Some gusts, a power outage, etc... but it points up the fact, that people, especially around here, in my opinion, tend to not listen to weather warnings of any kind. I have to agree with the above post, it is maddening to hear the "Noting is going to happen" or, even more so. "The forecasters are almost always wrong." But, when you boil it all down, there are just people that cannot be reached. Not because there is no way to communicate with them, but because they aren't paying attention, or won't pay attention, don't take it seriously, or just don't care. I can tell you, when the blizzard trapped all of those people on Lake Shore Drive for 10 or 12 hours, you can bet a couple of them made the promise to themselves to listen, and heed next time they say there is going to be big snow storm, or any other bad weather for that matter. A friend and co-worker lives in Red Bank near Chattanooga, and she finally got power back after being without since the Wednesday , we were relieved to hear she was okay (I do Level II Tech Support from home, my co-workers all live in different cities, but we work for the same company) She relayed to me how frightening it was during the height of the storms. There is devastation all around her, fortunately she only suffered the power outage, and some minor damage... not too far from her, though, people lost everything. Through my experience though, as maddening as it is, I came to accept that no matter what, some people are just going to be that way, and there is nothing you can do about it. You can warn them until you are blue in the face, and they will pay no heed. Machismo? Stupidity? Indifference? Who knows?

What an unbelievable day. One of my co-workers lives in the Chattanooga area... she was not on-line to work tonight, so I can only assume it was due to the storms. The Chattanooga area was clobbered with storm after storm tonight, I was watching the radar for that area until it went off line.... Unbelievable.

Forecast for us is "thunderstorms likely" for Monday and Tuesday, 70% chance both days, but the SPC doesn't have risk area near us, so I am assuming it's just going to be more heavy rain,. We cloud over on Sunday, and we look to stay that way for at least 3 days, going into Wednesday. The low looks to go right over N IL, or slightly south. It looks like some high pressure up in Canada is keeping this thing from moving farther north and putting us in the "cloudy/rainy" cycle through at least Wednesday. At least the temps will be a bit more pleasant, in the lower 60's. All the same, this weather is getting annoying, so far it's been 3-4 or more days of clouds and rain, a day or so of sun, and then back to the same thing.