Severe Weather Awareness Week: Where is the safest place to shelter during a tornado?
(CBS DETROIT) - Severe weather happens, so let's start by reviewing a watch and a warning for a severe thunderstorm or tornado.
A watch means weather conditions are favorable for severe weather to happen. A warning means severe weather is occurring or is about to occur.
Say you are outside your home, and a tornado warning gets issued for your area. You either hear the sirens outside or get the alert on your phone. You need to go to your safe place right away.
We'll start by finding a nearby sturdy shelter; in this case, it's the house, and we'll go right inside. From here, the safest place we can go during a tornado warning is the basement.
Once you are in your safe place, move yourself to the innermost interior part to avoid windows. You may want to get underneath a table or bench to cover up for more protection.
Say you don't have a basement. You'll want to be on the lowest floor possible and put as many walls between you and the outside as possible. You may want to search for an interior closet or bathroom. We will also want to protect ourselves from flying debris, so wear shoes and cover up with blankets.
Expect a similar situation with an apartment building. Find the innermost room, away from windows and doors. If possible, go to the storm shelter in the common area. If you are in a mobile home, these structures sometimes cannot hold up to tornado winds, so it's best if you can find a nearby building to take shelter in.
Once you get to your safe place quickly and are secure, you'll be able to stream CBS News Detroit on your phone, where you can watch the latest severe weather coverage and get updates and alerts.
Before the storm strikes, have a plan in place. Do some drills on where you would go during a tornado warning. Make sure you have a way to get weather alerts and always get regular updates with your next weather forecast.