thewayne | Tornado warning!

Today someone sent out a tornado warning to everyone who works for the City.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

OK. Basement is good, I once again work in the basement. I can theoretically crawl under my desk. The entire wall behind me is glass, but there's cork covering a lot of it and a big book case, so I should be relatively safe.

But what's this crap about lying in ditches? WTF? As I recall, tornadoes are frequently accompanied by voluminous quantities of water. We have an amusing little feature here in the southwest: flash floods. I can just picture someone lying in a ditch to avoid a potential tornado and getting killed by a flash flood!