How to Escape a Tornado

Escaping the fury of a tornado comes with awareness of weather patterns and knowledge of how to be safe should you be in the path of a tornado. Safety procedures that need to be put into play when weather conditions are favorable for a tornado to form need to be reviewed with family members regularly.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Know what weather conditions might indicate that a tornado could form. If you see the sky has turned green or greenish black, and clouds are moving by very fast, particularly in a rotating pattern, a tornado might be imminent.

2. Listen to local weather reports. A tornado watch means that conditions are favorable that a tornado might form. A tornado warning means that one has actually been spotted. Get to shelter immediately if there is a tornado warning in your area.

3. Move to the basement, an interior room of your home with no windows or under a flight of stairs. Getting underneath a mattress can protect you from flying debris.

4. Seek shelter in a ditch if you find yourself in the path of a tornado when you are out in your car. If the ditch is flooded with rainwater, try to huddle under an overpass until the tornado passes.

5. Be sure you have escape plans for areas away from home, like school and work. Your school and office probably have plans in place, be sure to familiarize yourself with them. Your reaction to news of an impending tornado should be automatic.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't think you can outrun a tornado in your car. It's very difficult to predict which way a tornado might turn, so you may end up driving right into it. The road may become impassable due to a fallen tree. Cars are very easily picked up and thrown by tornados, sometimes as much as a quarter of a mile, killing people each year. Get out and seek shelter.

[staloyt]

on 10/2/2008 You'd be off lying in the water! NEVER use an overpass!! More dangerous than being out in the open!

[GwenAllen]

on 5/14/2008 FYI-the weather channel actually advises against hiding under an overpass during a tornado. They act like vacuums during a tornado and are one of the most dangerous places to seek shelter.