Staying Safe During a Tornado
- In This Quick Guide:
- Storm Shelters and Safe Rooms
- No Time to Evacuate
Of all the natural disasters, tornadoes are the most capable of creating sudden, widespread devastation. Tornadoes can hit hard and fast, with little or no warning. When it comes to tornadoes, disaster preparation during the “good times” is key to ensuring the safety of you and your loved ones when a tornado strikes. In this guide you will learn what to do to make sure you are as safe as possible.
Storm Shelters and Safe Rooms
When a tornado hits, you rarely have enough warning to get away and it’s not always easy to tell where you should escape to. Although tornadoes usually move in a fairly predictable way, they can change direction without warning. Worse, it’s possible for a second tornado to touch down without warning, meaning you could suddenly find yourself driving straight into a funnel cloud. As a result, the best way to stay safe when a tornado passes by is to shelter in place.
It’s prudent to have shelter locations in both your home and business, either a storm shelter or a safe room. Storm shelters are underground structures designed to withstand the force of a tornado and to provide shelter from any debris the tornado may throw at it. Traditional storm shelters were basements or root cellars with a heavy door that could be barred from the inside. If a tornado passed right overhead, it might damage the house or building above, but it’s unlikely that it would harm the people inside. Storm shelters today tend to be small rooms built into the foundation with a small access hatch. Even in areas with high water tables, you can get fiberglass, steel, or lined concrete shelters that seat up to a dozen people and are built completely flush to the ground. If you want to build something yourself, most communities in tornado zones have information on approved aboveground shelter styles.
You may not be able to build a belowground storm shelter because of zoning requirements or utility pipes, but you can always build a safe room. A safe room is a durable box, usually steel or steel reinforced concrete, which is anchored very securely to the foundation slab. You can purchase safe rooms as prefabricated units. An advantage of a safe room is that they are wheelchair accessible, where storm shelters frequently require access through a short, rather steep staircase. In addition, safe rooms tend to be taller than storm shelters, which are frequently designed for you to remain seated. This may not be a problem, however, as you usually aren’t in a storm shelter or safe room for more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time.
No Time to Evacuate
In some cases, the first sign that there’s a tornado is when it’s already touched down nearby. You may hear the tornado nearby—often described as sounding like a waterfall, jet engine, or locomotive—or you may hear the sound of debris hitting your house. These mean you have only seconds to find shelter. Be ready to head for shelter immediately.
If you’re in your home or other building, head for the storm shelter or safe room. Failing that, go to the basement or lowest floor. If neither of these is possible, move to an interior room or a hallway on the lowest floor you can reach. Even a closet will do. The trick is to put as many walls and doors between you and the tornado as you can. Get under a sturdy piece of furniture, such as a kitchen table or a workbench. Keep your head and neck covered. If you have time, you can use a mattress to provide additional shielding from flying debris. Stay away from windows, which provide no protection from anything thrown by the tornado and will shower you with shards of glass if they break.
Mobile homes are very difficult to anchor securely and they’re not safe. Even an EF1 tornado is capable of knocking them over and an EF2 tornado can destroy them entirely. If you’re in a mobile home, use what time you have during a tornado watch to get to secure shelter.
If you’re driving and you see a tornado in the immediate vicinity, don’t try to outrun it. An EF1 tornado can push a moving car off the road and an EF2 tornado can pick a car completely off the ground. Instead, get out of the car and seek shelter. If you’re not able to get to shelter, lie face down in a low area and cover the back of your head and your neck with your hands. Never take shelter under an overpass! The narrow channel under the overpass can bottleneck the winds, causing them to speed up tremendously. People have been plucked from under overpasses by the extreme winds and killed in cases where there were no other fatalities for that tornado.
Shopping malls and large stores in tornado-prone areas usually have a tornado shelter. (If there aren’t signs for a tornado shelter, look for the yellow-and-black Civil Defense shelter signs.) If nothing else, head for the lowest floor and the most sheltered room or area. Stay away from large open rooms and windows.
If you’re out in the open when a tornado touches down, move at right angles from the tornado. Although tornadoes can change directions, they will generally continue in the same direction they’re moving. If you can’t reach shelter (such as a building with a basement), lie flat in a ditch or a depression. This will keep you from being struck by debris flying at or above ground level.
Avoid taking shelter near outside walls, windows, or elevators, in areas that may flood, in cars or trucks, or in buildings that have large roofs (which are susceptible to being peeled off by strong winds).
Taking these precautions will safeguard you from almost any disaster. For more information on being prepared, check out our quick guide, How to Make a Go-Pak for Any Emergency. Good luck, and be safe!
From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Disaster Preparedness by Dr. Maurice A. Ramirez, DO, and John Hedtke
