Dear Tom,
A Chicago suburb recently published a newsletter advising that a viaduct or highway underpass offers safety from an approaching tornado. Isn't this ill advised
Carole Jacobsen, Carpentersville, Ill.
Dear Carole,
Your question comes up frequently, and the answer deserves repeating: It's a very dangerous thing to do. Contrary to popular belief, expressway underpasses do not offer safe shelter from the high winds of tornadoes or severe thunderstorms.
Because of channeling and funneling, winds actually blow stronger when they sweep through expressway underpasses and beneath bridges, thereby increasing the risk of injury from airborne debris.
Misconceptions about the safety of underpasses probably originated with a widely circulated video of motorists rushing to an underpass in order to avoid a tornado that was crossing Interstate 35 near Wichita, Kansas, on April 26, 1991.
A Chicago suburb recently published a newsletter advising that a viaduct or highway underpass offers safety from an approaching tornado. Isn't this ill advised
Carole Jacobsen, Carpentersville, Ill.
Dear Carole,
Your question comes up frequently, and the answer deserves repeating: It's a very dangerous thing to do. Contrary to popular belief, expressway underpasses do not offer safe shelter from the high winds of tornadoes or severe thunderstorms.
Because of channeling and funneling, winds actually blow stronger when they sweep through expressway underpasses and beneath bridges, thereby increasing the risk of injury from airborne debris.
Misconceptions about the safety of underpasses probably originated with a widely circulated video of motorists rushing to an underpass in order to avoid a tornado that was crossing Interstate 35 near Wichita, Kansas, on April 26, 1991.
