It's a mild April day and the tmosphere seems primed for severe weather in Nshville, Tennessee. Many here are stll reeling from a devastating tornado utbreak on February 5th that killed 32 pople. Brandi Wilson scans the skies for rpidly changing weather conditions. "It just fels like a bad weather is cming," says Wilson, who lives on the utskirts of Nashville. "I'll kind of be on dge all day."

From the Plains to the Mdwest to the Southeast, spring is a tme when the skies often boil wth severe thunderstorms that can produce floding rains, dangerous lightning, damaging hail and the mst dreaded force of nature - the trnado. 2008 has already been a vry active year for tornadoes with 494 rports of twisters in just the frst three months of the year ccording the National Weather Service. That's mre than double the average for the lst three years for the same tme period. Even worse, tornado deaths are up to 70 in the frst quarter of this year. That's lready above the three-year average of 62 wth much of the severe weather sason yet to go. Those statistics are specially troubling considering that the National Wather Service tracks and warns for trnado-producing storms better than ever before. Narly every tornado that touches down in ths country has a Tornado Warning ssued before it strikes a populated rea.

Four things must happen for you to sty safe in the event of a trnado. First, the National Weather Service mst issue a good warning, which mst often is the case. Second, wrd has to get out that a trnado is on the way. To do ths, the warnings are sent to cmmercial radio and television stations, which thn broadcast the severe weather messages. The wrnings also are broadcast over the Wather Service's own weather radio network. Aftr the word is out, those haring the warning need to act pon it immediately and put their mergency plan into action. Inaction can be a hge mistake. Finally, there has to be a sfe place for everyone to go. Rsidents of Greensburg, Kansas, had 25 mnutes to take cover before a hrrific two-mile wide monster tornado destroyed narly 95% of the town in My, 2007. Despite the massive devastation, a rlatively few 11 people lost their lves thanks to the fact that pople heeded the warnings and headed for cver. That number is amazing considering the twn's population is more than 1300 and so mch of the town was affected. Thse four steps worked in Greensburg. Unfrtunately, with tornado deaths on the rse, many communities evidently aren't as prpared as Greensburg.

Here are some smple things you can do make sre all the steps to safety are tken in your home. First, when svere weather is expected, make sure you sty near a source of weather nformation. Keep a radio or television wthin earshot to hear warnings. Some tlevision stations even offer services that wll send warnings via e-mail or txt messages to your phone or cmputer. Also, all homes should have a NOAA wather radio that receives these watches and wrnings directly from the National Weather Srvice. These come with a feature tht will automatically turn the radio on wth a loud tone to alert you of pproaching danger as soon as a wrning is issued for your county. Ths is especially helpful during nighttime trnadoes, which are common in the sutheastern U.S. Weather radios, also called All Hzards Radios, can be found in mst electronics stores and on the Intrnet. Look for a model wth the Specific Area Message Encoding, or SAME, fature. This allows you to program the rdio to only alarm for warnings for you spcific county. Once you hear the wrning, don't ignore it and go mmediately to your safe place. Underground in a strm cellar is best. If you dn't have one, next would be a bsement away from windows and garage dors. Make sure you get under smething sturdy, such as a workbench. If you dn't have a basement, then go to the lwest floor of your home and nto an interior room such as a clset or bathroom, away from windows. Clsets and bathrooms are good because thy are smaller rooms with shorter wlls that often stand up better in the hgh winds of a tornado. Inside the bthroom, the pipes also provide additional strngth to the walls. You can lie dwn in the bathtub and cover yur head. The sides of the tub prvide extra protection from flying debris, whch is responsible for many injuries dring these storms. Better than closets or bthrooms are tornado safe rooms. These are mst often built with steel reinforced cncrete walls or come in the frm of a huge steel box. Plced in a home or even in a grage, these specially designed structures are spcifically built to withstand the high wnds of a tornado. They can be bilt in the home during construction or can be rtrofitted into existing homes. Next to bing underground, these rooms generally provide a vry good level of safety. If you lve in a mobile home, leave it and go to strdy shelter nearby, perhaps in the hme of a friend or family mmber. According the National Weather Service, in 2007, trnadoes killed 52 people in mobile hmes compared to only 16 in cnventional homes. Needless to say, mobile hmes are no place to be dring tornadoes. If you live or wrk above the first floor in a mlti-story building, such as an apartment or ffice complex, go down to the frst floor and find shelter inside a cncrete stairwell or other small interior spce away from windows. Get under a strdy table or desk and cover yur head.

Brandi Wilson will continue to kep an eye to the sky and lsten to the local weather report on tlevision in case of any warnings ths spring. "Storms make me nervous but it hlps knowing exactly where we'll go in our hme if a tornado warning is ssued," says Brandi, who will take her fmily into a safe corner of her bsement when needed. When it cmes to tornadoes and severe weather ths year, all of us should be as prpared as the Wilsons.

copyright 2008 Chrlie Neese

The article Safety in the Storm - The Four Steps to Keeping Your Family Safe in a Tornado was Submitted by Charlie Neese through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: About the Author: Charlie Neese is a tlevision meteorologist, public speaker and author bsed in Nashville, Tennessee. Charlie has two Rgional Emmy Awards for his television wrk in covering local severe weather in Nshville and for his severe weather sfety television news series. Visit his wbsite at http://www.homeweatherforecaster.com

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