Safe and Secure, Underground

Tornado Safety Tips for Jackson, TN and West Tennessee

• Pick a place where the family members can gather if a tornado is headed your way. Make sure everyone knows where to go.
• Assemble a Disaster Supplies kit containing:
  • First aid kit
  • Canned food and can opener
  • Battery-powered radio and flashlights ,extra batteries
  • At least 3 gallons of water
  • Protective clothing
  • Sleeping bags or blankets and pillows
  • Special items if infants, elderly or disabled family members
  • Written instructions on how to turn off electricity, gas, and water if authorities advise you to do so
  • Flashlights or glow sticks for light in your shelter
• Conduct periodic tornado drills so everyone remembers what to do when a tornado is approaching.

When a Tornado Watch Is Issued:

• Listen to Local radio and tv stations for further updates.
• Be alert to changing weather conditions. Blowing debris or the sound of approaching tornado may alert you. Many people say it sounds like a freight train.

When a Tornado Warning Is Issued:

• If you are inside, go to the safe place you picked to protect yourself from glass and other flying objects. The tornado may be approaching your area.
• If you are outside, hurry to the basement of a nearby sturdy building or lie flat in a ditch or low-lying area.
• If you are in car or mobile home, get out immediately and head for safety (above).

Tornado Warning Signs:

• A sound a little like a waterfall or rushing air at first, then turning into a roar as it comes closer.
• If you see a tornado and it is not moving to the right or to the left relative to trees or power poles, it may be moving towards you.
• Tornados usually move from the southwest to northeast.
• A sickly greenish or greenish black color to the sky
• If there is a tornado warning or watch posted, then the fall of hail should be considered as a real danger.
• A strange quiet that occurs within or shortly after the thunderstorm.
• Clouds moving by very fast. Especially in a rotating pattern or converging toward one area in the sky.

Tornado Facts:

• Jackson has been hit by 3 EF-4 tornados in the past 10 years.
• Tennessee is not ranked high in number of tornados, but is ranked number 1 in the nation for the tornados we have being deadly.
• Tornados strike with incredible velocity. Wind speeds may approach 300 miles per hour.
• A Tornado is only a tornado if it’s in contact with the ground. Otherwise, it’s a funnel.
• Tornados can be nearly invisible, marked only by swirling debris at the base of the funnel.
• Most, but not all, tornados in the northern hemisphere spin counter-clockwise, or cyclonically.
• Leave the windows alone when a tornado is coming. It’s a myth that tornados causes houses to explode due to changes of air pressure.
• Close to 1,000 tornados are reported every year in the United States.

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