New to Oklahoma? Here’s What To Do During a Tornado

As we roll deeper into severe weather season, I'm not sure if it's the growing number of Oklahoma transplants moving to our state, or just a generation of young adults who didn't have to do tornado drills in Oklahoma public schools like previous generations did, but the amount of "What do I do" posts on social media during severe weather is staggering.

I'll admit it, when I was young and first moved out on my own, that first tornado season in OKC was a wild one. I lived on the top floor of an apartment building between Moore and Mid-Del. It was affordable, to say that it was old, and didn't have any sort of shelter available to residents, and when the sirens went off, it was more or less a "Good luck, don't die" situation.

Now, there were a handful of public shelters in the area at that time, but unless you arrived hours before the storm, they would fill up and turn people away. I'd almost always just take Meteorologist Mike Morgan's famous advice and drive to a part of the city where it wasn't storming... and it worked like a champ, so long as the storm gave you ample time.

When I found my way back home to Lawton, the 40-ish percent of transplants seemed to be going through the same thing. That population is made up of military personnel, military families, veterans who settled here, and a fair number of contractors. They, along with lifelong Okies who don't know any better, fill social media with questions about safety, shelters, and general panic when storms are coming.

We've all been there. Here's what to do in the event of a tornado.

Storm Shelters

While nothing can be 100% safe, an underground storm shelter offers up what has to be 99.9999999% safety. As long as it doesn't lock you in and suddenly flood full of water, which is rare, but has happened, you'll be fine.

Public shelters are few and far between. Some cities have them, most do not.

If you find yourself without access to a shelter, you're still probably not going to die. The odds of being hit by a twister are astronomically low, and the odds of dying are even lower.

What To Do Instead

While I may have taken bad advice and chosen to outrun storms in the car, which I still think is fine if you have the time and know how to read and interpret radar weather tech, your best bet is to stay put and trust the science behind some pretty mystical tornado traits.

You can look at pictures online of tornado damage. Whole neighborhoods can be mostly wiped out, but in the structures left standing, you'll see clothes still on the hangers. A towel still hanging on the rack in the bathrooms. The roof, walls, and beds are gone, but the lamp is still sitting on the dresser. It's really weird how it all goes down.

That's just how the tornado winds behave, and that's the reason why shelterless advice is what it is.

Lowest level of the building, small interior room.

This proven advice has nothing to do with comfort, but everything to do with survival. And as long as you're not taking a direct hit from an ultra-rare EF5 twister, you'll most likely live on to tell the tale.

You want to be on the ground floor, because the wind speeds escalate quickly the further up you go. Plus, the second story of a house allows a tornado a little leverage. If it twists and collapses, being on the ground floor limits the injuries due to falling.

You want to be at the center of the interior. This puts as many walls as possible between you and the storm. Flying debris is responsible for the vast majority of tornado-related deaths, so walls work to protect you from this. That's also why you want to be in a room without windows, such as a closet. Flying glass is just as bad as a spear made of what used to be a tree.

Bathrooms Are Great For This

Smallest room you can fit into. This is a little bit of science, but also due to the mysterious nature of twisters. The same reason a twister will take most of the home, and leave a closet practically untouched. It's just how the wind works. Less space to blow around, less likely to blow away.

@brittnicole_33 Tornado Warning For Okc!!! #fyp #tornadotok #warning #oklahoma ♬ Ain't No Love In Oklahoma (From Twisters: The Album) - Luke Combs

Now that I'm older and lived through twenty-something severe weather seasons on my own, I will generally grab a cold beverage, sit back down in my comfy recliner, and listen to nothing happen outside. Honestly, the odds are super-low of being hit by a tornado, but never zero.

If you're new to Oklahoma, welcome. It's tornado season right now, but it only lasts until March. Try not to be nervous. Don't freak out.

Enjoy the weather coverage, it's entertaining. Keep a good supply of Braum's ice cream on hand. Buy some board games to keep the kids occupied when the weather is bad. You stay calm, they'll stay calm. Just take some advice, and put together your family tornado plan, then stick to it.

Good luck.