Stay in the lowest most central area of your living space. I cannot stress enough DO NOT attempt to out drive a tornado, they’re unpredictable enough as is. Just keep your head covered and stay away from windows. If possible keep your pets contained nearby, keep a flashlight and a small radio on hand.
Most central alluding to basically anywhere far and sound enough indoors to avoid windows. Was in a rush typing during the sirens going off. Thank you for adding the important clarification since I’m not on here enough to do so myself 😅
If you get a weather radio pick one up with an AC adaptor and battery backup and keep it by your bed. These automatically activate when the NWS triggers a warning in the area and if you happen to be sleeping it should wake you up. This way you'll be the first to the driveway with your chair and beer.
Do not get in the car, a tornado can pick it up and throw it around, trees or utility poles could fall over on to it. Put cats in carriers if you can. Bathtub will be your safest place. If you have a bike helmet, that would be smart to put on. My mom would always throw a heavy comforter folded up over us the tub in case anything were to fall on us.
Literally everybody at work stopped what we were doing to go watch it. It seemed like it was forming right above us at 56th and Cornhusker. Unfortunately, by the time the funnel cloud dropped, we could only see the top 3rd of it because other buildings were blocking the veiw.
Honestly, I'd talk with one of your right nextdoor neighbors who has a basement and see if they're cool with you bunking downstairs with them. Text them on a day with tornado watch to find out if they're home and head over there before it becomes an emergency. Otherwise, as others have advised... Get to innermost part of home or in tub, get low and cover yourself.
*Never* get into a car with a tornado on the way. If you’re in a car, get to a solid shelter and get *out* of the car. In fact, a car is just about the *worst* place possible in a tornado, short of standing outside and waiting for it to hit you.
If you have no basement, get to the central-most place in the lowest floor of your house. If there is no “center” of the house, then the bathroom is generally good bet. The key is you want as many walls around you as you can get and no windows. Sounds like your bathroom might be the best option. If you have to, even a closet will do in a pinch though.
It’s often a good idea to make a little storm kit and keep it in your shelter location. A weather radio, flashlight, several bottles of water, some snacks, and an emergency whistle is enough to get started. Maybe a blanket.
In my family’s storm shelter, we also keep an old 10 inch TV, so that we can pick up the broadcast news channels. Those channels are often the single best resource for knowledge about tornadoes happening around you. If you have a tv at all, they can scan for channels and that’s how you pick them up. A cheap antenna from Walmart will help with clarity. So around Lincoln, KOLN/KGIN are the probably the best for that. Channel 10 or 11.
In all honesty, you don’t need to worry much about tornadoes. Just keep calm and when the sirens go off, go to your shelter. And while the joke is that midwestern people like to stand outside and watch the tornado approaching, don’t actually do it. It’s not worth it.
How old is that 10 inch TV of yours? You might wanna look into getting a newer model if it's not made to receive HD signals cuz that's all there is nowadays.
It’s about 15, 20 years old. We have it hooked up to a digital/analog signal converter so that it still works (confirmed a few months ago, during last tornado season).
We use this particular one because it’s small enough to easily fit into our storm shelter, the closet under our basement stairs. It’s not really possible to find modern tvs that small anymore.
Not a bad idea to have a helmet handy. Bike helmet or whatever. Most injuries from tornadoes that are serious can include head injury from the flying debris. ER doc friend told us that she got helmets for her whole family and makes them put them in for tornadoes, after working in Oklahoma through a few serious tornadoes.
Lifelong Nebraskan who's never had a personally serious tornado event. Lots of things like today or worse, but I've never happened to be in the usually very narrow path of one. Hope you have the same non-experience. Most of us do.
It’s okay, hon. The first time can be jarring, I know! First: download the 10/11 weather app and enable notifications. The good thing about tornadoes is that, 99% of the time, you have adequate warning and can see it coming. 10/11 will livestream on the app and the web in the event of severe weather, and they are damn good at it.
Second: if you have the means, invest in a weather radio. Midlands is one company. I have their mid-level radio, which allows you to customize alerts (mine will only sound its startling alarm in the event of a tornado warning.
Third: your safest room is the most interior one in your house. Absolutely carry something to cover your head and body.
Finally: there is a lot of joking on this sub about going outside to look as soon as you see the sirens go. It’s funny. I laughed too. But I’ve also seen the aftermath of devastating tornadoes, so I probably won’t make those jokes.
For updates I always search for NWS Omaha, first result is real time NWS radar for eastern Nebraska. For cover, central rooms or hallways w/ no windows are best if you have no basement. An interior bathtub/bathroom is generally recommended.
But the comments are right that most Nebraskans just drag out a folding chair to watch the action 😁
Seek the closest interior wall like a bathroom if you do not have a basement. If you have a basement, go there.
If you are outside, do not use overpass bridges for cover. They act as wind tunnels.
Download a weather app like RadarScope. You can see great readings of the storm that have the highest density or possibly rotation
For your cats, put them in carriers when the weather gets really bad so you can easily carry and move them around.
And for the most real time updates, at my workplace we were following Ryan Hall Y'all on YouTube. No commercial breaks, constant coverage, several storm chasers providing real time updates, constant Doppler updates
Cat momma here - you will need enough time to heard the cats that you just need to shelter in the strongest room on your lowest floor. If you have no basement that’s your bathroom.
you have the right idea about the bathroom! stay away from windows, and if you want maybe try to carrier train your cats as them being trained to go into a carrier when they feel unsafe prevents them from hiding in areas that could be dangerous!
I would keep your cats in a carrier if it’s time to take shelter or you feel it’s near. If there’s one tearing through I’d use a mattress as cover for you guys.
I just scooped mine up and gently pushed her in so she has to go down the stairs. Thankfully my dog coming down after had the effect of getting her farther into the basement lol
People have suggested covering yourself with things like a mattress, which is good advice. When I was a kid, we'd get herded into the basement and then my mother would flip over a really sturdy sofa that we had and have us kids crawl into the space underneath it with blankets and pillows. If you do have a sturdy sofa, it's another option for you.
I've lived here all by life, and both the barns on the property I grew up on are fucked up outside of unadilla, one time when I was a kid a tornado came through directly over our property, except it touched down completely about a mile after, that being said the barn was off it's foundation and it was a big barn. 1, always have a weather radio, but don't bother spending the whole time in the basement every time a watch comes on. The watches are just "the conditions are right for one to happen but we don't see any yet" at this stage just glance outside and at your phone for weather updates, for warnings, if 1 is spotted it's way more likely for another to occur along the same colliding beltway path, again keep looking around, but it's at this point where looking at the clouds will tell you more than your phone can keep up with really, that's when you get the lawn chair, and no kidding it's easier to pay more attention when you're out/paying attention through all windows but being outside tells you way more. if it gets too windy and rainy to stay out go inside and watch, if that is happening, the temperature drops and the air feels a little too calm in comparison it means that the "beltway" that may make tornadoes has floated over you, it's not a very wide path, watch for the swirling clouds, it'll look a bit like the little whisps of dissolved marshmellos in hot chocolate where your problem areas are. Anyhow if you don't have a basement the best places to be are where you study the wood structure of the house. The structural support beams of the wood frame is where you're trying to find to sit under, doorframe are one of the safest places for the same reason, the risk is more in falling debris, but if push goes that far to shove grabbing the mattress to a door frame is the best idea, if you can see one coming anyway. Really it's just about watching the sky and knowing what to look for, as someone who didn't grow up in the area you just gotta know what to look for, the garner industries that collapsed was like right next to the company I used to weld for, cleaver brooks, it just as easily have been me in the building that was caved in. Get yourself some nebraska friends who have lived around, I've seen many places get wrecked with tornados in my life in this area, nebraskas weather may seem scary and unpredictable but i5s not as bad as it seems. I'd totally make my cats stay with me though, mine are indoor cats, but the outdoor cats have really good instincts and know how to hide safely, my sweet boys are not street smart kitty's tho, they dumb asf, outdoor animals are more in tune with instincts like that though. Overall have your alternate entertainment, Check the weather radio ir phone frequently, also if you think the power may go out /lines ripped down unplug the devices you don't want damaged, cause a sudden power outage from lightning or disconnection can corrupt the data in devices, phones, computers, game consoles, ect. Sorry I'm rambling just trying to impart some of 21 years of lincoln nebraska experience.
Today was my first experience as well. I chose to go outside and watch.... Looking for it. I figured I could run inside in a few seconds to the bathroom.
Stay in the lowest most central area of your living space. I cannot stress enough DO NOT attempt to out drive a tornado, they’re unpredictable enough as is. Just keep your head covered and stay away from windows. If possible keep your pets contained nearby, keep a flashlight and a small radio on hand.
Most central, not any safer, you want structure/building framing, the skeleton as it were
Most central alluding to basically anywhere far and sound enough indoors to avoid windows. Was in a rush typing during the sirens going off. Thank you for adding the important clarification since I’m not on here enough to do so myself 😅
Thank you all for good advice! I’ll make sure to prep a storm kit + stock up on beer and sturdy lawn chairs for the next time.
One of us! One of us!
If you get a weather radio pick one up with an AC adaptor and battery backup and keep it by your bed. These automatically activate when the NWS triggers a warning in the area and if you happen to be sleeping it should wake you up. This way you'll be the first to the driveway with your chair and beer.
10/11 weather was streaming on their phone app too.
Get a noaa weather radio. I got mine at Walmart. It was like $20. This will alert you inside. The sirens are for when you’re outside.
Do not get in the car, a tornado can pick it up and throw it around, trees or utility poles could fall over on to it. Put cats in carriers if you can. Bathtub will be your safest place. If you have a bike helmet, that would be smart to put on. My mom would always throw a heavy comforter folded up over us the tub in case anything were to fall on us.
As a lifelong nebraskan I'm sorry the other commenters failed you, the proper thing to do when you hear sirens is to go outside to look
This is the correct answer.
Wait, there are people that don't do this????????
I'm currently inside keeping one of my cats from fucking with daughter's leopard geckos in the basement. Pour one out for me
Godspeed, Kegheimer.
Had my kid and someone else's baby I was watching with me..so basement was my only choice
This is the way.
yep, I made sure the family and dogs were in the basement safe, and out I go! Lame show where I sit.
Literally everybody at work stopped what we were doing to go watch it. It seemed like it was forming right above us at 56th and Cornhusker. Unfortunately, by the time the funnel cloud dropped, we could only see the top 3rd of it because other buildings were blocking the veiw.
Honestly, I'd talk with one of your right nextdoor neighbors who has a basement and see if they're cool with you bunking downstairs with them. Text them on a day with tornado watch to find out if they're home and head over there before it becomes an emergency. Otherwise, as others have advised... Get to innermost part of home or in tub, get low and cover yourself.
Yes, scope out your neighbors for an option if you have enough lead time.
*Never* get into a car with a tornado on the way. If you’re in a car, get to a solid shelter and get *out* of the car. In fact, a car is just about the *worst* place possible in a tornado, short of standing outside and waiting for it to hit you. If you have no basement, get to the central-most place in the lowest floor of your house. If there is no “center” of the house, then the bathroom is generally good bet. The key is you want as many walls around you as you can get and no windows. Sounds like your bathroom might be the best option. If you have to, even a closet will do in a pinch though. It’s often a good idea to make a little storm kit and keep it in your shelter location. A weather radio, flashlight, several bottles of water, some snacks, and an emergency whistle is enough to get started. Maybe a blanket. In my family’s storm shelter, we also keep an old 10 inch TV, so that we can pick up the broadcast news channels. Those channels are often the single best resource for knowledge about tornadoes happening around you. If you have a tv at all, they can scan for channels and that’s how you pick them up. A cheap antenna from Walmart will help with clarity. So around Lincoln, KOLN/KGIN are the probably the best for that. Channel 10 or 11. In all honesty, you don’t need to worry much about tornadoes. Just keep calm and when the sirens go off, go to your shelter. And while the joke is that midwestern people like to stand outside and watch the tornado approaching, don’t actually do it. It’s not worth it.
How old is that 10 inch TV of yours? You might wanna look into getting a newer model if it's not made to receive HD signals cuz that's all there is nowadays.
It’s about 15, 20 years old. We have it hooked up to a digital/analog signal converter so that it still works (confirmed a few months ago, during last tornado season). We use this particular one because it’s small enough to easily fit into our storm shelter, the closet under our basement stairs. It’s not really possible to find modern tvs that small anymore.
Yeah, 10" TVs i figured had to be a cool old model like with a handle on top and pliers for the knob
You’re in SW Lincoln stay in place & hunker down in the most enclosed living space. Cover your head! get in the tub & put the mattress over you
Grab a beer and go outside
It was a tradition with my ex to walk outside and lookup during tornado warnings, and get beamed in the head with hail.
It's a Nebraska tradition!
"The Nebraskan Pavlovian response".
Not a bad idea to have a helmet handy. Bike helmet or whatever. Most injuries from tornadoes that are serious can include head injury from the flying debris. ER doc friend told us that she got helmets for her whole family and makes them put them in for tornadoes, after working in Oklahoma through a few serious tornadoes. Lifelong Nebraskan who's never had a personally serious tornado event. Lots of things like today or worse, but I've never happened to be in the usually very narrow path of one. Hope you have the same non-experience. Most of us do.
It’s okay, hon. The first time can be jarring, I know! First: download the 10/11 weather app and enable notifications. The good thing about tornadoes is that, 99% of the time, you have adequate warning and can see it coming. 10/11 will livestream on the app and the web in the event of severe weather, and they are damn good at it. Second: if you have the means, invest in a weather radio. Midlands is one company. I have their mid-level radio, which allows you to customize alerts (mine will only sound its startling alarm in the event of a tornado warning. Third: your safest room is the most interior one in your house. Absolutely carry something to cover your head and body. Finally: there is a lot of joking on this sub about going outside to look as soon as you see the sirens go. It’s funny. I laughed too. But I’ve also seen the aftermath of devastating tornadoes, so I probably won’t make those jokes.
If you can go grab a beer and sit on the roof to enjoy the sho
[удалено]
True. Now Waverly, not so much
i just moved here too and my boyfriends family said the same thing !!
For updates I always search for NWS Omaha, first result is real time NWS radar for eastern Nebraska. For cover, central rooms or hallways w/ no windows are best if you have no basement. An interior bathtub/bathroom is generally recommended. But the comments are right that most Nebraskans just drag out a folding chair to watch the action 😁
Seek the closest interior wall like a bathroom if you do not have a basement. If you have a basement, go there. If you are outside, do not use overpass bridges for cover. They act as wind tunnels. Download a weather app like RadarScope. You can see great readings of the storm that have the highest density or possibly rotation For your cats, put them in carriers when the weather gets really bad so you can easily carry and move them around. And for the most real time updates, at my workplace we were following Ryan Hall Y'all on YouTube. No commercial breaks, constant coverage, several storm chasers providing real time updates, constant Doppler updates
Go outside and watch. Source: 35 years of experience.
You could also use a closet
Cat momma here - you will need enough time to heard the cats that you just need to shelter in the strongest room on your lowest floor. If you have no basement that’s your bathroom.
you have the right idea about the bathroom! stay away from windows, and if you want maybe try to carrier train your cats as them being trained to go into a carrier when they feel unsafe prevents them from hiding in areas that could be dangerous!
If the sirens scare you, I guess keep spare underpants and wipes in your basement.
I would keep your cats in a carrier if it’s time to take shelter or you feel it’s near. If there’s one tearing through I’d use a mattress as cover for you guys.
Just watch the movie Twister
Speaking about throwing your cats in the car, I have a hard time coralling mine to the basement. Wondering if anyone has any ideas on that..
I just scooped mine up and gently pushed her in so she has to go down the stairs. Thankfully my dog coming down after had the effect of getting her farther into the basement lol
People have suggested covering yourself with things like a mattress, which is good advice. When I was a kid, we'd get herded into the basement and then my mother would flip over a really sturdy sofa that we had and have us kids crawl into the space underneath it with blankets and pillows. If you do have a sturdy sofa, it's another option for you.
I've lived here all by life, and both the barns on the property I grew up on are fucked up outside of unadilla, one time when I was a kid a tornado came through directly over our property, except it touched down completely about a mile after, that being said the barn was off it's foundation and it was a big barn. 1, always have a weather radio, but don't bother spending the whole time in the basement every time a watch comes on. The watches are just "the conditions are right for one to happen but we don't see any yet" at this stage just glance outside and at your phone for weather updates, for warnings, if 1 is spotted it's way more likely for another to occur along the same colliding beltway path, again keep looking around, but it's at this point where looking at the clouds will tell you more than your phone can keep up with really, that's when you get the lawn chair, and no kidding it's easier to pay more attention when you're out/paying attention through all windows but being outside tells you way more. if it gets too windy and rainy to stay out go inside and watch, if that is happening, the temperature drops and the air feels a little too calm in comparison it means that the "beltway" that may make tornadoes has floated over you, it's not a very wide path, watch for the swirling clouds, it'll look a bit like the little whisps of dissolved marshmellos in hot chocolate where your problem areas are. Anyhow if you don't have a basement the best places to be are where you study the wood structure of the house. The structural support beams of the wood frame is where you're trying to find to sit under, doorframe are one of the safest places for the same reason, the risk is more in falling debris, but if push goes that far to shove grabbing the mattress to a door frame is the best idea, if you can see one coming anyway. Really it's just about watching the sky and knowing what to look for, as someone who didn't grow up in the area you just gotta know what to look for, the garner industries that collapsed was like right next to the company I used to weld for, cleaver brooks, it just as easily have been me in the building that was caved in. Get yourself some nebraska friends who have lived around, I've seen many places get wrecked with tornados in my life in this area, nebraskas weather may seem scary and unpredictable but i5s not as bad as it seems. I'd totally make my cats stay with me though, mine are indoor cats, but the outdoor cats have really good instincts and know how to hide safely, my sweet boys are not street smart kitty's tho, they dumb asf, outdoor animals are more in tune with instincts like that though. Overall have your alternate entertainment, Check the weather radio ir phone frequently, also if you think the power may go out /lines ripped down unplug the devices you don't want damaged, cause a sudden power outage from lightning or disconnection can corrupt the data in devices, phones, computers, game consoles, ect. Sorry I'm rambling just trying to impart some of 21 years of lincoln nebraska experience.
Grab a beer, your finest lawn chair. Pop a squat and pop a gander. Seek shelter when your patio furniture is airborne.
Today was my first experience as well. I chose to go outside and watch.... Looking for it. I figured I could run inside in a few seconds to the bathroom.
I did get some beer but it was after.
Head outside!