Be Prepared for a Tornado

Tornado Precautions

Tornadoes can occur with little warning. That’s why it’s important to be alert to changing weather, and use both broadcast information and your own senses and experience to know when to take cover.

Tornado Watch

A Tornado Watch simply means that conditions are favorable for tornadoes to develop. In this case you should be alert to changes in the weather and take precautions to protect you and your property.

During a Tornado Watch:

• Move cars inside a garage or carport. Keep your car keys and house keys with you.
• Move lawn furniture and yard equipment such as lawnmowers inside if time permits.
• Account for family members at home.
• Have your emergency kit ready.
• Keep your radio or TV tuned into the weather reports.

Tornado Warning

Tornado Warning means that a tornado has actually been sighted. Tornadoes can be deadly and devastating storms, with winds up to 260 miles per hour. If a Tornado Warning is issued for your area, seek shelter immediately!

There is little time for closing windows or hunting for flashlights. It’s a good idea to know where things are, and to have an emergency storm kit already prepared.

Tornado Preparedness:

• In Sedgwick County, including Wichita, warning sirens will sound throughout Wichita and Sedgwick County as long as a tornado is found to endanger any part of Sedwick County. When sirens sound, that means stay inside and take cover.

• Consider setting up a neighborhood information program through a club, church group or community group. Hold briefings on safety procedures as tornado season approaches. Set up a system to make sure senior citizens and shut-ins are alerted if there is a tornado warning.

• Put together an emergency storm kit including
  • battery operated radio
  • flashlight
  • extra batteries
  • simple first-aid items in a waterproof container
  • Sedgwick County Disaster Kit Recommendations

• Make a complete inventory of your possessions for insurance purposes.

• Conduct drills with your family in the home; make sure each member knows the correct procedures if they are at work or school when a tornado hits.

During the Tornado

The safest place to be during a tornado is underground, preferably under something sturdy like a work bench.

If there’s no basement or cellar in your home, a small room in the middle of house — like a bathroom or a closet — is best. The more walls between you and the outside, the better.

If you are driving during a tornado

• Tornadoes can toss cars and large trucks around like toys. Never try to outrun a tornado.

• If you see a funnel cloud or hear a tornado warning issued on the radio or by siren, get out of your vehicle and seek a safe structure or lie down in a low area with your hands covering the back of your head and neck; keep alert for flash floods.

Office Buildings/Schools

• Learn emergency shelter plans in office buildings and schools you and your family frequent. If a specific shelter area does not exist, move into interior hallways or small rooms on the building’s lowest level. Avoid areas with glass and wide, freespan roofs.

• If you can’t get into a basement or designated shelter, move to the center of the lowest level of the building, away from windows, and lie flat.

If you are in a store or shopping mall

Go to a designated shelter area or to the center of the building on a low level. Stay away from large, open rooms and windows. Never seek shelter in cars in the parking lot.

State Farm® believes the information contained in the Disaster Survival House is reliable and accurate. We cannot, however, guarantee the performance of all items demonstrated or described in all situations. Always consult an experienced contractor or other expert to determine the best application of these ideas or products in your home.

Primary content reprinted from StateFarm.com

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