Beware. Spring can usher in more than April showers. Now through the summer months, thunderstorms can quickly roll in and tornadoes can touch down, often during the afternoon and evening hours.
Follow these tips to keep you and your home safe when tornadoes and severe thunderstorms come your way.
- Prepare for high winds by removing diseased and damaged tree limbs.
- Listen to local news or National Weather Service broadcasts to stay informed about tornado watches and warnings.
- If in a mobile home, immediately head to a sturdy shelter or vehicle. Mobile homes, especially hallways and bathrooms, are not safe places to take shelter during tornadoes or other severe winds.
- Designate a family meeting place for shelter during and after a storm. If possible, go to your home’s basement, a small interior room, or under stairs on the lowest level. Also, have a battery-operated weather radio handy along with emergency supplies such as water, non-perishable foods, flashlights, a first aid kit and extra batteries.
- Unplug your electronics. Avoid using electrical equipment and corded telephones.
- Remember that there is no safe place outside during a severe storm. If you are caught in a storm while on the road, the American Red Cross urges drivers to turn their headlights on, try to safely exit the roadway, and park. Stay in the vehicle with your seat belt on and turn on the emergency flashers until the heavy rain ends. If thunder and lightning is occurring, avoid touching metal or other surfaces that conduct electricity in and outside the vehicle.
- Move or secure lawn furniture, trash cans, hanging plants or anything else that can be picked up by the wind and become a projectile.
- Stay safe after a storm. Remain indoors at least 30 minutes after the last clap of thunder. ALWAYS, stay away from downed power lines and avoid flooded areas, power lines could be submerged and still live with electricity. Report them to REA immediately.
Learn more about storm safety
Downed Power Line Safety
These can carry an electric current strong enough to cause serious injury or possibly death. The following tips can keep you safe around downed lines:
- If you see a downed power line, move away from the line and anything touching it. The human body is a ready conductor of electricity.
- The proper way to move away from the line is to shuffle away with small steps, keeping your feet together and on the ground at all times. This will minimize the potential for a strong electric shock. Electricity wants to move from a high voltage zone to a low voltage zone—and it could do that through your body.
- If you see someone who is in direct or indirect contact with the downed line, do not touch the person. You could become the next victim. Call 911 instead.
- Do not attempt to move a downed power line or anything in contact with the line by using another object such as a broom or stick. Even non-conductive materials like wood or cloth, if slightly wet, can conduct electricity and then electrocute you.
- Be careful not to put your feet near water where a downed power line is located.
- If you are in your car and it is in contact with the downed line, stay in your car. Tell others to stay away from your vehicle.
- If you must leave your car because it’s on fire, jump out of the vehicle with both feet together and avoid contact with the live car and the ground at the same time. This way you avoid being the path of electricity from the car to the earth. Shuffle away from the car.
- Do not drive over downed lines.
- contact REA's office immediately if you see a downed power line.