What to do during a tornado
It’s a nice and sunny day which is the total opposite of the wild weather we saw this weekend. Hail damaged homes, people were scared and there was even a tornado warning.
Earlier today we decided to ask people on the Greenbelt if they knew what to do in case of a tornado.
“I was at my work and the tv screens went to black and there were sirens saying ‘tornado warning’ so yeah it was pretty scary,” says Daegon Brown, Idaho Falls resident.
“I don’t know, just hide as best as you can in a basement if you have one,” says Jaime Flores, Idaho Falls resident.”
We asked First Alert Meteorologist, Dr. Matt Brewer, where is the safest place to be?
“In your basement, if you have one. If you don’t have one then, probably in your bathroom which has no windows or very small windows is the safest,” says Dr. Brewer.
This weekend’s tornado warning wasn’t an immediate danger for Idaho Falls.
“This was not a tornado warning for Idaho Falls but for points further west. So there wasn’t an immediate threat for Idaho Falls because the storm sort of diminished as it moved closer to Idaho Falls. But it was still a tornado warning and we did see a funnel cloud that was actually sighted and we noticed some rotation on the radar which could spur a tornado warning.”
And the chance of a big tornado coming our way.
“If you take into account all 50 states, we’re like 44th as far as tornado damage and 36th as far as tornados that happen every year, kind of on the lower end. And the tornados that happen here are of the weaker variety, the Ef1, Ef0 so you’re not going to get winds over 100 to 110 miles per hour.”
The National Weather Service received reports of a funnel cloud northwest of Moreland on Saturday and rated the tornado a low end EF-0. More on that HERE.
Another thing to do is stay away from windows. It may be tempting to look out the window and watch but it’s very dangerous because glass could break. The safest way to monitor a storm is downloading our “First Alert Weather” app so our meteorologists can keep you updated.
