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It's a mild April day and the tmosphere seems primed for severe weather in N shville, Tennessee. Many here are st ll reeling from a devastating tornado utbreak on February 5th that killed 32 p ople. Brandi Wilson scans the skies for r pidly changing weather conditions. "It just f els like a bad weather is c ming," says Wilson, who lives on the utskirts of Nashville. "I'll kind of be on dge all day." From the Plains to the M dwest to the Southeast, spring is a t me when the skies often boil w th severe thunderstorms that can produce fl oding rains, dangerous lightning, damaging hail and the m st dreaded force of nature - the t rnado. 2008 has already been a v ry active year for tornadoes with 494 r ports of twisters in just the f rst three months of the year ccording the National Weather Service. That's m re than double the average for the l st three years for the same t me period. Even worse, tornado deaths are up to 70 in the f rst quarter of this year. That's lready above the three-year average of 62 w th much of the severe weather s ason yet to go. Those statistics are specially troubling considering that the National W ather Service tracks and warns for t rnado-producing storms better than ever before. N arly every tornado that touches down in th s country has a Tornado Warning ssued before it strikes a populated rea.
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Four things must happen for you to st y safe in the event of a t rnado. First, the National Weather Service m st issue a good warning, which m st often is the case. Second, w rd has to get out that a t rnado is on the way. To do th s, the warnings are sent to c mmercial radio and television stations, which th n broadcast the severe weather messages. The w rnings also are broadcast over the W ather Service's own weather radio network. Aft r the word is out, those h aring the warning need to act pon it immediately and put their mergency plan into action. Inaction can be a h ge mistake. Finally, there has to be a s fe place for everyone to go. R sidents of Greensburg, Kansas, had 25 m nutes to take cover before a h rrific two-mile wide monster tornado destroyed n arly 95% of the town in M y, 2007. Despite the massive devastation, a r latively few 11 people lost their l ves thanks to the fact that p ople heeded the warnings and headed for c ver. That number is amazing considering the t wn's population is more than 1300 and so m ch of the town was affected. Th se four steps worked in Greensburg. Unf rtunately, with tornado deaths on the r se, many communities evidently aren't as pr pared as Greensburg. Here are some s mple things you can do make s re all the steps to safety are t ken in your home. First, when s vere weather is expected, make sure you st y near a source of weather nformation. Keep a radio or television w thin earshot to hear warnings. Some t levision stations even offer services that w ll send warnings via e-mail or t xt messages to your phone or c mputer. Also, all homes should have a NOAA w ather radio that receives these watches and w rnings directly from the National Weather S rvice. These come with a feature th t will automatically turn the radio on w th a loud tone to alert you of pproaching danger as soon as a w rning is issued for your county. Th s is especially helpful during nighttime t rnadoes, which are common in the s utheastern U.S. Weather radios, also called All H zards Radios, can be found in m st electronics stores and on the Int rnet. Look for a model w th the Specific Area Message Encoding, or SAME, f ature. This allows you to program the r dio to only alarm for warnings for you sp cific county. Once you hear the w rning, don't ignore it and go mmediately to your safe place. Underground in a st rm cellar is best. If you d n't have one, next would be a b sement away from windows and garage d ors. Make sure you get under s mething sturdy, such as a workbench. If you d n't have a basement, then go to the l west floor of your home and nto an interior room such as a cl set or bathroom, away from windows. Cl sets and bathrooms are good because th y are smaller rooms with shorter w lls that often stand up better in the h gh winds of a tornado. Inside the b throom, the pipes also provide additional str ngth to the walls. You can lie d wn in the bathtub and cover y ur head. The sides of the tub pr vide extra protection from flying debris, wh ch is responsible for many injuries d ring these storms. Better than closets or b throoms are tornado safe rooms. These are m st often built with steel reinforced c ncrete walls or come in the f rm of a huge steel box. Pl ced in a home or even in a g rage, these specially designed structures are sp cifically built to withstand the high w nds of a tornado. They can be b ilt in the home during construction or can be r trofitted into existing homes. Next to b ing underground, these rooms generally provide a v ry good level of safety. If you l ve in a mobile home, leave it and go to st rdy shelter nearby, perhaps in the h me of a friend or family m mber. According the National Weather Service, in 2007, t rnadoes killed 52 people in mobile h mes compared to only 16 in c nventional homes. Needless to say, mobile h mes are no place to be d ring tornadoes. If you live or w rk above the first floor in a m lti-story building, such as an apartment or ffice complex, go down to the f rst floor and find shelter inside a c ncrete stairwell or other small interior sp ce away from windows. Get under a st rdy table or desk and cover y ur head.
Brandi Wilson will continue to k ep an eye to the sky and l sten to the local weather report on t levision in case of any warnings th s spring. "Storms make me nervous but it h lps knowing exactly where we'll go in our h me if a tornado warning is ssued," says Brandi, who will take her f mily into a safe corner of her b sement when needed. When it c mes to tornadoes and severe weather th s year, all of us should be as pr pared as the Wilsons. copyright 2008 Ch rlie 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 t levision meteorologist, public speaker and author b sed in Nashville, Tennessee. Charlie has two R gional Emmy Awards for his television w rk in covering local severe weather in N shville and for his severe weather s fety television news series. Visit his w bsite at http://www.homeweatherforecaster.com
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