Post by MadamePresident on Jan 29, 2013 16:42:52 GMT -5
So our tornado sirens are going off and as an adult I handle it different than when I lived at home. With my parents my dad would always rush us down to the basement. Now I will take my time (unless it just looks windy dangerous or I hear a train like sound), get some supplies (like my laptop) and go downstairs.
What do you do?
You should pick 1, 2, or 3, but can pick A, B, and C if you want.
I've only heard them once. Apparently my reaction is to simply turn white in fear. I was simply following the lead of the people who were used to them. They planned to do nothing. Then I had to get in the car and go catch my plane. Natural disasters are not my thing.
We had tornado sirens in MI, and my ass would bolt for the basement. There are no sirens anywhere I've lived in S. Louisiana, so I never know unless I happen to check my phone (only watch Netflix on TV). Since we don't have basements, there's not much we can do, so I guess they just figure eff it?
There are plenty of tornados/tornado warnings here, so it's not a lack of bad weather.
I answered as if I still lived in the Midwest. Now that I'm in Los Angeles, we don't have Tornado Sirens (that I know of), so if I heard them, I'd probably run around like a chicken with my head cut off.
I collect my phone charger, shoes, phone, emergency radio, dog crate/dog, and head downstairs. I usually turn the local news channel on loudly so that I can hear it too.
I have food and drink storage downstairs, as well as some flashlights, so I don't worry about that.
Post by thatgirl2478 on Jan 29, 2013 16:50:25 GMT -5
I mosey, but I usually grab a few supplies/check the tv weather... I TRY to gather my animals, and now I have to wrangle the kiddo. I suppose I should add ipad/phone to my list of things to grab since it could be a while and she will probably need to be entertained.
Come to think of it - there's so much crap in our 'safe' area we might need to reconsider it's safety (or de horde ... but that's no fun).
Sadly, even when I had tornados in my area, I never heard sirens. Not sure why, but the only way I knew there were tornados on the ground near me was tv/internet.
The last time I took shelter due to a tornado, I took my laptop. In fact, I was telecommuting at the time, so I just kept working while sitting in the one closet we had with no exterior walls...
I head to the basement right away at home or work and take my phone and computer with me. At home we also take the dogs. Usually we already know we are under tornado warning because it is all over the TV/radio. The sirens indicate ones has been spotted nearby so its usually more serious by then.
I live in an apartment. There can be tornadoes here. I suppose I would go to the bathroom and hang out in the tub if it was dire enough and hope for the best? I mean I would check the TV and if it seemed really like a big deal, I would perhaps try to find safety.
Post by mollybrown on Jan 29, 2013 17:13:53 GMT -5
SS: My house is pretty well insulated, so I pretty much never hear them. If I happen to hear them, I turn on the tv to see if there is an actual threat. They usually mean that someone has spotted a funnel cloud high in the sky somewhere near the city. There is a very low likelihood that a tornado would touch down within city limits, so I definitely wouldn't head for the basement.
I've never heard one. But last year when we were in Narita airport in Tokyo the tsunami sirens went off. Thankfully we were at customer service desk in the airline lounge so we did not panic. After a few minutes they announced that it was just a drill. The only way people were preparing, was that they were running from windows and lining up in an orderly fashion on opposite walls. Security guards were running past us left and right. It was scary!
Ours go off at a tornado warning, which now has a different meaning that it used to. Instead of just a tornado has been sighted, it also means conditions are favorable to one developing. Thanks to that, we just keep and eye and ear out for changing conditions, but no action. I think the NWS did a disservice in changing the definition because instead of giving people more notice by predicting, their predicting is so unreliable that the warnings are now ignored.
Our sirens are also civil defense and emergency alarms for all the plants in the area so if we weren't already under tornado watch, I assume its that and check my beeper, email, wait for robocall from the parish and news sources to see if someone is releasing something.
Post by yellowbrkrd on Jan 29, 2013 17:32:54 GMT -5
I live in Michigan and if a siren goes off that means a tornado has been spotted in the area. I usually hurry my butt and dogs to the basement (with my laptop and phone of course).
Post by UMaineTeach on Jan 29, 2013 19:45:57 GMT -5
we don't have sirens but I can totally see me first going to the window to check for a tornado (unless I was with children, then I would want to set a good example) upon seeing nothing out the window: then I would turn on the TV/radio for info then I would mosey to the basement
saw something? run to basement and injure self on stairs
We've had so many tornado sirens go off just for storm warnings in the past few years that I take time to check the TV and begin wrangling cats & gathering stuff.
That said, 6 weeks after we moved into our house, a tornado hit a mile from it and our entire neighborhood was considered "totaled" in terms of hail damage, so we all got new roofs. Yay.
I live in the midwest, and pretty much ignore them now. However, growing up, I lived in a trailer and tornado sirens were a big deal. We used to get a bunch of crap together, than walk a few blocks to a bridge and stand underneath it. Thinking back, that doesn't seem like seem very safe either!
I'm a little scared by some of the nonchalance in this post. If I hear a siren (when it's not a test), I go to the safe/secure area. If the weather looks ripe for a tornado, I'll sometimes prepare (you know, put on a bra and tennis shoes).
Post by dr.girlfriend on Jan 29, 2013 20:59:46 GMT -5
When I lived in Oklahoma, I would head for the bathroom (no basement). Now that I'm on the East Coast I would just assume it's the fire station siren -- it goes off sometimes, and I don't know what it signifies (other than maybe a fire) but it's never meant tornados.
They use those sirens here to announce snow days for school. As a Midwestern transplant, the first time I heard it was like WTF is going on??? We have tornado warnings here, but tornadoes are never a serious threat like they are at home.
If I hear one in the Midwest I go immediately to the basement. When I was a kid those things were serious business. In the basement you either listen to the radio or watch TV (in pre-internet days) to find out whether it's serious enough that you have to cower in a corner underneath the stairs. When I was a baby a shopping mall about a mile from my house had its roof torn off by a tornado, so we did not play around with those things.
Post by sweetredheadx on Jan 29, 2013 21:11:18 GMT -5
I live in Oklahoma. Most of the tornadoes I've seen have been at my parents' home. Usually, we go to the storm shelter where most of the family and close neighbors go in. My dad, neighbor Johnny, I watch the clods for rotation. We have seen a few from a far and had to take real shelter 2 times. None have hit us directly but when they are close the howl is ungodly.
Now I have no idea. I've never lived away from a shelter. We will probably go to the tub.
A lot of houses in this area have started making pantries with concrete walls to serve as safe rooms in storms.
Post by midnightmare81 on Jan 29, 2013 21:11:36 GMT -5
We don't have them by us at all. Last year we went into a tornado watch or whichever means one has been spotted (thank you FB for the heads up!). I checked the news on my laptop, looked out the window told nana, got the dog, phone, chargers, purse, and moseyed to the basement. I might have grabbed a snack too I think, but I was already planning to grab one. We chilled there till it passed and then went to bed (it was late). When I talked to my IL's the next morning, they got all mad because I apparently overreacted by heading to the basement ? The tornado ended up being about 2 miles away from our house and did a fair amount of damage. My reaction may have been different if we lived in an area that was even sorta built for them, but the worst we are used to is some snow or a normal thunderstorm (this theory was later proven by hurricane sandy).
I get the dogs, a water bottle, and my phone and go hide in the storage space downstairs. I wouldn't say I book it, necessarily, but I don't screw around. I might pee first.
My DH refuses to join me, he's more of a "go outside and look around" type.
We don't have a basement, so it's just a storage area under the stairs that I go to. I don't know if it will truly save me if there is a tornado, but it's better than nothing.
I think it is stupid not to take cover when you hear the sirens. Do you really want to die to see a storm? (not directed at anyone in particular, except maybe my DH lol)