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14.6: Keeping Yourself Safe

  • Page ID
    46279
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    From reading this storm hazards chapter, hopefully you’ve learned that severe storms and storm hazards should be taken seriously. Part of the issue with severe weather forecasting is that the impacts are often extremely localized. It is difficult to know if you will be in the exact location that hail will fall or a tornado will pass. Oftentimes, you’ll simply be aware that the possibility is there for storm impacts. Therefore, it is important to take precautions, regardless of whether you are in the right place at the wrong time.

    For example, here are a few simple steps you can follow:

    • “Turn around, don’t drown” is the saying from the National Weather Service. If you see flowing water over a roadway, don’t drive over it!
    • If there is a possibility for thunderstorms, don’t go hiking or do outdoor activities near streams or rivers. Flash flooding is a possibility.
    • Similarly, if there is a possibility for thunderstorms, don’t put yourself in an exposed outdoor location. As soon as you hear thunder, a thunderstorm is close enough to be a hazard. Get yourself off of that open sports field, beach, or stadium, and into a shelter until it passes.
    • If a tornado is approaching, the safest place is inside the interior room in your house (unless you have a tornado cellar). Get in your closet or your bathtub with a mattress or something to cover you.

    Depending on where you live in the world, some hazards are more likely than others. Still, it is important to think in advance about what you would do if you were in a severe storm situation. Oftentimes there isn’t a lot of time to react.

    Chapter 15: Questions to Consider

    1. Why does hail have concentric layers that alternate clear and opaque ice?
    2. Query \(\PageIndex{1}\)

    3. Query \(\PageIndex{2}\)

    4. *FLASH* You saw a lightning stroke! 15 seconds go by… *BOOM* You heard thunder! How far away was the lightning stroke?
    5. Where is the tornado?

    Query \(\PageIndex{3}\)

    1. Bob just finished reading this chapter and wants to practice sheltering in the event of a tornado warning. Can you help him find the safest place to shelter in his house?

    Query \(\PageIndex{4}\)

    Selected Practice

    Query \(\PageIndex{5}\)


    14.6: Keeping Yourself Safe is shared under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.