Winter will soon be over. The cold temperatures will be replaced with warm to humid days. Trees will be blooming and soon everything will be lush and green. However, Spring also usually brings severe weather. It is severe weather awarness week in Tennessee. So In this blog I will be covering threats that our area will face during severe weather season.
Tornadoes –Tornadoes are the most feared natural disaster in our area. Tornadoes have gotten attention due to the March 2012 tornado outbreak and the April 2011 tornado outbreak. However, our area has had a long history of tornadoes going back several decades. Even before the 2012 and 2011 outbreaks. In an average year 24 tornadoes will touchdown in Georgia. Tennessee averages 22 tornadoes. West Tennessee averages 8 tornadoes, Middle Tennessee averages 7 tornadoes, and East Tennessee also averages 7 tornadoes. But there is a region that is tornado prone in East Tennessee. The 10 county region of Southeast Tennessee averages about 4 tornado strikes per year. The 10 counties that make up Southeast Tennessee are: Hamilton, Bradley, Polk, Monroe, McMinn, Meigs, Rhea, Bledsoe, Sequatchie and Marion counties. Every year this region has a tornado threat. Tornadoes have occurred in every month of the year. However, the Top months are in order of tornado occurrences: 1. April, 2. May. 3. March, 4. November, and 5. October.
Straight line wind damage-Like tornadoes straight line winds are produced by severe thunderstorms. Straight line winds from thunderstorms often do a lot of damage. Tornadoes do damage in narrow paths. Straight line winds can be over a large area. Moreover, they can damage homes, uproot trees and break power lines. Every year our area will be hit by straight line winds. It should be noted that tornadoes and straight line winds can be produced by the same thunderstorm.
Hail-Hail can be a huge problem. Hailstorms are also common in our area. Hail can cause a lot of damage. Crops can be ruined by hail, vehicles are often damaged, and large hailstones can even damage houses.
Lightening. All thunderstorms have lightening in them. Lightening is the second leading cause of death related to weather. In America about 80 people are killed by lightening strikes per year that is more than tornadoes or hurricanes. Spring and Summer means more people are outdoors. Thunderstorms can develop quickly without any warning. If you hear thunder you are close enough to be struck by lightening. If a sunny day starts turning dark and clouds roll in you need to stop what you are doing. If you are outside and hear thunder get inside a sturdy building. If there is no study building squat down to the lowest position you can get in.
Flooding-Flooding kills the most people related to disasters. In an average year over 100 people or more are lost due to flooding. Flooding in our area is often caused by heavy rain from thunderstorms. Creeks and streams after a heavy rain can turn into rivers almost with lots of currents. Every year people go out to play when creeks rise and it is often tragic. Also water can also cover roadways. What happens is people drive through the water and end up drowning because they cannot tell how deep the water is. If you see water across the road turn around do not drown. Never underestimate the power of water. Just a few inches of water can sweep a human off there feet. A foot of water can sweep a regular sized car. Flooding can be a huge problem in our area. Most of our area averages 45-55 inches of yearly rainfall per year.
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