Do you live in a tornado prone area?  I do, and when my wife and I moved 3000 miles across the country to the South, I was surprised to find out that most houses in our area do not have basements. Many homes around here are on a slab foundation, and I was told that one of the reasons for this is due to flooding risks in our area.  I did some research about where to go for shelter if we have a tornado warning, and below is what I have found along with some other tornado safety advice.  The safest place to be during a Tornado Warning is completely underground or in a safe room.  If you have an underground shelter, basement, or access to a safe-room built to FEMA standards during a tornado warning, use it. If not, below is some advice for you.

If you do not have a basement, safe-room, or underground shelter during a tornado warning, and you don’t have time to go somewhere that does, go to the lowest level of the building you are in to a small interior room with no windows, like a closet, bathroom,or under a stairwell.  Have as many walls between you and the exterior as possible. Consider taking shelter in the bathtub since it may be anchored directly to the floor, and the plumbing may reinforce the walls for further protection.  If possible, protect yourself with blankets, couch cushions, pillows, and/or other objects.

If you live in an upstairs apartment or condo, or have neighbors that do have a basement, try to develop a good relationship with them, and discuss the possibility of seeking shelter in their apartment/house during a tornado warning. 

Also, some businesses and/or Public buildings may have community tornado shelter/safe room built to FEMA standards.  If your area has a local emergency preparedness department, contact them to see if they have information regarding local tornado shelters.  Be aware that these shelters may not always be open at night or on the weekends.

Tornado Watch/Warning At Night

In tornado prone areas, tornado watches at night while you are sleeping are somewhat common.  If you have family or friends that live near you with a basement in their home, you may want to ask them if you can sleep in their basement if you have a tornado watch issued during the night.   

According to the articles that I read, the average time from receiving a tornado warning till the time it strikes your location (if it strikes your location) is about 13 minutes.

In some cases, you may have more time to find shelter if it is a long tracking tornado.  Know what your options; if you have time, consider  getting to a building with a better shelter if your home does not have a basement.  If you do seek a shelter away from you location, make sure you have enough time to get to it;  there may be a lot of traffic if others are also trying to escape the tornado or get to better shelter.   

There have been multiple nights when there has been a tornado watch issued all night long while we were sleeping, and our bedroom was on the 2nd floor of the house that we were renting. 

If we had a basement, we would have just slept in the basement all night, but since we didn’t, I wanted to be woken up so we could go down to the bathroom on the first floor if we had a tornado warning.

For those of you that don’t know, a Tornado Watch is issued if there are weather conditions that increase the likelihood that a tornado will develop.  A Tornado Warning is issued if a tornado has been spotted or is indicated by weather radar. 

There are a couple of options for Emergency Tornado Alerts at night while you are sleeping.  In my case, I wanted an Alert for a Tornado Warning (Not a Tornado Watch), so it would wake me up in the middle of the night if needed.

Emergency Alerts on you Cell Phone

The first option to receive Emergency Alerts is on your cell phone.  Most smart phones today have an option to receive Emergency Alerts and Amber Alerts, but older cell phones may not have this option.  

If you’ve owned your phone fora little while, you have likely received one of these alerts if they are enabled.  If you plan on using your phone to wake you during a tornado warning, make sure you have the alerts enabled and the volume for alerts turned on while you sleep. 

What Emergency Alerts are sent to my phone?

In 2012, the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system was activated, and alerts were sent to people’s phones without any additional apps or subscriptions needed. 

The WEA sends out Extreme Weather and other Threatening Emergencies, Amber Alerts, and Presidential Alerts during a National Emergency.

How to turn on Emergency Alerts- Iphone

• Open Settings on your Iphone
• Tap on Notifications
• Scroll Down to the very Bottom of the Screen
• Under Government Alerts, make sure Emergency Alerts are Turned On

How to Turn On Emergency Alerts- Android

Enabling Emergency Alerts is different on some android phones.  I will tell you how I did it on my Galaxy:

• Open Settings
• Tap on Messages
• Tap on Emergency Alerts
• You can Turn On/Off Extreme Alerts, Severe Alerts, and Amber Alerts.  Turning On/Off Presidential Alerts is not an option.

If the guide above does not work for your android, search your settings for “Cell Broadcasts”, “Emergency”, or in your notifications to see if you can find them there.  If that doesn’t work, go here, and here for more information that may help.

Difference between Extreme Alerts and Severe Alerts on Android

If you are wondering what the difference is between Severe and Extreme alerts when deciding what to turn on/off, according to weather.gov, an Extreme Alert may consist of:

• Tsunami Warning
• Tornado Warning
• Extreme Wind Warning
• Hurricane Warning
• Typhoon Warning

A Severe Alert may Consists of:

• Storm Surge Warning
• Snow Squall Warning
• Flash Flood Warning
• Dust Storm Warning

NOAA Weather Radio

Another option for receiving Emergency Alerts is buying a NOAA Radio with Alerts.  I recommend having a NOAA radio for your Emergency Kit regardless of if you plan on using it to wake you up for a tornado warning or not.

There are a lot of different options for NOAA radios, but I recommend buying one that can take batteries as the primary or back-up power source in the event that you lose power in your area.   I also recommend buying a portable radio that you can take with you if you need to evacuate your location. 

Whatever you buy, make sure that you have it programmed to the proper station, and make sure you read the instructions so you know that you will receive an alert that will wake you up if you get a tornado warning.

Should I go into my crawlspace during a tornado?

It Depends.  I know that’s not the answer you’re looking for (me neither), but I have read differing opinions online, and:

Some crawlspaces may be more dangerous to be in than an interior room on the lowest floor due to the possibility of being crushed by the building.  The material of the foundation should be a determining factor when deciding whether to seek shelter in your crawl space or not, since the foundation may weaken and move during a storm.

 A foundation built with cinder blocks or wood will not offer as much protection as a foundation made of concrete. If you do take shelter in your crawl space, try to avoid being under heavy objects, like appliances or heavy furniture. 

Below is a video (not made by me) about using a crawl space during a tornado:

Safest Location in the Basement during a Tornado

It was once believed that the safest location was the SouthWest corner of the basement due to most storms coming from that direction, but this is no longer the case. 

For those of you fortunate enough to have a basement during a tornado warning, the safest location in a basement is away from any windows, and towards the interior of the basement.  Under the stairs is a good option.   Try to avoid being directly under heavy objects on the floor above you, like appliances, a piano, or heavy furniture.

Tornado Safe Rooms

A Safe Room designed to meet FEMA guidelines (FEMA P-320, and FEMA P-361) will provide you with “very high probability of being protected from injury or death“.  These Safe Rooms may be either above ground or below ground.  You may have Public or Community Safe Rooms in your area.

If you own your home, building or having a Safe Room installed is an option, although they are not cheap. Public funding may be available to assist you with the cost of building a safe room.  Above ground safe rooms may be a good option for the handicapped or elderly people, if getting downstairs is difficult.  

According to FEMA’s Website, FEMA does not endorse, approve, or certify any products, and does not have an approval process for reviewing or certifying the design or construction of safe rooms.  FEMA does not endorse any contractors or safe room installers.

Safe Room Installers should notify their customers if their safe rooms have been properly designed and built to meet FEMA’s guidelines, and should provide supporting documentation of testing results.  Some States have their own certification programs.  Contact you State’s Emergency Management department to ask for more information. Below is an example of some tornado shelters on ebay.com (trueemergency.com does not recommend or guarantee the quality of any shelter advertised below). Please do your own research on a tornado shelter/saferoom before purchasing one, or installing one.

Conclusion

I hope you found the above information helpful.  I currently live in a condo with a slab foundation (2nd home we have lived in since moving to the South), but am planning on either buying a house with a basement, or building a safe room in house that we buy.  For now, my plan is to seek shelter in my bathtub on the 1st floor if we get a tornado warning.  Stay Safe!