Were you in the path of the tornadoes that touched down in Minneapolis, North Branch, Cottage Grove, and Hudson, Wis, last Wednesday?
We live in Minneapolis, and when the sirens sounded, we scooped up the kids and the sleeping baby, and headed for the basement, as per the standard advice. The only problem with that was that the tornado had already been and gone, touching down a few miles to our east, before the storm that brought it carried on to do more damage elsewhere in the Twin Cities.
Severe weather forecasting has come a long way but tornadoes are notoriously difficult to predict, often forming rapidly with little or no warning, and it's impossible to know exactly where one will impact. In Wednesday's tornadoes, the sirens sounded in the metro area after the tornadoes had passed over and the damage had been done. After the tornado was spotted in Minneapolis, warnings were issued for other locations in the storm's path, but by then it was too late for Minneapolis. Fortunately, no-one was killed by the storm.
In other tornadoes, emergency sirens have sounded too late, or have sounded for one tornado in a storm, but not for another.
In other storms, warnings and emergency sirens have alerted residents in time, and lives have been saved. So, even though it was too late for Minneapolis residents, heading for the basement is still the best course of action when the emergency sirens go off.
And, the best way to get the latest information on severe weather, and hear tornado watches and warnings, is to have a weather radio. These radios, sold in hardware and department stores, broadcast weather forecasts and information during calm weather, and during storms, sound an alarm when a tornado has been sighted, or weather conditions indicate one is likely.
Read more: Tornado preparedness for residents of Minnesota
Another Midwestern tornado. Image NOAA.
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