Your tornado safe spot at home and how to practice it

The Midwest and the Southeast have a greater risk of tornadoes. Choose where everyone goes on a calm afternoon, when you can stand in the room and see whether it works.

Pick the spot

The safest place is a safe room built to FEMA criteria, or a storm shelter built to the ICC 500 standard. Next comes a basement, a storm cellar, or a small interior room with no windows on the lowest floor of a sturdy building.

In a house with no basement, that is usually a bathroom, a closet or a hallway in the middle of the ground floor. Stay away from windows.

A mobile home is not a shelter

In a mobile home, get to a sturdy building instead. For a mobile home or a house without a basement, pick a nearby safe building you can reach quickly, such as a church or a family member's house. Time the drive or the walk.

Watch and warning

A tornado watch means tornadoes are possible in and near the watch area. Use it to review the plan, check the supplies and check the safe room. A warning means a tornado has been sighted or shows on weather radar, and everyone goes to the safe spot now. Local news and NOAA Weather Radio carry both.

At the spot

During the tornado, cover your head and neck with your arms, and put furniture or blankets around or over you. Bring pets if there is time.

After the storm, wear thick-soled shoes, long pants and work gloves for cleanup, and stay clear of fallen power lines. Keep a pair of shoes and gloves for each person at the safe spot, with a flashlight.

An annotated example

What to do next

Stand in the room you picked and check that it has no window. Put the shoes, gloves and flashlight there today. Then run a drill: call "warning" and time how long it takes everyone, pets included, to get there. Run the drill regularly, so everyone knows where to go when a warning comes.