Has anyone ever evacuated from an oncoming, confirmed large tornado or considered evacuating by driving away at a right angle? If and only if no other supercells are threatening an escape route? While we have a basement, it's raised above ground on two sides. Of course, my biggest worry is that we would drive away and something else would develop in our evacuation area really quickly, and then we have no shelter in a car.
i’ve done it, once — the march 25, 2021 shelby county EF3.
i think it takes a pretty specific set of circumstances to make it worthwhile though.
i live on state highway 119 (SW to NE orientation) about 2 miles southwest of highway 280 (NW to SE orientation)
i had been watching the storm make a beeline for my house for about an hour, and when it still had a debris ball as it got to US31/I65, i decided to take my wife and cats and bolt and drive southeast to Chelsea.
it was a nerve wracking experience hoping i didn’t drive over a nail or something, but i probably cleared the path of the tornado with about 6 or 7 minutes to spare.
as it turns out, the tornado missed my house to the south about a half mile, and even if it had hit, i would have been fine as damage was EF2 to low end EF3. but when you just see a perfect hook echo and deep blue debris ball, it felt like there was a real chance it could have been an EF4 or worse headed right for my house.
took a perfect combination of imminent danger, potential of it being a high end long tracker, and a favorable road setup to allow me to drive away from the storm at the correct angle to make it make sense.