Emergency Preparedness Week is well-timed, coming at the beginning of May – the end of the spring flood season and the start of tornado season.
Recent news stories about the kilometer-and-a-half wide killer twister that swept through Mississippi serve as a reminder that we, too, live in tornado country – as if we have forgotten last summer’s storm that obliterated the press building (but fortunately not the press) in Durham where this paper is printed. The people in the building when the storm struck were lucky to get out alive. A new building now houses the press at the same site.
According to Environment Canada, your odds of getting killed by a tornado are about 12 million to one. Some people try to lower that number by not taking the storms seriously enough, even chasing them the way the heroes did in the movie Twister. Not a smart idea. One glance at the damage left in the wake of one of these storms is all it takes to know they are not to be trifled with.
They think if they see the funnel cloud tracking left or right (one apparently not moving could be heading straight for you), they are safe – not so. The storms can, and do, change direction. Some amateur tornado chasers are also under the impression tornadoes travel southwest to northeast. They usually do, but not always.
If the storm gets too close, they think they can just hop in the car and outrun it, just like in the movie. While there are stories out there of people who have successfully done just that, there are a lot more of people whose cars and trailers have been turned into death traps by a killer tornado. The safest thing to do is take shelter in a building, preferably the basement, away from windows. A shard of glass traveling at 320 km/h can slice through a human body in an instant.
If the only shelter is the car or trailer, people are usually better off getting well away from the vehicle and lying flat in a ditch. Highway underpasses offer no real protection.
Tornado experts agree that when the sky goes a weird greenish colour, clouds are swirling and the hail starts coming down, people should not be standing on the porch with a camera. They should be trying to put as many walls between them and outside as possible. Heading to the darkest corner of the basement and crawling under a sturdy work table is best, although flinging yourself in the bathtub and pulling a mattress on top is a reasonable option for apartment dwellers. In fact, any narrow, windowless room, including a hallway, is better than standing at the window watching the funnel cloud. A corner is safer than the middle of a large, flat-roofed department store or gym.
Tornadoes are serious, and the best time to think about and plan for a tornado emergency is when the sun is shining brightly and there is not a cloud in the sky. By the time Environment Canada issues a tornado warning, meaning a twister has been observed, it is too late to do much of anything except take cover.
Government officials continue to advise us all to prepare a 72-hour emergency kit, containing items such as copies of important papers, some cash in small denominations (bank machines need electricity), non-perishable food, flashlights, battery or crank radio, spare batteries, and plenty of water. Other items would be copies of prescriptions and a three-day supply of any medication.
Emergency planning has to mean being part of the solution – because the alternative is being part of the problem. Playing tag with tornadoes means that eventually, you will become a victim, or at the very least, a needless complication to rescue efforts.