In Alabama, we face all sorts of severe weather hazards, including tornadoes, hail, lightning, damaging winds, and flooding. Here are some safety tips to keep in mind when dealing with these types of severe weather.
Tornadoes: Take shelter in a basement or storm shelter. If no storm shelter or basement is available, move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a site built structure. If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter right away.
Lightning: Never wait until you see the lightning to take shelter. If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning. Lighting can strike up to 20 miles away from a thunderstorm, so its important to move indoors immediately.
Hail: Hail has a similar protocol to lightning safety. You never want to be caught out in a hail storm. You should move indoors and also stay away from windows, because if the hail is large enough, it can shatter windows.
Damaging winds: Similarly to tornadoes, you need to find shelter. Damaging straight line winds can cause similar damage to a tornado, so its best to move to a sturdy structure, basement, or storm shelter if possible, otherwise an interior windowless room will do.
Flooding: This one is pretty simple. If flood or flash flood warnings are issued for your area, avoid traveling. If you come across a flooded or water covered road, NEVER cross it. You wont be able to tell how deep it is, or if the road may be completely washed away. Crossing a water covered road can be a life threatening situation.
