Many things come to mind when storm sirens start going off or temperatures drop and the sky turns green. Preparing for severe weather doesn’t have to be difficult. Is my safe room accessible, is my phone or flashlight charged, are the kids safe, is the lawn mown?
Hopefully, mowing your lawn isn’t actually on your list of things to do while a tornado is in your backyard.
This article will cover the basics of preparing for severe weather. It will include severe thunderstorms, flooding, and tornados.
We will cover hurricanes in a future post. For now, you can find out how hurricanes get their names by checking out our article here.
Watch vs Warning
Well, we said we were going to cover the basics, didn’t we? If you are anything like me, it only took you 20 years to remember the difference between a watch and a warning.
Watch
A severe thunderstorm watch or tornado watch means conditions are possible for severe events. A watch is issued earlier and ahead of a potentially severe weather threat. These watches give you extra time to prepare. They cover a larger area than a warning and happen before the local Weather Service Office can zero in on the extreme threat area. Watches are a more general alert to let you know severe weather may come.
Warning
A warning means the severe weather threat is imminent. Under a warning, you need to go to your safe location immediately!
For definitions of every advisory/watch/warning, check out this article.
Tips for remembering watch vs warning
Watch for a warning!
A watch tells time. If you’re under a watch, you may have a little time to prepare for a warning.
When you hear a warning, prepare for big storming.
Note: Storms with watches can still be deadly. The above tips are to emphasize that warnings are the more severe category.
Did you know?
Severe thunderstorm watches and tornado watches for the entire nation are issued by the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, OK. Flood, tornado, and severe thunderstorm warnings, on the other hand, are issued by the local Weather Service Office.
What should a storm shelter have?
- Weather radio or alerting device
- Flashlight/batteries
- Battery pack and charging cable for your phone
- Water
- Food/snacks
- Shoes
- First aid kit
- Backup copies of important documents (photo on phone)
- Emergency contacts (hard copy)
Some additional items may include:
- Hand sanitizer/hygiene items
- Medications, especially anxiety medications, if needed
- Helmet
- Multi-tool and specialty tools for your situation
- Tarp
- Whistle
Phone apps
Your phone can also be an additional resource. A local news/weather app can provide up to the minute information on the storm’s path. A police scanner app can also provide real-time storm damage updates from first responders.
Alerts
Weather Radio
A NOAA Weather Radio is the gold standard of weather alert devices inside the home. The National Weather Service pushes out weather alerts and broadcasts directly to you.
Weather radios can be plugged in and left alone. Most have a battery backup as a failsafe for power outages. They should be loud enough to wake you up while sleeping at night, however unpleasant that is.
A smoke detector doesn’t work if you took the batteries out the last time you cooked bacon. The weather radio won’t work either if you unplug it and remove the batteries when a flood warning goes off at 3 am.
Local News
TV stations’ local news offers a great way to get real-time updates on a storm’s path. Having an app on your phone to watch it is great, especially if you don’t have a tv in your smallest interior room on the lowest level of your home.
Wireless Emergency Alerts
Phone alerts have been a huge game-changer in disaster alerting. The Wireless Emergency Alerts system is run by the National Weather Service, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the President of the United States. You can check out their site here to find out how to enable alerts on your device. Some communities may offer their own local alerts you can opt into as well.
Tornado sirens
Tornado sirens instantly pop into people’s minds when they think about being alerted to an incoming storm. These sirens are not designed to alert everyone that a storm is coming! Their main purpose is to let people outside know about the incoming threat. Storm sirens are not considered an adequate alert device if you are inside. Most of the time the sound will not carry through the walls of the building enough to rise above the noise inside your house.
Social media
Social media can be helpful for real-time updates, especially if you keep an eye on the comment section or use Twitter’s most recent feature. Over the last few years, social media has been drastically changing its algorithms. Facebook, while once a decent location to learn of severe storm threats in a timely manner, has become incredibly unreliable. I continue to see severe weather-related posts for the first time days after the fact. Hopefully, they will change the algorithm to improve this. For now, be sure to have an alternative.
Tornadoes
Having an identified location to go when storm warnings start and getting there is the best thing you can do!
You will want to be in an approved storm shelter or basement during a tornado warning. Go to a small, interior, windowless room on the lowest level of your home if you don’t have either of those. If you live in a mobile home or home that is not structurally solid, find a better place to ride out the storm.
If you live on the upper floors of an apartment, check to see if there is an identified area for storm warnings. Look for areas like a gym, common areas, bathroom, or closet. Alternatively, now might be a good time to butter up your first-floor neighbors.
Storm shelters have come a long way over the last decade. Prices have come down and variety has increased. From building an underground bunker to installing a safe room in your garage, the options are only as limited as your budget.
Definition
“A tornado is a narrow, violently rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground. Because wind is invisible, it is hard to see a tornado unless it forms a condensation funnel made up of water droplets, dust and debris.”
NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory
Signs
Despite the sheer power and deadly wake of destruction a tornado can leave, many are still drawn to them. There we are standing outside in the rain with the storm sirens sounding, looking off in the distance to see if we can spot it. This is not the way to prepare for an incoming tornado. That being said, here are some signs to watch out for if you are in a location with a view.
Green sky (or maybe a red sky in the morning?)
An ominous green sky can be present before a tornado, though it’s not necessarily indicative of one. There are several theories about why the color changes, but they agree that the angle of the sun causes a large part of the color change. Hail and large water droplets may also play an important role.
A funnel cloud
Hmm, who would have thought, right? A rotating funnel-shaped cloud is a dead giveaway that things are a little too dangerous to be admiring the view from outside your house! Clouds can spin in the sky as long as they want and still not be a tornado. To be classified as a tornado, the rotating cloud needs to touch the ground. That being said, if you see a rotating cloud, stop recording it on your phone and go to your storm shelter!
Power flashes
When a tornado is traveling along the ground, it can cause power flashes as it tears up power lines, thus causing the electricity to arc. These bright flashes normally last only a moment as the built-in circuit breakers trip, cutting off the flow of electricity. This is often the only visual sign in a rain-wrapped tornado or a tornado happening at night.
Roaring train sound
Tornados are known for making a loud roaring sound. When you hear this, you need to be in your safe location and preparing for impact! If you hear something that sounds like a train and have no trains near your home, you are in immediate danger.
If a tornado is bearing down on you, cover your head and neck with your arms. Use a coat, blanket, mattress, or pillow to cover the rest of your body if you can. A bicycle helmet can be added for extra protection as well!
Pets
Having a plan for your pets is also important. Keeping a couple of snacks or toys in your storm shelter may help keep your pet calm if they are riding out the storm with you.
Severe thunderstorms
Severe thunderstorms can include high winds, flash flooding, and hail.
Definition
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is issued when severe thunderstorms are occurring or imminent in the warning area. Severe thunderstorms are defined as follows:
1. Winds of 58 mph or higher
The National Weather Service
AND/OR
2. Hail 1 inch in diameter or larger.
Lighting
While not normally as destructive as a tornado, thunderstorms still deserve a healthy level of respect.
Lightning can hit 50,000°F (27760°C), which is hotter than the surface of the sun!
Lightning has killed 41 people a year on average over the last 30 years. It’s trending down significantly over the last decade, though. Don’t be the reason that trend changes!
Timing lightning
A rough estimate on how close a lightning strike is to you can be made by counting the time between the flash of lightning and the thunder. Sound travels about one-fifth of a mile every second.
So, if it takes 10 seconds, then the lightning strike was 2 miles away. If it’s 2 seconds, then it’s two-fifths of a mile away.
Want your answer in kilometers? Sound obviously still travels the same speed but the conversion is now one-third of a kilometer per second.
Regardless of how many seconds pass between the flash and the boom, if you hear thunder, lightning is close enough to be dangerous! Now would be a good time to head indoors, if you aren’t already.
How do you prepare your house for severe weather?
- Check for loose roof shingles or signs of a leaky roof.
- Know how to turn off your gas lines and circuit breaker.
- Remove dead and hazardous tree branches, especially those over your home.
- Secure objects that could blow away- trampolines, patio furniture, garbage cans, etc.
- Ensure windows and exterior doors are closed tightly.
- Bring important valuables like grills and lawnmowers into a structurally sound building.
Flash flooding
Of all weather-related hazards, flooding results in more deaths annually than any other weather event except heat. Yearly deaths from flooding in the United States have ranged from a low of 29 to a high of 180 since 2010.
Males are more likely to die in a flood event. People are most likely to die as a result of driving through flood waters.
Definition
Unlike severe thunderstorm warnings that are defined by a specific condition, the NWS (National Weather Service) simply defines a flood warning as “when flash flooding is imminent or occurring.”
The local Weather Service Office criteria relies on several conditions, including antecedent soil conditions (was the ground already saturated?), rainfall rates, and rainfall amounts. Both flood watches and warnings are issued by local Weather Service Offices.
The power of water
Six inches of moving water can sweep you off your feet or stall your vehicle if you are driving. One foot of water can float a vehicle, and two feet can wash away most vehicles, including pickup trucks!
With water over the road, you never know if the ground below is solid or about to cave in. The safest thing to do is turn around!
After the storm
Assess for immediate life-safety situations after a storm. Check yourself and your family for any first aid needs. Steer clear of any downed power lines! Watch out for precariously hanging tree branches.
If you are walking outside, have a good pair of shoes (preferably boots) on. Wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt.
If you can still contact your family, let them know you are okay. A text message is more likely to go through than a phone call. It also places less strain on the system and allows more important calls to go through.
While many people are ready to help, there are scammers ready to take advantage of storm victims too. Do your research on the individual or group offering to help. Stay in touch with your neighbors as well. They may have valuable first-hand information on who is here to help and who is not!
Check social media
Some communities set up a social media group after a disaster to help with information and resources.
Your local community may start to push out information through various means. This information can be vital for getting additional help and resources, including federal aid, if the government declares a disaster. Federal relief can take a while. Don’t expect them right away.
Volunteer
If your family was spared damage from the storm and you want to help out, consider volunteering with a local relief group. Check out our RESPOND PAGE for some ideas on responding to disasters.
If you aren’t already on a volunteer team, some groups will take walk-ups. If you find a group that does, they’ll have you fill out some paperwork (normally a waiver) and give you some on-the-job training.
Preparing for the next storm
Life requires continuous preparation and adaptation.
If you had to break into your supplies during your last storm, be sure to restock. Check your expiration dates on medicines and food. Cycle out your water if it’s been sitting around for six months or more.
Being prepared can reduce your stress when storms come. Plan ahead, have the knowledge and use it. When the color of the sky changes and the alerts start sounding, you’ll be ready.
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