Don't know where that is but i live in west TN and we are all subject to tornados' here, although I have lived here 18 years, I have only once wanted to get in my celler. I lived in South Carolina and was in 2 tornados it was scary but I think they are possible everywhere. Have been all over the country and have seen possibilities every where. I lived through my 2 and 1 hurricane....that was Andrew and I lived in New Orleans at the time. I just have to put my faith were I need it to be and prepare for anything....although I wouldn't live in New Orleans again unless levies were secure or I was filthy rich. Is there some reason why tornado's don't occur in your world????? We have straight line winds here that are as bad.
Thanks
Martha

Build a strong house and your tornado worries can be minimal. I'd sure rather be here with a stong house than in FL with a hurricane wiping out a good chunck of the state every few years.

Then there's the earthquakes, lightening, floods, fire, and terrorists. If they don't get you...(see link below)

Here is a link that might be useful: Yellowstone coming to you!

I live in Middle Tennessee & have been on the Watts Bar Lake. It is a beautiful area. That area is not prone to tornadoes because of the terrain. Tornadoes need flat land or rivers to travel on. Of course, small tornadoes have touched down in Middle TN but historically they have not produced a lot of damage. Watts Bar is SW of Knoxville. Tennesse becomes less flat in Middle Tennessee & continues with small mountains & into very large mountains as you get closer & closer to East TN.
Tennessee is a very scenic state with beautiful state parks & many lakes. We live about 15 minutes from Center Hill Lake. We moved here from Long Island, NY. Everyone in New York wanted to buy our boat saying there is no water in Tennessee. They were wrong! There are so many breath taking lakes & state parks.

East Tennessee and the Knoxville area generally has boring weather. No hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, mudslides, wildfires, etc. We have four real seasons but it doesn't get carried away with them.
It's a very pleasant and beautiful place to live. And the people are the best.

Thank you all for your input. I have dealt with hurricanes, but not tornados, although we do have a tornado watch sometimes. Hubby likes the Watts Bar Lake area for fishing and we are planning a visit in late Aug. Homeowners insurance has made is very difficult for retirees and the price of gas doesn't let DH take the boat to ocean often.

Katkin,
Link you might be interested in is below.
Like you, I am considering moving north.
Pam

Here is a link that might be useful: tornado risk

There certainly are tornadoes around here. I've driven through the periphery of one myself (by accident!), right here in the middle of town. And several people were killed by one not too far from here, a couple of years ago -- in fact, I think a lady who sometimes visits this forum was in the middle of that one. But this is not the land of massive twisters tearing across the countryside, or anything like that. I certainly wouldn't let the fear of tornadoes keep me away from this area!

Amazindirt, are you in the Watts Bar Lake area? That's where DH wants to look. He'd like to be on the water to go fishing.
Are there fireants there? I sure wouldn't miss those guys. We were originally from NJ and hubby was transfered to S Fl 10 yrs ago. He just recently retired and we thought we would stay here, but the prices have soared, especially the homeowners ins. It is 3x what we used to pay.
I think the gardening should be more like NJ since you have
seasons. It shouldn't be such a struggle to get veggies to grow as here. But I would miss my tropicals.
Thanks for any info on the area. :)

They seem far more common across Tennessee the past 5-10 years than they used to be (particularly in north central and western TN), but still the chances of an individual property being affected is very small. You're much more at risk getting in an automobile and driving. Tennessee is great. The only problem will be when we have another huge earthquake along the new madrid and memphis ends up in New Orleans. Also don't move into a trailer park; they are known to excrete tornado pheromones.

It's hard not to be near water in East Tennessee. TVA has been pretty busy building dams on the Tennessee and Clinch rivers for a number of years and we now have the Great Lakes of the South.
http://www.tva.gov/river/recreation/index.htm
Plus there's the Big and Little Pigeon, Holston, French Broad Rivers. The Ocoee just south of here has world class whitewater.
Sea Ray recently moved their corporate headquarters to Knoxville because there is so much water. You'd have to work hard to find a place more than a 15 minute drive from a public boat launch anywhere in East Tennessee.
For info on fishing, see the link below. That doesn't cover the Smokies where there are some of the last wild trout streams left in the East.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fishing in TN

The threat of them is just a way of life in TN, but the weather coverage is soooooo much better now than even 10 years ago. I you pay attention to the weather service it makes a big difference.

Hi Katlin,

It looks like you may be from Port St Lucie, FL from the PSL I see... My hubby and I moved from there 15 months ago and have absolutely no regrets!! I can't wait to get my parents here. We live in Murfreesboro, TN, (30 miles SE of Nashville) and there have been about 4 days, during the 15 months, when we've been under a tornado watch. The coverage on the TV is great, they interupt regular broadcasting and address the tornado coverage. You can also buy weather alarm radios, that will alert you during the night of any tornado watches or warnings. Tornados seem to be most active in the spring, and so far, have hit northwest and northeast of Nashville.

After having family experience Hurricane Andrew, and the 3 hurricanes we experienced in 2004 in PSL, I'd much rather deal with tornado warnings. At least the warnings are short lived and so is your elevated anxiety level. I have lasting memories of driving 15 hours to Ocala, in bumper to bumper traffic, to evacuate Hurricane Francis.. Ocala is normally a 3 hour drive from PSL. Also the labor of putting hurricane shutters up in the blasting heat!

Additionally people here are so friendly. I live about 13 miles from shopping, and I can drive 13 miles in about 15 minutes. There have various scenic routes I can take to get to shopping, instead of US 1, I 95, and the fear of people running the red lights. In PSL, it would take me 30 minutes to drive 7 miles to my parent's house (SLW to Savanah Club).

Good luck to you.

Judy

Hey Katkin --

I'm in Knoxville, not too far from Watts Bar. There ARE fire ants here now -- but not very many, at least not yet!