Tornado Safety: Shelter in (another) Place

If you’ve taken the time to think about your tornado safety plan – whether it’s a formal written plan that’s thought out and rehearsed, or just something you have in the back of your head – you’re way ahead of most people and I commend you! But just because you have a plan doesn’t mean it’s a good plan, or that it will work.

We recently asked people on the NWS Norman Facebook page, what they would do if they were in a tornado warning, and their responses give us some interesting insight into their individual tornado safety plans. Most of the comments fall into several basic categories, and I wanted to dig a little deeper into some of the more common responses.

Up first, here are some things to think about for safety plans that revolve around leaving your home and sheltering somewhere else. (This does not include the more vague “fleeing the tornado” option, where people leave their homes with no clear destination in mind. That one deserves its own post, coming soon.)

“If there’s a tornado, I’m going to my neighbor’s shelter.”

It’s quite likely that hundreds of people survived the May 20, 2014 Newcastle-OKC-Moore tornado by taking shelter in a neighbor’s above ground safe room or underground storm shelter. It’s a great idea and I encourage everyone to consider it as an option if you don’t have a shelter of your own. However, there are some important considerations if this is your plan:

• talk to them before the storms and make sure that they are expecting you. You don’t want to be banging on the door while the tornado is coming down your street.
• it’s critical that you and they agree in advance on how many people they can accommodate, whether pets are allowed, and how much room there might be for your personal items. No surprises!
• double check with them on the day severe weather is forecast just to be safe.

“I’m going to drive to a hospital/mall/college/etc to take shelter.”

With just about every tornado threat in the OKC metro area, thousands of people flock to just about any public building you can imagine to seek shelter, and this includes the National Weather Center. Hundreds of people showed up at the NWC on May 24, 2011 (video), and over 1000 people, and hundreds of pets crammed into every available space on May 31, 2013. There is a shelter area big enough for people who work and go to school in the building, but NOT for 1000 people and pets!

Like the National Weather Center, the the majority of the buildings where people congregate during a tornado threat are not designed to be tornado shelters, and are not equipped to operate as a public shelter. I do not recommend or condone this practice!

If you think a public building might be a shelter in your community, it is critical that you verify that you are allowed to shelter there before the storms! If it is a “shelter,” you should learn about their pet policy. Some facilities will NOT let you bring your pets into the building, and you probably don’t want to find this out standing at the door as the sirens are sounding. Wherever you shelter, you are responsible for your pet! Don’t go to a shelter without a leash and/or carrier, and be prepared to clean up their messes!

“I’m going to a community or public shelter”

Many communities do not have public or community storm shelters, so if this is your plan, you need to find this out before the storms! If your community is one that has official public shelters, you need to do your homework before the storms to understand how they operate. When will the shelter open? Can you bring pets? Where do you park?

You should plan on being totally self-sufficient when you go to a public shelter. Everyone should take their own food, water, medications, etc. Again, you are also responsible for your pet (if they allow pets in the shelter) – bring food and water for them, too, and be prepared to deal with the messes they make. That’s YOUR responsibility, NOT the people who are allowing you to shelter there!

Jason and Desiree Miller from Tushka, Oklahoma had a plan when a large tornado was approaching their town on April 14, 2011. The town had two community storm shelters, and their plan was to drive there and take shelter. For whatever reason, they did not drive there early enough, and by the time they arrived, the tornado was upon them and the shelter doors had been locked. They were forced to ride out the tornado outside in the parking lot. Read more about their story here, and watch this surveillance video showing what they had to endure (start at around 4:40 when they drive up to the building.)

I’ll look at some other safety plan suggestions in future posts.