Welcome to my severe weather safety tutorial
image source
Spring is only a few short weeks away here in the United States, and if you're one of the millions of people who live in areas prone to severe weather, following these tips just might prove to be useful!
Have a safety plan in place for your business or household
It's always a good idea to know what you're going to be doing in case the weather gets rough. Once a month or so, hold a mock safety drill with your family or coworkers. Practice makes perfect! These drills can add valuable seconds onto your response time, and sometimes seconds count.
Keep an emergency supply kit in your shelter. Good items to include would be flashlights, batteries, a small radio (a hand cranked radio will save batteries), first aid kit, an air horn or whistle, and enough food and water for at least 3 days.
Know where your safe areas are.
The best place for taking shelter from damaging wind or large hail is in an interior room away from windows, as hail or debris can shatter windows. No one likes sharp pieces of glass flying at them!
For tornadoes, the best possible shelter you can have is an underground shelter, like a dedicated storm cellar or basement. If you don't have either of those, find an interior room on the lowest floor of your home, preferably a bathroom or closet. The more walls you have between you and the tornado, the better off you'll be.
In the image below, I've circled the best location in this particular style of home. It's the interior bathroom near the very center of the house.
Be aware of the weather forecast for your area
Check the forecast!
It only takes a few minutes to do it. The Weather Channel is an excellent source for finding out if it's going to be sunny or stormy in your area. My main go-to website is the Storm Prediction Center. It's a little more technical than The Weather Channel, but SPC goes a little more in depth on what to expect. If you have any questions regarding the Storm Prediction Center's website, feel free to ask me in the comments!
Download a weather alerts app
In this day and age just about all of us have smartphones capable of downloading apps.
- For iPhone users, Weather Underground has an app called WU Storm App that includes up to the minute radar maps and instant weather alerts for your phone.
- For Android users, Weather Underground has you covered too. WU Storm App
During severe weather
If severe weather is actually occurring, put your safety plan in gear immediately!
Damaging wind or hail: Go to an interior room away from windows and stay there until the threat has passed.
Tornado: Go to your underground shelter, or to a small interior room on the lowest level of your home. Cover your head and neck with pillows, quilts, or whatever you can find. If you don't have anything available, use your hands and arms.
If you have a battery powered radio, keep it with you and listen for instructions from a local station. Do not leave your shelter until they have given the all-clear. If you don't have a radio, stay sheltered for at least 30 minutes after the storm moves away.
What to do if you're in a vehicle or mobile home
Mobile homes are death traps in severe weather. This includes both single-wide and double-wide homes. You should never try to ride out a tornado in a mobile home. Go to a public shelter or a friend's house if they have an adequate shelter in their home. And please don't wait until the very last minute to go. Leave well in advance of the storm.
Vehicles: If caught in a damaging straight-line wind event while in your vehicle, turn your vehicle so that it is facing the wind. Larger vehicles can be overturned by strong winds, and you could get injured.
If caught in a hail storm, try and find a garage or lean-to to park under. Large hailstones can shatter windows and send shards of glass into your eyes or skin. Oftentimes I see vehicles huddled together around gas pumps at gas stations to try and avoid hail damage to their vehicles.
If faced with a tornado while in a vehicle, try and find shelter as quickly as possible. If no shelter can be found then find a ditch or low area to lay in and cover your head and neck with your hands.
NEVER use a highway overpass as a shelter from a tornado. Debris passes freely underneath them, and the wind can actually be accelerated through them like in a wind tunnel.
In most cases you are advised to never try and outrun a tornado in a vehicle, but I personally believe that given the right circumstances, there is nothing wrong with driving out of the way. If you give yourself plenty of lead time, know the direction the storms are traveling in, and are not in a congested area (like a city), then a person could safely drive out of the path of a tornado. Just remember though, people die every year in vehicles due to tornadoes. If the risk of a delay is there, or if the storm is too close, please don't consider it an option.
After the weather has passed
Stay away from downed power lines. They could still be electrified.
Avoid areas where you smell propane or other gasses. This will be an explosion hazard.
Stay away from trees. Large tree limbs can fall, especially if they have been damaged.
If someone needs help, call for help, or send someone who is uninjured to get help. Cell phone coverage could very well be out.
If you're trapped in a building, yell for help until someone hears you.
I hope you enjoyed this entry! Hopefully no one who reads this post will have to deal with the upcoming severe weather season in such a manner. Good luck, and stay safe.
Have a safe storm season everyone!
For more weather-ready information, feel free to check out Weather Ready Nation at Weather Ready Nation
A little about me
I am a trained weather spotter for the National Weather Service out of Louisville, Kentucky. My main role is reporting sever weather hazards such as damaging wind, large hail, and tornadoes. These events can be devastating to families and communities. My weather reports can lead to earlier warnings, which ultimately gives people more time to take shelter.
Be sure to come back for more stories and photos! Follow me @bristowboy
I am a storm spotter for the National Weather Service office out of Louisville, Kentucky.
Amateur photographer, capturing as many of life's amazing moments as I possibly can.
Proud former student of @markrmorrisjr and @dolphinschool. Feel free to check out both accounts as they are loaded with tips and tricks for becoming a more successful Steemian.
Glad to say we don't have tornadoes here. Great helpful info!
What's This? Hmmmmm lol
I shouldn't "lol" like I did. Someone died in that NZ tornado =\
Not where I am should I say :P
That main pic you choose is pretty awesome! You take that?
I don't think anyone did. I credited the source where I found it. It looks like three separate photos combined. I do have a lot of awesome lightning photography that is mine though :) I post them from time to time.
I know, ive been following you for some time now, thats why i asked. The lightening (i know thats spelled wrong) on the other side of the river post pic the other day was pretty cool too. You took that one, right?
Yep that one is mine. Thanks! Lightning scares me pretty bad lol. It's hard for me to take pics like that, but I manage to get it done!
Great post! This reminded me of when I lived outside Denver and then outside Chicago. The tornado siren would go off, and mom would wake me up to head downstairs. Luckily they never hit our areas. This is important stuff to know, though, and I didn't realize that underpasses were a bad idea. Nice tip!
Thanks! Yeah underpasses are really bad places to try and take shelter. It's rare for someone to survive a direct hit under one.
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