HomeMy WebLinkAboutTornado Season Nears 1974 Sunday, March 17, 1974 Page 3C
Tornado Season Nears
Tornado season is ap- of the house or other building. After a tornado, always wear ready to fall.
proaching in Texas, and cer- Take shelter in a small room or shoes and gloves in cleanup
tain precautions can save lives, closet or under heavy fur- operations and daniage in - NEVER LIGHT a match,
warns Wayne Keese, niture. spections. Watch for hazards smoke or carry open flames
agricultural engineer for the like broken or downed elec- into a building until you are
Texas Agricultural Extension KEESE also lists other trical wires and broken gas sure there are no gas Leaks.
safety precautions. pipes. Do not. sight -see in disaster
Service. When entering r a storm- areas. Your resence will onl
Tornadoes are violent wind At home, open a few windows t presence only
storms that usually grow out of to allow for sudden air damaged building, watch for hamper rescue and cleanup
threatening thunder clouds. In pressure changes. Then find ceilings and walls that may be operations.
Texas, the peak tornado season shelter.
is during the nionths of April, Stay away from windows and
buildings with wide, free-span
May and June, but tornadoes
• may occur anytime. roofs.
"Although tornadoes may In open country, escape by
occur at any hour of the day or moving at a right angle to the
night, they are most frequent tornado's path. If there is no
during the warmer hours of the time to escape, lie flat in a
day," points out Keese. ditch or ravine but do not stay .
in your car.
WHEN THE possibility of a
tornado exists, the National GET FAR enough away from
Severe Storms N'orecast Center ' trailer or mobile home to
in Kansas City, M o. sends avoid injury if it is overturned.
out a tornado watch to the When you observe a tornado,
threatened area. The message report it promptly to the
is teletyped to radio, television nearest law officer or National
and National Weather Service Weather Service Offi.c.
stations in the area. Otherwise, do not make calls so
"A `tornado watch' alerts that lines can be kept open for
people to the possibility of a emergency information.
tornado," explains the Texas
A &M University System
specialist.
"When a watch is announced
for your area, there is no need
to interrupt normal activities
except to listen for weather
advisories and watch for
threatening weather.
Be sure a battery - powered
radio is available in case power
is lost."
A TORNADO watch iden-
tifies a specific time and area,
but everyone in the general
area should be alert for
threatening conditions.
"When a tornado Las ac-
tually been sighted or detected
by radar, a `tornado warning'
is issued. The warning tells
where and when a tornado was
sighted, the direction it is likely
to move, and the time it is
expected to move through the
warned area," explains Keese.
If a tornado warning is
issued for your area, move
immediately to a cellar,
basement or civil defense
shelter.
If you are in a home or other