Where to shelter from a tornado

Get as low as you can and put as many walls between you and the outside as you can. Flying debris causes most tornado injuries.

House

• Best: a storm shelter or safe room, or the basement. In a basement, stay away from spots under heavy furniture or appliances on the floor above.
• No basement: a small interior room on the lowest floor with no windows, such as a closet, bathroom or hallway.
• Cover your head and neck. Helmets (bike, sports) help, so do mattresses and heavy blankets. Wear shoes.

Apartment or large building

• Go to the lowest floor, to an interior hallway or stairwell away from windows and doors to the outside.
• Avoid rooms with wide, unsupported roofs: gyms, auditoriums, big-box store floors.
• Don't use elevators. The power can fail.

Mobile home

A mobile home is not safe in a tornado, even if it is tied down. Leave for a sturdy building or a community shelter before the storm arrives, which means going during the watch or as soon as a warning is issued. Work out where that is now, while the weather is calm.

Car

• There is no safe place in a car. If you can drive to a sturdy building before the storm arrives, do it.
• If the tornado is close and traffic allows, drive away from its path at a right angle.
• If you are caught: stay buckled, get your head below the windows and cover it, or get out and lie in a ditch or low spot away from the car if you can do it safely.
• Highway overpasses are not shelters. Wind speeds up underneath them.

Know your minutes

Time how long it takes your household to get to shelter, with shoes on and kids or pets in tow. Put that number in the TornadoTrack panel ("Minutes I need to reach shelter") and it will tell you how long you have before you need to start moving.