Tornado and Windstorm Safety Tips & Shelter Options
Safety Tips:
- Listen to NOAA Weather Radio or to commercial radio or television newscasts for the latest information
- Look for approaching storms
- Look for the following danger signs:
- Dark, often greenish sky
- Large Hail
- A large, dark, low lying cloud (particularly if it is rotating)
- Loud roar, similar to a freight train
- If you see you are under a WARNING-SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY!
Source: NOAA
Shelter Options:
- In a structure go to a predesignated shelter area such as a safe room, basement, storm cellar, or the lowest building level. If there is no basement, go to the center of an interior room on the lowest level, away from corners, windows, doors, or outside walls. Put as many walls as possible between you and the outside.
- In a vehicle, trailer, or mobile home--GET OUT IMMEDIATELY and go to the lowest floor of a sturdy, nearby building or a storm shelter. Mobile homes, even if tied down, offer little protection from tornadoes.
- If caught outside lie flat in a nearby ditch or depression and cover your head with your hands. Do NOT get under an overpass or bridge, you are safer in low flat location. Watch out for flying debris, this is the biggest cause of fatalities and injuries.
Source: FEMA
