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  3. Tornado Safety Tips

Tornado Safety Tips

  • Prepare an emergency kit and make a family communications plan.
  • Listen to NOAA Weather or radio or commercial radio or television for the latest information.
  • Ensure your NOAA Weather Radio has fresh batteries and is set to the correct frequency to receive a warning for your area.
  • During a Tornado Watch, stay aware of weather updates. Locate radio, phone, purse/wallet, blanket, and flashlight.
  • Identify an emergency shelter location in your home. The safest place is the interior part of a basement or storm cellar. If there is not basement, use an inside room on the lowest floor (e.g.,center hallway, bathroom, closet). Avoid windows, skylights, or glass doors, which could be broken by strong winds or hail and cause damage or injury.
  • During a Tornado Warning, go to your safe place: a protected corner of your basement or a ground floor bathroom, hall, or closet. Stay away from windows and doors. Cover yourself with blankets or mattresses.
  • Mobile homes provide absolutely no protection from tornadoes! If you live in a mobile home, plan your escape to a nearby sturdy building. At the first sign of an approaching storm go immediately to this building.
  • In homes, apartments, or other small buildings, go to the basement or to a small interior room on the lowest floor like a hall or bathroom closet. Use heavy furniture for shelter or cover yourself with a mattress or blanket.
  • In schools, hospitals, factories, or shopping centers, go to designated safe location.
  • DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO IN YOUR CAR! Traffic and the layout of roads may block your escape. You should abandon cars and trucks if a tornado approaches and take shelter in a nearby building. Do not take shelter under a highway overpass. It is best to not put yourself or others in a situation where no sturdy shelter is available.