As you prepare your plan, tailor your plans and supplies to your specific daily living needs and responsibilities. Watch for others. The advice was to never try to outrun a tornado in urban or congested areas in a car or truck, but instead, to leave the vehicle immediately for safe shelter. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance. Even in an interior room, you should cover yourself Take shelter if you see signs of a tornado. Tennessee tornado drill scheduled for Wednesday, February 22 Sometimes tornadoes strike quickly, without time for a tornado warning. Contact your local National Weather Service office, emergency management or civil defense office, and American Red Cross chapter. Severe weather may strike with only a few minutes of advance warning. At Your House: If you are in a tornado warning, go to your basement, safe room, or an interior room away from windows. Basements offer the best protection. Get in the basement and under some kind of sturdy protection (heavy table or work bench), or cover Ensure nobody is using matches or lighters, in case of leaking natural gas pipes or fuel tanks nearby. All NOAA. Wear thick-soled shoes (or boots), long pants, and work gloves during cleanup. Welcome to the Ohio Committee for Severe Weather Awareness Ideally, the lowest possible level is the safest. event the school is damaged. Know the county/parish in which your school sits, and keep a highway map nearby to follow storm movement from weather bulletins. US Dept of Commerce still includes some warnings with NO lead time, or just a minute or Lunches or assemblies in large rooms should be delayed if severe weather is anticipated. Upon seeing an approaching storm or noticing any of the danger signs, they were advised to prepare to take shelter immediately,[2] such as moving to a safe room, internal stairway, or other safe-haven area. We have updated our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. Stay away from windows and dont go to large open rooms such as cafeterias, gyms, or auditoriums. Follow your tornado drill and proceed to your tornado shelter location quickly and calmly. If there is no shelter nearby, lie flat in the nearest ditch, ravine, or culvert and shield your head with your hands. Well then, watch this video! Skywarn, Office Activities notice. tornado drill or warning, they should be instructed to respond to a specific command . Take shelter immediately during a tornado warning. Children are safer deep within a school than in a bus or car. to meet after a disaster. Once the kids are in place, they are to get into a crouching position and put their arms over their heads to protect themselves. Put your head down below the windows; cover your head with your hands and a blanket, coat, or other cushion if possible. Cars and mobile homes must be abandoned, if there is small chance to drive away. endobj hour, or 440 feet (134 m) per second. It will include assembling an emergency supply kit and understanding where to go, such as an interior room or a. For instance, in a department store, get up against heavy shelving or counters. In a shopping mall or large store: Do not panic. Get as far away from trees and cars as you can; they may be blown onto you in a tornado. with some sort of thick padding (mattress, blankets, etc. . Review the drill to identify any necessary changes or improvements to your tornado safety procedures. A tornado near Keenesburg, Colorado. Pick a place in the home where family members can gather if a tornado is headed your way. Schools and office building managers should regularly run Gymnasiums, cafeterias, and auditoriums offer no protection from tornado strength winds. Know the signs of a tornado: Weather forecasting science is not perfect FEMA recommends that you download their family emergency plan or use it as a guide to create your own. 2 0 obj Will you know if your children are safe? The safest place in the home is the interior part of a basement. Weather Radio (Photo/AccuWeather/Reed Timmer). If you dont have a basement, go to an inside room, without windows, on the lowest floor. He found that the southwest corner and the south side were the least safe. In private homes, some similar stairway rooms have been used, or an interior room/closet kept clear to quickly allow entry when a storm is seen or heard approaching (the wind roar intensifies, sounding like a swift "freight train" coming nearer, louder). Severe Weather Awareness Week and Tornado Drill | VDEM Having a plan in place before a tornado hits can increase your family's chance of surviving. glass? The first step is to put together a plan by discussing these four questions with your family, friends, or household to start your emergency plan. Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data. . H8/E>D3[o%1 Y2.,7XU2/A~i_W0uG05Y If youre unable to make it to a safe shelter, either get down in your vehicle and cover your head and neck or leave your vehicle and seek shelter in a low-lying area such as a ditch or ravine. This safety drill is an important element of tornado preparedness. Crouch low, head down, and protect the back of your head [11] When a mobile home begins to roll, people have been injured by hitting objects inside, or being crushed when a trailer suddenly hits the ground and begins to collapse around them. z8i:DRqL>zrH"iHE m0usLFZ?kfb64M>0G&F4-`w1^B#,mT,#m+6782`6lIS]~m?L/J& RT*E{g)[,`h~(I?6%pYp%lwqOB&7p1zyu/ L@#UvV0&3iT$PqXgT4}] v%@!"aTn t|HUV0O2Ams=BaEi,kS:uE{gX`La5za 4}X$1p|/pZ7`\Ivr=br07#I|^Kg SM 'S`PrO4SMAG@"-%)$4J;d0_lY9C gyr=(ytmQ5,Qub1%j1 bO0Ps. During the drill, everyone in the state is encouraged to discuss and practice their plans on what to do during a tornado warning. Warnings are not absolutely perfect, radars can't see everything, and Statewide Tornado Drill: March 22, 2023 at 9:50 am. Get some extra cash for when credit cards do not work. Crouch face-down and protect your head with your arms. rACQD5"JUQ|CY'JPL+AbL89OZfT41blu"YA6iL Z In addition to schools, all institutions should have a tornado plan -- hospitals, nursing homes, and businesses should develop a similar plan. What to do During a Tornado - National Weather Service GIS Forecast Maps A tornado drill is something people do to practice what they would do if there were a tornado. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS OFFICE TORNADO DRILL . Annual Plots StormReady Even though only 10% of reported head injuries are severe, they are the most common cause of death following a tornado. The safest place in a tornado is in the interior part of a basement. stream and some tornadoes do occur without a tornado warning. Tornadoes are most common in the central and southern United States, but can occur almost anywhere when conditions are right. Stay off the elevators; you could be trapped in them if the power is lost. Avoid injury from electric shock, electrocution, debris (nails, broken glass, sharp ends of broken wood), contaminated water, and carbon monoxide poisoning.[16]. Severe Weather Please Contact Us. Ask questions to make sure your family remembers meeting places, phone numbers, and safety rules. 0 There is no safe option when caught in a tornado in a car, just slightly less-dangerous ones. 10 TIPS FOR KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE IN A TORNADO A tornado is a violently rotating column of air extending from the base of a thunderstorm to the ground. During the tornado, watch out for flying debris that can cause injury or death. classrooms. National Weather Service Be alert to the changing weather conditions. of Health . Night - Small, bright, blue-green to white. When a tornado strikes, decisions must be made fast and actions taken immediately. If it takes more than 2 or 3 minutes to move all upper-floor people down, things get really risky! I have found, through damage surveys and other visits, that a lot of schools settle for a cookbook-style, "one size fits all" approach to tornado safety -- often based on outdated literature -- which can be dangerous when considering the fact that every school is built differently. stream A 2012 study of tornado injuries found that wearing a helmet such as those used for American football or bicycling, is an effective way to reduce injuries and deaths from head trauma. At school:Follow the drill! warnings has gone up a lot in recent years, remember that the average How will I receive emergency alerts and warnings? is expected; and inform parents of this policy. These wounds will most likely be contaminated with soil and foreign bodies due to high wind speeds caused by tornadoes. Even if your home is tied down, it is not as safe as an underground shelter or permanent, sturdy building. Keep your family together and wait for emergency personnel to arrive. Tornadoes can also accompany tropical storms and hurricanes as they move onto land. Schools without basements should use interior rooms and hallways on the lowest floor and away from windows. Preparedness involves knowing the major dangers to avoid. For example: Do more safe areas need to be identified? During the Tornado Drill Announce the start of the drill by using a public address system or having designated volunteers alert staff by phone or radio. Each school should be inspected and tornado shelter areas designated by a registered engineer or architect. If you are in a building with no basement, then get to a small interior room on the lowest level. Here are some other important tips: Keep students assembled in an orderly manner, in a safe area away from broken glass and other sharp debris, and away from power lines, puddles containing power lines, and emergency traffic areas. Download the free AccuWeather app to stay alert to severe weather watches and warnings. 555 0 obj <>stream +#H1W2N_"KhmfI*/7@.zLTJQD#HZ|4$&I`JJ )$gM5N\&!eL;I>:1{( fkN