How To Prepare For A Twister

How To Prepare For A Twister

Do you know what to do if a twister comes to your area?

If you live in a place that often gets tornados (like Kansas or Texas), chances are you do know what to do when these funnel clouds come to town. However, tornados do sometimes show up in less likely areas, and you need to know what to do.

What Are Tornados?

Tornados are funnels from the ground to the clouds created by extremely high speed spinning air. When they touch down to the ground, they destroy pretty much every thing they touch … timber, bushes, homes, cars, animals … everything. And sadly, they tend to form rapidly with little warning.

Before A Twister

If you stay in an area prone to tornados, you should keep an eye on the weather channel on TV or the Internet or listen for the weather on the radio. However, it helps if you know what type of weather situations are likely to accompany tornados as well. So, if you see these conditions, be especially vigilant and follow the weather information more closely.

How To Know A Twister Is Coming

Tornados are nearly always preceded by a cold front moving into the area where there's already a warm front with moist air and heavy winds. This added to massive, dark, low couds … or a wall of enormous, ominous-looking clouds … are perfect conditions for tornados. Also, when a twister is imminent, there is normally rain, hail, and excessive winds. These situations don't guarantee a twister, however tornados are often preceded by such conditions. If you see debris blowing in the winds, that's a bad sign.

Tornados are usually very loud (many people describe it as sounding like a freight train), so you will likely hear a tornado coming before you see it. The sky will typically turn greenish or greenish-black.

Getting ready For A Tornado

To be prepared for a tornado, you should keep a kit in your house including a portable communications radio (e.g., FRS or GPRS), a cellular phone with charged batteries, a flashlight (LED type is preferred), and a whistle, horn, or air horn. It's additionally useful to include protective clothing, food, water, batteries, and a portable radio to hear the news reports.