Today I went out in the blizzard in Silver Spring, Maryland. I could see, by going outside, how pioneers on the prairies could get lost in the blizzard and not be able to find the town. Without roads and buildings to frame my reference, I could have gotten disoriented, because I could not see more than a block (and a short block at that). I had a warm building to retreat to, and didn't have to try to pitch a tent in this weather, or try to start a campfire (which would have probably been impossible).
National Public Radio apparently had the same idea I did. NPR read some quotes from literature, including one by Laura Ingalls Wilder (best known for Little House on the Prairie/Little House in the Big Woods) from her book The Long Winter.
In searching NPR, I also came across this article which talks about Laura Ingalls Wilder and her life after the events portrayed in the Little House books. If you read her books, it is an interesting read.
I was talking to a friend who was near a tornado, and when I advised him to get underneath an overpass, he told me that the radio had told him not to. He was right, although the misperception is pretty widespread. This website from NOAA has a lot of information on why an overpass is not the place to be in a tornado.
NPR had a good commentary by someone on why people did not evacuate during Hurricane Ike. While I don't really agree with their reasoning on not evacuating, the essay is, nonetheless, very good (in particular the last paragraph). I think it's more powerful listening to it than reading it.
