What to Do If You're Caught in the Path of a Tornado

Tornadoes are something that both fascinate and terrify people. The winds that these tornadoes contain can obliterate just about anything that stands in their way. So what should you do if you find yourself in the path of a tornado?

If you're inside your house when you see a tornado or hear the sirens, go down to your basement or the lowest floor in your house. A bathroom is an excellent place to seek shelter in a tornado because of all the pipes running throughout the walls. These pipes strengthen the bathroom walls, which makes them less likely to collapse in the event of a tornado.

Find a thick blanket to cover yourself with and lay down in your bathtub for even greater protection. Lying down in the bathtub will lessen the chance of debris striking you, which may or may not happen. It all depends on whether or not your roof and walls remain intact. You can also choose to hide in a closet, but the bathroom is your best bet. Just make sure that there are no windows anywhere near you, since these will be the first things to go when a tornado hits.

There is now another option for seeking shelter from a tornado. A concrete safe room has been developed by scientists, which can withstand even an F5 tornado. In case you don't know, an F5 tornado is the most powerful type of tornado that can exist. Whenever you see entire towns obliterated on the news that is an example of an F5 tornado.

Anyway, the concrete room fits right in your house and looks like any other room(except it's made of concrete). You should store emergency supplies in this room. Feel free to store other things but don't make it too cluttered. You may need to fit your family in that room one day.

What if there's a tornado behind your car? Should you try to outrun it? Some people will say yes, and some will say to seek shelter. However, if there's no shelter available then you should probably try to outrun the tornado. The speed of a tornado can be up to sixty or so miles per hour, and a tornado doesn't move in any one direction. A tornado can change its direction anytime. I always thought that tornadoes moved in a northeasterly direction, but this is not the case.

Whatever you do, don't stop and hide underneath a concrete bridge. I'm sure most of us have seen the video of that group of people huddled underneath a concrete bridge. These individuals were fortunate enough to escape the wrath of the tornado that was behind them by hiding underneath this bridge.

However, that was a relatively weak tornado. Had that tornado been stronger, those people would more than likely be dead or seriously wounded. The reason for this is because tornadoes can pick up a lot of debris. So if you're under a concrete bridge, you might survive if the tornado has little or no debris associated with it.

Unfortunately, if the tornado does contain debris you will more than likely be torn to shreds. Also, if an F5 tornado can rip up pavement what do you think it can do to a concrete bridge? I'll let your imagination take over from here.

Tornadoes are one of natures most powerful forces, and they can be fascinating but deadly. If you ever come across one, do try and seek shelter immediately. The consequences of not seeking shelter are not pleasant at all.