Tornado Safety by Kelly BurkholderAllen, RN, MSEd

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Tornado Safetyby Kelly Burkholder-Allen, RN,
MSEd
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Tornadoes occur in many parts of the world, but
are most frequently found in the United
StatesOn an average year, approximately 1,200
tornadoes cause 70 fatalities and 1,500 injuries
in our nationhttp//www.spc.noaa.gov
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Tornado Season

• Tornadoes can occur at any time throughout the
  year
• No state is immune from tornadoes, but are most
  commonly seen east of the Rocky Mountains during
  the spring and summer
• Southern states experience peak tornado season is
  from March thru May
• Northern states experience their peak season
  during late spring and early summer

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Tornado Time?Tornadoes are most likely to occur
between the 3 PM and 9 PM, but can occur ANYTIME!
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Are you prepared for this tornado season?

• Have you conducted/participated in a drill in
  your home, office, or school?
• Are disaster supplies on hand?
• Does your home, office, or school have an
  emergency communications plan?
• Do you know what to do before, during, and after
  a tornado?

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Tornado Terms

• Tornado Watch
• Is issued by the National Weather Service (NWS)
  when tornadoes are possible. At this time, it is
  prudent to remain alert for approaching storms,
  listed to the radio or television for further
  developments
• Tornado Warning
• Is issued when a tornado has been sighted or
  indicated by weather radar

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Danger Signs

• An approaching cloud of debris can mark the
  location of a tornado or funnel cloud
• Before a tornado strikes, the wind may diminish
  and the air becomes very still
• Tornadoes usually occur in the trailing edge of a
  thunderstormthe quiet after the storm
• A funny greenish or greenish black color of the
  sky
• Clouds moving VERY FAST
• The sound of rushing water which gets louder and
  sounds like a railroad train or airplane as it
  approaches
• Debris dropping from the sky

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Tornadoes

• A tornado is a violently rotating column of air
  extending from a thunderstorm to the ground
• May have a transparent appearance until dust and
  debris are picked up, or a cloud forms within the
  funnel cloud
• The average forward speed is 30mph, although it
  can vary from a near standstill to 70mph

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Tornadoes

• The most intense tornadoes have rotating winds of
  up to 250 mph.
• Waterspouts are tornadoes which have formed over
  warm water
• Waterspouts can make landfall and cause damage

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Necessary disaster supplies

• It is important to have the following supplies on
  hand in the event of a disaster
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• Portable, battery operated radio with extra
  batteries
• Emergency food and water (3 day supply)
• Manual can opener
• Essential medications
• Cash and credit cards
• Sturdy shoes and work gloves
• Written instructions for turning off the
  utilities in your home
• For additional information about disaster
  supplies, go to
• http//www.arc.org

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Emergency Communications Plan

• In the event that family members are separated
  during a tornado or other disaster, it is
  important to have a plan for communicating with
  each other
• Ask an out of state friend or relative to serve
  as the contact person (make sure that all
  family members know the name, address, and phone
  number for this person)
• Appoint a meeting place where you can all
  congregate

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Having a drill

• No matter where you are when a tornado strikes
  you should know
• Where to go
• What to avoid
• How to protect yourself and others

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Where to go during a storm?

• At home
• Go to an interior room without windows, storm
  cellar, basement, inner room or hallway without
  windows
• Get under sturdy furniture
• Use arms to protect head and neck
• If in a mobile home, get out and find shelter
  elsewhere
• At work or school
• Go to the basement or an inside hallway on the
  lowest level
• Avoid places with wide-span roofs (auditoriums,
  cafeterias, large hallways, malls)
• Get under sturdy furniture
• Protect head and neck with arms

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Where to go during a storm

• If outdoors
• If possible, get inside a building
• If indoor shelter is not possible, lie in a ditch
  or low-lying ravine (be aware of the potential
  for flooding)
• Crouch near a strong building
• Use arms to protect head and neck
• If in a car
• Never try to out-drive a tornado! They can often
  change direction and lift a vehicle up and toss
  it.
• Immediately seek shelter in a building
• If there is not time to get indoors, get out of
  the car and lie in a ditch or low-lying area
  (beware of the potential for flooding)
• Use arms to protect head and neck
• Additional information can be accessed at
• http//www.tornadoproject.com/safety/safety/htm.

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What to do after a storm

• Offer aid and assistance to trapped or injured
  persons
• Give first aid as needed
• Dont try to move any seriously injured persons
  unless immediate danger is present
• Call for help
• Turn on radio/television to get emergency
  information
• Stay out of damaged buildings
• Use telephones only for emergency calls
• Clean up spilled medications and hazardous
  materials
• Leave the building if you smell gas or chemicals
• Take pictures of damagebuildings and contents

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Watching the skies

• The National Weather Service (NWS) has placed
  Doppler radars across the country which detect
  air movement toward or away from radar
• This early detection of increasing rotations
  aloft within thunderstorms makes warnings possible

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Fun fact from NWS

• A tornado near Yellowstone National Park left a
  path of destruction up and down a 10,000 foot
  mountain!

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Tornado Intensity

• Weak tornadoes account for 88 of all tornadoes
  (wind speed gt110 mph)
• Cause gt5 of tornado deaths
• Have a lifespan of 1-10 minutes
• Strong tornadoes account for 11 of all tornadoes
  (wind speed 110-205 mph)
• Cause nearly 30 of deaths
• Lifespan of 20 minutes
• Violent tornadoes account for less than 1 of all
  tornadoes (winds lt205 mph)
• 70 of all tornado deaths
• Lifetime can exceed 1 hour!

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Fujita-Pearson Tornado Scale

• F-0 40-72 mph, chimney damage, tree branches
  broken
• F-1 73-112 mph, mobile homes pushed off of
  foundations or overturned
• F-2 113-157 mph, considerable damage, mobile
  homes destroyed, trees uprooted
• F-3 158-205 mph, roofs and walls torn down,
  trains overturned, cars thrown
• F-4 207-260 mph, well constructed walls are
  leveled
• F-5 261-316 mph, homes lifted off foundations
  and carried considerable distances, autos lifted
  as far as 100 meters
• http//www.fema.gov/hazards/tornadoes/tornadof.sht
  m