The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-08-19
IN A TORNADO.
The Only Thing to Do IL to Open the
Doors and Windows.


Discussing the awful disaster in Wis
cousin, Professor e. B. Garriott of the
weather bureau says that when people
see a funnel shaped cloud coming they
should throw open every door and win
dow in their houses and then wait for
the storm to pass over.
Your furniture will probably be dam
aged by the heavy rain that usually &C.
companies tornado" he says, "but
your house will not be carried into tho
next county, nor torn to pieces by the
fury Of the winds. The velocity of the
wind causes vacuum In the atmosphere.
When the cloud reaches house with all
Its doors and windows shut, the four
walls Of the building must give way In
that vacuum, or the house is lifted from
its foundation and is carried with the
wind. When the destructive cyclone WIS.,
tied st. Louis few years ago, many
large and substantial houses were blown
down. In the path Of the storm were
many frail houses and sheds. These
places escaped without the loss Of shin
gle. The numerous openings permitted
the air to escape freely. On the other
hand, where the buildings were large and
securely closed the confined air caused
destruction. There was a similar Incl
dent Just outside Chicago few years
ago. There storm wrecked large
barn. Within few feet of the demolish-
ed structure were workshop and corn
crib, which escaped without damage.
"It Is difficult to forecast tornadoes,
or rather to predict where one will strike.
1t is like attempting to foretell where
lightning will hit The only thing to
be done when tornado visits your neigh
borhood Is to throw open the doors and
pray that the storm center will not strike
in your neighborhood. The chances Of
escape about equal those Of destruction.
The storm may hit or miss you. 1t is
purely matter of chance.
''The northwest has Jared as well this
year as any other section in the matter
Of destructive storms" continued DR..
Garriott. THAT section has been a ia
vorite stamping ground for tornadoes.
These centers are caused by the contact
of warm air and cold air, which gener.
ally meet in Minnesota, southern Wis
consin, Illinois and Michigan. The re-
ports OF storms, as may be expected, in
crease yearly as the population In the
northwest becomes more dense. Here
tofore the storms have swept over the
section for years and years, and nothing
was heard Of their severity, while their
force was spent upon trees and plains.
Now, as cities and towns are being built
every few miles, the paths of the storms
are obstructed by houses, which cannot
be destroyed without the reading public
learning of 1t.
"Tornadoes travel from west to east
and are more frequent In the northwest
and middle west, where there are miles
of prairie. In the winter the storms
form on the Pacific coast and In the gulf
states. The summer tornadoes come out
of the Rocky mountain region and are
mild until they come In contact with the
warm air Of the valley states. The com
bination of the cold air in the original
storm and the warm air meeting and
mixing at different angles forms the cy-
clonic force which causes the destruction.
Tornadoes are broken by obstacles and
cannot exist in mountainous country.
The storms form at a lowbarometric pres
sure. They go in groups, and their area
at times will cover several states. The
cyclonic force Of the disturbance Is con-
fined generally to the eastern section Of
the storm and sometimes IL 80 high In
the atmosphere as to cause no damage.
The cyclonlc forces remain a mystery,
and while the causes Of the phenomena
are known we are not successful in fore
casting the storms. "-Chicago Record.