Tornado Safety
In the last 50 years the number of tornado related deaths has decreased dramatically. This is in part to several important factors. One of the first is that we are more aware about what to do in the event that a tornado strikes. Ask almost any resident who lives where tornadoes may occur and they will almost all say that the safest place to go during a tornado is to a basement or the center room of a structure that has no windows. Having a plan and being aware of what the weather conditions are can greatly increase a persons safety in sever weather according to American Meteorological Society. By having a place to go and a plan if something goes wrong or they are not at home people will more than likely make it through a tornado without any harm. One of the biggest mistakes people make is not practicing what they will do in the event of a tornado because simply having a plan is not enough. That is why many people who have grown up and gone to schools in areas where tornadoes may strike have experienced tornado drills so that should a tornado hit everyone will know what to do. Another part of Awareness is knowing what is going on with the weather outside. something as simple as listening to the radio can help know what is going on outside.
Safe House
Another factor that has played an important role in reducing the number of deaths is the improvement of building materials and designs that we use today. Having a secure place to go if a tornado hits may safe a person’s life. The safest places to go are in a basement or the interior of the house to a room without any windows. A study done by researchers in the article “ Unsafe at Any Wind Speed” showed through wind tunnel testing that the least safe place to be during a tornado is in a mobile home. They tested the safety of being in a car versus a mobile home and concluded that if the last two choices a person must make are those, a car is the best place. Another reason a car is a better choice is that if you have the chance you can drive the car to a safer place. They did state however that if possible a person should try to be in a secure windowless building.
The last and arguably the most important aspect in tornado safety is the use of technology to anticipate tornadoes before they hit. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration uses NEXRAD, which is a Doppler Radar to see where storms are and how they move. This radar works by sending out a signal, which will continue until it hits an object. upon impact the signal will bounce off in all directions sending a signal back to the source of its broadcast. When the signal strikes rain, hail, birds, planes or insects it will send back a signal showing up on the radar. Of the two different types of reflectivity, base and composite, base shows what is going on at a certain elevation while composite radar shows what is going on at all elevations and can give additional information on what is happening and what will happen. Through this technology and the use of spotters weather officials are able to give advanced warning through the media about impending weather situations and activate the sirens when severe weather is coming.