What to do before, during, and after a tornado
4 minute read • Graham Lumley • Last update July 2024
Follow these tornado safety precautions to ensure the safety of your family and property.
The first step in mastering how to prepare for a tornado is creating an emergency kit for your household. Your kit should include:
Stay informed about what to do during a tornado by signing up for alerts from your community’s warning system. If sirens are part of your local emergency alert system (EAS), ensure all family members know the warning tone to listen out for so they can act swiftly.
Additionally, you should utilize NOAA weather radio for real-time updates. Local news and official tornado watch social media accounts may also provide critical information, and NOAA’s National Weather Service offers live updates on all current tornado watches.
A tornado emergency can occur at any time, so your plan should be designed based on the unique needs of your family routines and the type of home you live in. You may need plans that cover the following:
Moving quickly to a pre-planned, safe location is essential. If you don’t have access to a dedicated safe room, storm cellar, or storm shelter built to ICC 500 standards, select a small interior room or hallway on the lowest floor and make sure all family members know to meet there when a tornado strikes.
If the tornado is visible yet far away, you may be able to avoid its path by driving at a right angle. However, it’s best not to take unnecessary chances, as fallen power lines and flying debris can significantly impact driving conditions.
Therefore, the best tornado safety tips while driving are to park your car and seek safe shelter immediately. If that’s impossible, find a low-lying area to pull up in, keep your seat belt on, cover yourself with a coat or blanket, and position your head below window level until the danger has passed.
Mobile homes offer little protection. So, if a tornado warning is issued, you should leave and seek shelter immediately in the nearest safe location, which is likely a nearby building or community storm shelter. Wear thick-soled shoes to avoid injuries from debris such as broken glass, and wrap up in a coat or blanket to avoid breathing dust.
Regularly practicing your plan ensures everyone in your household knows what to do during a tornado watch and where to go should a tornado come your way. Conduct drills to reinforce essential actions like:
It’s also advisable to regularly check that each household member has access to the most up-to-date weather reports and apps on their cell phones. Storm Shield is a particularly good choice, as it’s a free app the whole family can use.
Let’s recap and help get your tornado safety plan finalized with this quick list of top tornado safety tips:
Sustained caution is required even after a tornado passes to ensure ongoing safety and efficient recovery. Top safety tips for a tornado’s aftermath include the following action points:
Texas resides within an area nicknamed “Tornado Alley” has more tornadoes than any other state, averaging 137 per year, one-third of which happen in May. However, regardless of where your home is located in Texas, advanced preparation is paramount in protecting human life.
Not every tornado watch will result in a tornado warning, so understanding the difference between these two terms is crucial:
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