Tornadoes
Tornadoes can form quickly with little warning. Knowing where to go ahead of time, at home and at work, saves lives.
- Families
- Workers
Watch vs. warning
- Tornado Watch: conditions are right for tornadoes. Review your plan and stay alert.
- Tornado Warning: a tornado has been seen or detected on radar. Take shelter now.
Where to shelter
- A storm shelter, safe room or basement is best.
- No basement? Go to a small interior room on the lowest floor with no windows, like a bathroom, closet or hallway.
- Get under something sturdy, cover your head and neck with your arms, a mattress or blankets. Helmets help.
Mobile homes and vehicles are not safe in a tornado. Go to a sturdy building or storm shelter before the storm arrives. If caught outside with no shelter, get into a low ditch and cover your head. Don’t shelter under a highway overpass.
On a jobsite
- Know your site’s severe weather plan and shelter location before storms come.
- Get off cranes, lifts, scaffolds, roofs and steel when warned.
- Job trailers and partially built structures are not safe shelters.
See also Severe Weather & Lightning.
Standards & references
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