Tornado warnings/safe place in house?

[Hannathy]

Honestly you do not need to "hunker down" until you have a confirmed tornado spotted on the ground, a wall cloud in your area or high winds.

Just because sirens are going off does not mean a tornado has been spotted either. They go off here for potential rotation or severe weather and not just for tornadoes.

Your best line of information is your local weather, watching the sky yourself, or a weather radio.

We watch the weather. When the weather man says a tornado is "on the ground" near us we take cover then. Or if WINDS are HIGH.

Remember you can have straight line winds that blow in your windows. Be cautious with that as well.

It is when the "front" moves in that you must be alert 100%.

I don't think I would be telling her what the sirens where she lives mean. She needs to check with her locality and find out.

I live in a high tornado area and ours don't go off unless it is a warning and a warning means one has been spotted. If they went off for all the watches they would be sounding for days.

If you plan on staying in that house long I would start thinking about how you could adapt a closet or some room to be a safer place to go. That was one thing we considered when we bought.

If you have a stairway I would see about adding a closet under it so you would have somewhere in the future.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I don't think I would be telling her what the sirens where she lives mean. She needs to check with her locality and find out.

I live in a high tornado area and ours don't go off unless it is a warning and a warning means one has been spotted. If they went off for all the watches they would be sounding for days.

If you plan on staying in that house long I would start thinking about how you could adapt a closet or some room to be a safer place to go. That was one thing we considered when we bought.

If you have a stairway I would see about adding a closet under it so you would have somewhere in the future.

They go off here (where OP is) if a tornado is spotted or one is imminent or very likely - according to local weather personnel. So definitely a time to take shelter.

 

[diznygirl]

What is under your stairs? A hallway, or a closet? Would the area under the stairs be a safe spot?

 

[Planogirl]

Do you have a walk-in closet? Even if it's on an outside wall it might be best depending on how your home is constructed. You definitely want to be away from windows of any kind.

I saw an expert give advice about this recently. He said that the smaller rooms in the middle of the house are best because if it all collapses the walls will tend to fall against one another and sometimes hold each other up if the room is smaller.

 

[AKL_Megs]

We have about a million windows in our house. We DO have a basement... full of windows! Even our bathrooms have windows!

Our safest bet is the bedroom hallway with all doors shut, and HOPE the glass from our great room windows doesn't come a flying!

 

[r3ngels]

http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/tornadoes.shtm

This says go under a table and put as many walls between you and the outside.

We live in a bad area and I know how scary it can be... good luck finding a spot.

 

[NotUrsula]

As someone else mentioned, what is under your stairs? If you could modify that area to create some reinforced shelter, it would be a good idea to do so. The other possibility (it won't help you this spring, but would be good in future years) would be to dig a storm cellar with an entrance right off your back door, or put one under your deck or in your garage. The buried kind look sort of like propane tanks that you bury, the garage type look just look like a closet, but the walls, door and ceiling are reinforced.

Wherever you choose as your shelter, be sure to put some bottled water, a heavy padded blanket, flashlights and a weather radio in there, WITH spare batteries. If it's the middle of the night when a storm rolls in, you'll want to let your child curl up and sleep in there.

As for the folks with basement windows, I'd advise interior storm shutters. The key is that you don't want broken glass flying around, so a solidly-fixed barrier you can slide or drop over them is a good idea. (Exterior storm shutters are great for hurricane areas, but not in tornado country, where you tend to only have a few minutes' notice.)

Oh, and BTW, if you're standing by your window watching the weather and the sky turns a greenish-yellow ... RUN!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I don't think I would be telling her what the sirens where she lives mean. She needs to check with her locality and find out.

I live in a high tornado area and ours don't go off unless it is a warning and a warning means one has been spotted. If they went off for all the watches they would be sounding for days.

If you plan on staying in that house long I would start thinking about how you could adapt a closet or some room to be a safer place to go. That was one thing we considered when we bought.

If you have a stairway I would see about adding a closet under it so you would have somewhere in the future.

That is my point. She is new to tornadoes and needs to find out why her sirens are going off for her area. The news is the best place to go for that info.

Our sirens go off for various weather threats which include tornadoes. We have straight line winds that can be just as bad as a tornado.

 

[Wendy31]

We live in southeast TN. My kids spent most of the morning in the basement while I stood & watched out the door. Right now, we're waiting until the next batch of storms comes through!

We never used to have to worry about tornadoes in this area of the country... but, for the past 5 years or so, it's gotten worse each spring. It's like we're living in a new tornado alley or something!

Anyway, I've always wondered how I was supposed to grab a mattress & wrestle it into the bathroom during the middle of a storm! It seems like my DH is NEVER home during a tornado warning. So, here's what I do (& did earlier this morning) --

When they 1st issue a tornado warning for my county, I get dressed if I'm not already & make sure I have my shoes on. If it's during the day, I also make sure my kids are dressed w/ shoes on. (If it's during the middle of the night, I don't worry about getting them dressed & will normally wait until I really feel like we're in danger before I wake them up to go to the basement - but I hunt up their shoes, so, once we're in the basement, they can put them on.)

I get a flashlight & my cell phone & put both in my pockets.

I get my purse & diaper bag & put them in our basement in our "safe" area. Our basement is a walk-out basement w/ a door & a window, but the back corner is underground - so that's our safe area. The back corner is also not in direct line to the window or door.

Then, instead of trying to wrestle w/ a mattress, I get 2-3 blankets & put them in our safe area. The blankets are for us to cover up w/ so that we aren't hit by glass from blown-in windows. Sometimes, I also take pillows.

I take a radio down to our safe area as well.

I also close all the interior doors in the house.

Then, I watch the news until our satellite goes out. Then, I try to track things via the internet. Earlier today, our satellite went out, then our power went out, & then we lost our internet connection - both on our laptop & my phone. Right before, the satellite went out, they tracked the tornado & predicted it hitting my area at 9:21 am.

So, I sent the kids w/ the cat down to the basement, & I stood at the door & watched for hail. It never hailed & I never really heard any thunder. When it started lightening back up, I had the kids come back upstairs. Apparently, the storm hit just south of our downtown area & then hit just north of us about 2 miles. It "jumped" right over us.

If I were you, my "safe" area would be either a bathroom or maybe a coat closet on the ground level. Being around plumbing is supposed to be good (I think) because of how the plumbing is anchored. I wouldn't worry about a mattress but get some blankets & pillows to cover up w/. Make sure you have your cell phone, a flashlight, a radio, & your shoes. I also take my purse so I have my ID & keys & the diaper bag because it's prepacked w/ various medicines, DS's inhaler, & other things I might need in an emergency.

Like others have said, just because they issue a tornado warning for your area (or county) doesn't mean it's coming straight for you - you kinda have to track it & listen to what direction they're saying it's going. Also, a "doppler indicated tornado" is different than an actual tornado. In my area, though, if we hear sirens, it means a tornado has been spotted on the ground. Our local meteorologists are really good about informing the public what areas/cities are in the direct line & they'll say things like, "If you live in the Red Bank area, you need to take cover now." Of course, the power (& the satellite) has to stay on for that to be effective! So, then, like today, I stand & watch out the door for the sky to turn green.

I know, though, it can be scary!!

 

[Liberty Belle]

OP, it looks like we're going to be hit again later this afternoon and early evening. Lots of time to prepare (pillows and blankets ready to throw in bathtubs/closet - wherever you decide is safe.

 

[luvmylittleboy2003]

We live in southeast TN. My kids spent most of the morning in the basement while I stood & watched out the door. Right now, we're waiting until the next batch of storms comes through!

We never used to have to worry about tornadoes in this area of the country... but, for the past 5 years or so, it's gotten worse each spring. It's like we're living in a new tornado alley or something!

Anyway, I've always wondered how I was supposed to grab a mattress & wrestle it into the bathroom during the middle of a storm! It seems like my DH is NEVER home during a tornado warning. So, here's what I do (& did earlier this morning) --

When they 1st issue a tornado warning for my county, I get dressed if I'm not already & make sure I have my shoes on. If it's during the day, I also make sure my kids are dressed w/ shoes on. (If it's during the middle of the night, I don't worry about getting them dressed & will normally wait until I really feel like we're in danger before I wake them up to go to the basement - but I hunt up their shoes, so, once we're in the basement, they can put them on.)

I get a flashlight & my cell phone & put both in my pockets.

I get my purse & diaper bag & put them in our basement in our "safe" area. Our basement is a walk-out basement w/ a door & a window, but the back corner is underground - so that's our safe area. The back corner is also not in direct line to the window or door.

Then, instead of trying to wrestle w/ a mattress, I get 2-3 blankets & put them in our safe area. The blankets are for us to cover up w/ so that we aren't hit by glass from blown-in windows. Sometimes, I also take pillows.

I take a radio down to our safe area as well.

I also close all the interior doors in the house.

Then, I watch the news until our satellite goes out. Then, I try to track things via the internet. Earlier today, our satellite went out, then our power went out, & then we lost our internet connection - both on our laptop & my phone. Right before, the satellite went out, they tracked the tornado & predicted it hitting my area at 9:21 am.

So, I sent the kids w/ the cat down to the basement, & I stood at the door & watched for hail. It never hailed & I never really heard any thunder. When it started lightening back up, I had the kids come back upstairs. Apparently, the storm hit just south of our downtown area & then hit just north of us about 2 miles. It "jumped" right over us.

If I were you, my "safe" area would be either a bathroom or maybe a coat closet on the ground level. Being around plumbing is supposed to be good (I think) because of how the plumbing is anchored. I wouldn't worry about a mattress but get some blankets & pillows to cover up w/. Make sure you have your cell phone, a flashlight, a radio, & your shoes. I also take my purse so I have my ID & keys & the diaper bag because it's prepacked w/ various medicines, DS's inhaler, & other things I might need in an emergency.

Like others have said, just because they issue a tornado warning for your area (or county) doesn't mean it's coming straight for you - you kinda have to track it & listen to what direction they're saying it's going. Also, a "doppler indicated tornado" is different than an actual tornado. In my area, though, if we hear sirens, it means a tornado has been spotted on the ground. Our local meteorologists are really good about informing the public what areas/cities are in the direct line & they'll say things like, "If you live in the Red Bank area, you need to take cover now." Of course, the power (& the satellite) has to stay on for that to be effective! So, then, like today, I stand & watch out the door for the sky to turn green.

I know, though, it can be scary!!

Wow..thank you so much, things you mentioned (like meds, etc...) I wouldn't have even thought about

 

[crazelion]

I just got power back on. I finally got kids some food in there body. Okay I know two clock we have been in the closet since this morning.

Our street is bad. I mean really bad. House on our street was hit by tree house.