Before

• Conduct tornado drills each tornado season.
• Designate an area in the home as a shelter, and practice having everyone in the family go there in response to a tornado threat.
• Discuss with family members the difference between a tornado watch and a tornado warning. Contact your local emergency management office or American Red Cross chapter for more information on tornadoes.

Have disaster supplies on hand, including the following:

ü Flashlight and extra batteries

ü Portable, battery-operated radio and extra

ü batteries

ü First aid kit and manual

ü Emergency food and water

ü Nonelectric can opener

ü Essential medicines

ü Cash and credit cards

ü Sturdy shoes

ü Cellular phone (if you have one)

• If family members are separated during a tornado (you might be at work and children might be at school), have a plan for getting back together.
• Ask an out-of-state relative or friend to serve as the “family contact.” After a disaster, it’s often easier to call long distance. Make sure everyone in the family knows the name, address, and phone number of the contact person. Have a backup “family contact” in case the first one is not available.

During

At home:

· Go at once to the basement, storm cellar, or the lowest level of the building.

· If there is no basement, go to an inner hallway or a smaller inner room without windows, such as a bathroom or closet.

· Get away from the windows.

· Go to the center of the room. Stay away from corners because they tend to attract debris.

· Get under a piece of sturdy furniture, such as a workbench or heavy table or desk, and hold on to it.

· Use your arms to protect your head and neck, or use a heavy blanket, pillow, etc., to help protect you and to cover your head.

· If you are in a mobile home, get out and find shelter elsewhere.

At work or school:

· Go to the basement or to an inside hallway at the lowest level.

· Avoid places with wide-span roofs, such as auditoriums, cafeterias, large hallways, or shopping malls.

· Get under a piece of sturdy furniture, such as a workbench or heavy table or desk, and hold on to it.

· Use your arms to protect your head and neck.

Outdoors:

· If possible, get inside a building.

· If shelter is not available or there is no time to get indoors, lie in a ditch or low-lying area or crouch near a strong building. Be aware of the potential for flooding.

· Use your arms to protect your head and neck.

In a car:

§ Never try to out-drive a tornado in a car or truck. Tornadoes can change direction quickly and can lift and toss your vehicle through the air.

§ Leave the car immediately, and take shelter in a nearby building.

§ If there is no time to get indoors, get out of the car and lie in a ditch or low-lying area away from the vehicle. Be aware of the potential for flooding.

After

• Help injured or trapped persons
• Give first aid when appropriate. Don’t move the seriously injured unless they are in immediate danger of further injury. Call for help.
• Turn on radio or television to get the latest information.
• Stay out of damaged buildings. Return home only when authorities say it is safe.
• Use the telephone only for emergency calls.
• Clean up spilled medicines, bleach, gasoline, or other flammable liquids immediately. Leavec the building if you smell gas or chemical fumes.
• Take pictures of damage to the house and its contents for insurance purposes.
• Remember to help neighbors who may require special assistance like people with infants, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

Tornado FAQ's

From NOAA: A SEVERE WEATHER PRIMER: Questions and Answers about TORNADOES

Where do tornadoes come from?
Tornadoes come from the energy released in a thunderstorm. As powerful as they are, tornadoes account for only a tiny fraction of the energy in a thunderstorm. What makes them dangerous is that their energy is concentrated in a small area, perhaps only a hundred yards across. Not all tornadoes are the same, of course, and science does not yet completely understand how part of a thunderstorm's energy sometimes gets focused into something as small as a tornado..

How fast can a tornado go?
We're not really sure what the highest wind speed might be inside a tornado. Since strong and violent tornadoes destroy weather instruments, we really only have measurements of the winds inside weaker tornadoes. Mobile Doppler radars can measure wind speeds in a tornado above ground level -- and the strongest was 318 mph measured on May 3, 1999 near Bridge Creek/Moore, Oklahoma.

What are the people called who study tornadoes?
People who study tornadoes are just research meteorologists. You may have heard another term - storm chaser - but that really refers to people who chase tornadoes for a hobby. Research meteorologists do science. They have to come up with questions they think they can answer by taking certain measurements.

How fast do tornadoes move?

We don't have detailed statistics about this. Movement can range from almost stationary to more than 60 mph. A typical tornado travels at around 10-20 miles per hour.

How long is a tornado usually on the ground?
Detailed statistics about the time a tornado is on the ground are not available. This time can range from an instant to several hours. The average is about five minutes.

Does NSSL do things like they showed in the movie "Twister"?

The movie Twister was based upon work NSSL did in the mid-1980s using a 55-gallon drum outfitted with various meteorological sensors. It was called TOTO (TOtable Tornado Observatory). NSSL tried for several years to put it in the path of an oncoming tornado, but had minimal success. It did not have the sensors that fly up into the tornado, like in the movie. However, that is not a bad idea and with all the advances being made in computer technology, we might be able to do that someday.

What direction do tornadoes spin?

Most tornadoes (but not all) in the Northern Hemisphere spin counterclockwise.

Visual timelines of Joplin MO tornado

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