We may have escaped the worst of forest fires and flooding, but recent weather events in this part of Canada have some of us thinking about cows – namely airborne cows, from tornadoes.
One of the more memorable scenes from Twister showed a cow (computer generated) flying through the air while Dr. Melissa Reeves (played by Jami Gertz) said, “I gotta go, Julia, we got cows.”
Keeping in mind the movie was fiction, not a documentary, the image of flying cows has been connected with tornadoes ever since the film became a box office hit in 1996.
It does contain bits of reality. A 2018 YouTube video from Wyoming shows cows swept into the air by a tornado. Twisters can indeed be powerful enough to uproot large trees, demolish houses and pick up cars, trucks and – yes – cows.
Unfortunately, most of the animals killed in tornadoes are not sucked into the sky – they are hit with flying debris. The same is true of human casualties.
This is why Public Safety Canada’s Get Prepared website advises people to take shelter from tornadoes – in essence, putting as many solid barriers between themselves and the storm as possible. Avoid the highway underpass, big box store, mobile home and picture window. Think dark basement, under a heavy work table.
The same site notes that animals sense impending tornadoes – if there is time, opening the gate so animals have a way to escape may prevent the flying cow scenario.
Another piece of advice from the site – tornado chasing is an insanely dangerous thing to do. Cower in the basement, and survive to look at the security camera footage later.
Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project has been gathering data about twisters since 2017, when the project started. The goal is to collaborate with other universities, Environment Canada, The Weather Network and other organizations to develop new methods and tools for severe storm research, mitigate against harm to people and property, and investigate climate change implications.
While we think of Kansas wheat fields (along with Dorothy and her little dog Toto) when we think of tornadoes, anyone who is familiar with Goderich, or Durham, is well aware that Canada gets twisters, too. They have been recorded in every province, but are most prevalent in southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and right here in southwestern Ontario – in July, in the late afternoon and early evening.
While tornadoes are far from a new phenomenon in this area, it stands to reason that we will see more of them as the impact of climate change becomes more apparent. Those once-in-a-hundred-years severe storms are now occurring once in a decade, and severe thunderstorms spawn tornadoes.
Gentle, full-day rain events are being replaced by intense cloudbursts that cause erosion and flooding, overwhelm municipal infrastructure and result in massive insurance claims.
As both government and the private sector adjust to the reality of climate change, we must expect changes to the way we plan and build everything from homes to bridges and roads to storm sewers.
What worked 50 years ago is starting to cause problems now and will cause more in the future.
Those storm clouds may end up having a bit of a silver lining, but only if we start looking at where and how we build. There are places where houses should never have been allowed in the first place, due to the risk of flooding and erosion. Opening up more such places for development at a time when the risk is climbing, seems both foolhardy and expensive.
When Dorothy commented to Toto, “I have a feeling we are not in Kansas anymore,” she meant they had stepped outside the normal and familiar, into a strange place.
That is how we all feel regarding climate change. Pretending it does not exist is no longer an option. We need to learn how to cope with the new reality while mitigating risk to life and limb. And while we do that, it might pay to look out for flying cows.
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Pauline Kerr is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter currently working for Midwestern Newspapers. She can be reached at pkerr@midwesternnewspapers.com.
