*A tornado watch means tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, or both, are possible. Stay tuned to radio and television reports in your area.

*A tornado warning means you should take shelter immediately; a tornado has been sighted.

Tornado: A strong, rotating column of air extending from the base of a cumulonimbus cloud to the ground.

Funnel cloud: A rotating column of air extending from a cloud, but not reaching the ground.

Severe Thunderstorm: A thunderstorm with winds 58 mph or faster or hailstones three-quarters of an inch or larger in diameter.

What to do DURING a tornado watch:

1. Whenever severe thunderstorms are in your area, listen to radio and television newscasts for the latest information and instructions.

2. Watch the horizon. If you see any revolving funnel-shaped clouds, report them immediately by telephone to your local police department or sheriff’s office or dial 911. Remember that tornadoes can develop rapidly.

What to do BEFORE a tornado strikes:

1. Know the locations of designated shelter areas in public facilities; such as schools, public buildings, and shopping centers.

2. Have emergency supplies on hand.

3. Be sure everyone in your household knows in advance where to go and what to do in case of a tornado warning.

4. If you live in a single-family house in a tornado-prone area, reinforce an interior room to use as a shelter - the basement, storm cellar, or a closet on the lower level of your home.

What to do DURING a tornado :

1. When a tornado has been sighted, stay away from windows, doors and outside walls. Protect your head from falling objects or flying debris. Take cover immediately, wherever you are: In a house or small building, go to the basement or storm cellar. If there is no basement, go to an interior part of the structure on the lower level (closets, interior hallways). In either case, get under something sturdy (such as a heavy table) and stay there until the danger has passed.

The most dangerous place to be when a tornado hits is in a mobile home. In the United States, tornadoes killed 304 people from 1985 through 1990. Of these 99 people - nearly a third - were killed in mobile homes.

Tornadoes are nature’s most violent - and erratic - storms. A tornado can travel for miles along the ground, lift, and suddenly change direction and strike again. There is little you can do to protect your home or workplace from the strength of tornado winds, but there are actions you can take to better protect yourself and your family.

One basic rule to follow wherever you are is AVOID WINDOWS. An exploding window can injure or kill. Don’t take the time to open windows; get to shelter immediately.

The safest place in the home is the interior, preferably under something sturdy like the table. Stay out from under heavy objects like pianos or refrigerators located on the floor above.

If you have no basement, or cannot get there, go to an interior room on the lowest floor of the house, like a closet, hallway, or bathroom with no windows. For added protection, get under something, like a workbench or heavy table. If possible, cover your body with a blanket or sleeping bag and protect your head with anything available, even your hands.

Do not stay in a mobile home during a tornado. Even homes with a secure tie down system cannot with stand the force of tornado winds. Plan ahead. Make arrangements to stay with friends or neighbors who have basements. Go there if a tornado watch is issued. If a tornado warning is given, leave your mobile home and seek shelter nearby. Lie flat in a ditch or a ravine and put your arms over your head. Don’t take shelter under your home. Encourage your mobile home community to build a tornado shelter if you live in a tornado prone area.

The least desirable place to be during a tornado is in a motor vehicle. Cars, buses, and trucks are tossed easily by tornado winds. Do not try to outrun a tornado in your car.

If you see a tornado, stop your vehicle, and get out. Seek shelter away from the car in a nearby ditch or ravine; do not get under your vehicle. Lie flat and put your arms over your head.

Long span buildings are especially dangerous because the entire roof structure is usually supported solely by the outside walls. Inside walls are usually false or non-load bearing walls. If you are caught in an open building like a shopping mall, civic center, indoor pool, theater, or gymnasium during a tornado, stay away from windows. Get into the restroom, if possible. In larger buildings, the restrooms are usually made from concrete blocks. Besides having the four walls and plumbing holding things together, the metal partitions help support any falling debris.

If there is not time to go anywhere, seek shelter right where you are. Try to get up against something that will support or deflect falling debris. For instance, in a department store, get up against heavy shelving or counters. In a theater, get under the seats. Remember to protect your head.

Extra precautions are needed in these structures. Not only is there a large concentration of people in a small area, but these buildings usually have large amounts of glass on the outside walls. Get into the innermost portions on the lowest floor possible. Avoid windows and glass doorways. Do not use elevators; the power may go off and you could become trapped. Protect your head and make yourself as small a target as possible by crouching down.

If you are caught outside during a tornado and there is no underground shelter immediately available, lie in a gully, ditch, or low spot in the ground.

Open Windows don’t save houses

If a tornado ever threatens your house, don’t run around opening windows. It wastes time you should be using to take shelter. Open windows aren’t needed to keep unequal air pressure from making the house explode as once thought. Tornado winds, not unequal pressure, destroy buildings.

1. Air pressure inside tornado can be 10 percent lower than outside...

2...but houses have openings other than windows that will relieve pressure differences.

3. Winds as low as 60 mph can lift roofs that aren’t well attached...

4. Flying debris often breaks windows, allowing wind inside to push up on the roof and out on the walls.

5. If wind rips off the roof, the walls often fall outward , leading to the mistaken impression that air pressure had exploded the building.

MYTH: Windows should always be opened to equalize pressure.
FACT: Opening windows to equalize pressure during a tornado is ineffective in reducing damage. Don’t worry about the windows; worry about protecting yourself. Also, flying glass is a real hazard.

MYTH: Mobile Homes are safe if they’re tied down.
FACT: A mobile home is never safe in a violent windstorm; such as a tornado. If you’re in a mobile home when a tornado watch is announced, leave and go mmediately to a safe structure, or be prepared to take cover in a low area, covering your head and the back of your neck. Remember: If your’re in a ditch or ravine, be alert for flash floods that often accompany tornadoes.

MYTH: You can outrun a Tornado in a car.
FACT: Don’t bet your life on it. A tornado is unpre dictable; you can’t know which way it’s going to go, or how fast. If you’re in a car and a tornado is near, get away from the car and lie in a ditch or a low area, protecting your head with your hands.

MYTH: The best place to be during a Tornado is in the southwest corner of a building.
FACT: The southwest corner is no safer than any other part of the building. The safest place is to be in a basement under something sturdy, like a workbench. If there is no basement, seek shelter in a small interior room in the middle of the building, like a closet, or a bathroom.

Always stay away from outside walls and windows.

Tornadoes are nature’s most violent storms. It appears as a rotating, funnel-shaped cloud that extends to the ground with whirling winds that can reach 300 mph. Damage paths can be in excess of one mile wide and 50 miles long. They most often appear during late spring and summer, usually in late afternoon. They are generally associated with thunderstorm or hurricane activity but can occur alone.

TORNADO WATCH: means conditions are favorable for the formation of this type of storm.

TORNADO WARNING: means a tornado has been spotted...be prepared to take shelter

-ask about community warning signals
-always have a battery powered radio and extra batteries on hand
-learn the designated shelters of places you and your family spend time; such as mall, public buildings, nursing homes
-learn whether your children’s schools have been inspected for shelter space by an engineer or architect and know the school plan of action
-always have a emergency supply kit on hand
-make an inventory of your possessions and keep in a safe place away from premises
-teach all family members out-of-state contact phone number in the event you are separated. This provides you with a central point of communication away from local phone line outages.

THINGS TO DO:

-if you are home, go into an interior room like a closet or bedroom, away from windows, doors and outside walls. For extra protection, get under a sturdy piece of furniture. Protect your head.
-if you are away from home, take shelter in a steel frame or reinforced concrete building
-if you are outside, lie flat in a ditch and protect your head
-if you are in a high-rise building go to a small, interior room or hallway on the lowest floor possible

DON’T:

-try to out-drive a tornado, they are erratic and move swiftly
-stay in a car or mobile home
-stay in a building with a wide roof span

THUNDERSTORMS: Our area is prone to thunderstorms, especially during hot summer afternoons. At signs of an impending storm, high towering thunderheads, dark skies, lightning, increased wind...tune into local radio or television stations for the latest weather information.

The underrated killers! ————What You Can Do!

Before the Storm...

-Know the county or parish in which you live and the names of nearby cities. Severe weather warnings are issued on a county or parish basis.
-Check the weather forecast before leaving for extended periods outdoors.
-Watch for signs of approaching storms.
-If a storm is approaching, keep a NOAA Weather Radio or AM/FM radio with you.
-Postpone outdoor activities if thunderstorms are imminent. This is your best way to avoid being caught in a dangerous situation.
-Check on those who have trouble taking shelter if severe weather threatens.

When Thunderstorms Approach..

-Remember: if you can hear thunder, you are close enough to the storm to be struck by lightning.
-Go to safe shelter immediately!
-Move to a sturdy building or car. Do not take shelter in small sheds, under isolated trees, or convertible automobiles.
-If lightning is occurring and a sturdy shelter is not available, get inside a hard top automobile and keep windows up.
-Get out of boats and away from water.
-Telephone lines and metal pipes can conduct electricity. Unplug appliances not necessary for obtaining weather information. Avoid using the telephone or any electrical appliances. Use phones ONLY in an emergency.
-Do not take a bath or shower.
-Turn off air conditioners. Power surges from lightning can overload the compressors.
-Get to higher ground if flash flooding or flooding is possible. Once flooding begins, abandon cars and climb to higher ground. Do not attempt to drive to safety.

-Find a low spot away from trees, fences, and poles. Make sure the place you pick is not subject to flooding.
-If you are in the woods, take shelter under the shorter trees.
-If you feel your skin tingle or your hair stand on end, squat low to the ground on the balls of your feet. Place your hands on your knees with your hands on your knees with your headbetween them. Make yourself the smallest target possible, and minimize your contact with the ground.
-If you are boating or swimming, get to land and find shelter immediately!

STAY INFORMED ABOUT THE STORM by listening to NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio, and television for the latest severe thunderstorrn WATCHES and WARNINGS. Watch the sky and stay tuned to know when warnings are issued. Watches are intended to heighten public awareness and should not be confused with warnings. When conditions are favorable for severe weather to develop, a severe thunderstorm WATCH is issued.

Weather Service personnel use information from weather radar, satellite, lightning detection, spotters, and other sources to issue severe thunderstorm WARNINGS for areas where severe weather is imminent.

Severe thunderstorm warnings are passed to local radio and television stations and are broadcasted over local NOAA Weather Radio stations serving the warned areas. These warnings are also relayed to local emergency preparedness and public safety officials who can activate the local warning system to alert communities.

DO

-if you hear a severe thunderstorm warning, stay indoors
-if you are swimming or boating, get out immediately
-if you are outside, crouch down on the balls of your feet when you feel your hair stand on end
-if you are inside unplug all unnecessary appliances
-avoid bathtubs, water faucets and sinks; pipes can conduct electricity

DON’T

-stand near trees, poles, overhead wires or water
-touch metal objects like bikes, golf clubs or fences
-plug in electrical equipment such as hair dryers or razors
-use the telephone except for emergencies

Storm Surge

Storm surge is a large dome of water pushed up in advance of a hurricane making landfall. This dome of water can exceed 20 feet or more, depending on the strength of the hurricane. It’s important to differentiate storm surge from a tsunami (incorrectly referred to as a "tidal wave"). Storm surge is a large amount of water, on top of which there is heavy wave action. A storm surge can last for several hours.

Storm Surge: Hurricanes’ big killer

Hurricanes are usually described in terms of their wind speeds, but flooding caused by the high water kills many more people than wind. Flooding also is responsible for much of the damage, especially within a few hundred yards of the shoreline. Boats ripped from their moorings, utility poles, parts of destroyed buildings, and other debris crashing in the waves atop hurricane surge often destroy buildings that stood up to the wind. Even without the weight of debris, water is a powerfully destructive force. A cubic foot of sea water weighs 64 pounds.

Water does more than batter; it scours away the sand of beaches and dunes. High water and pounding waves carry away the sand under sea walls, buildings, and roads. As the water begins rising in advance of the storm - sometimes hours in advance - it erodes the beach and then the dunes or undercuts buildings behind the beach. Storm surge isn’t a killer only along beaches facing the ocean; water is also pushed into bays and rivers. As the surge of water squeezes up a narrowing bay or river, it rises even higher.