Planning for Safety

Consider what you would do in case of ...

  • Earthquake
  • Fire
  • Flood
  • Hazardous Material
  • Terrorism
  • Tornado
  • Winter Storm

Think basics: fresh water, non-perishable food and warmth.

How well could you survive in your own house for at least three days without utilities or outside food?

  • Assemble emergency supplies
  • Make a Plan
  • Be Informed
  • Flashlights and radios that do not use batteries are a great idea.
  • Who should family members try to contact outside the area if the family becomes separated?
  • Update your plan and kit at least once a year.

 

These sites can help you plan:

Il. Emergency Mgt. - several topics, lists

Fema.gov - plan for several types of emergencies

www.Prepare.org - general preparedness

www.Ready.gov - (section for kids)

Red Cross.org - Get prepared

Weather.com - Family Emergency Plan


Severe Storm Safety

We recommend a weather radio to alert you to severe weather watches and warnings specific to your county. Expect to pay $40 or so, although prices can vary widely depending on other features.

The Dongola area receives voice weather 'round the clock from the National Weather Service office near Paducah. The same information comes through a transmitter north of Cape Girardeau on 162.550 mHz and a transmitter near Goreville-Marion on 162.425 mHz.

Programmable radios will alert you to a watch or warning for YOUR COUNTY, not the entire area. They use SAME codes. Choose the code for your county and perhaps for another county just to your west or southwest. Instructions with your radio will help you put the code into the radio.

  • weather radio017181 Union
  • 017077 Jackson
  • 017087 Johnson
  • 017003 Alexander
  • 017153 Pulaski
  • 029031 Cape Girardeau
  • 029201 Scott

More on Paducah Weather Service radio broadcasts
 

Tornado Safety

Peak season for tornadoes is April through June, but tornadoes are possible any time.move at right angles to a tornado

Most tornadoes form in the southwest portion of thunderstorms, and on average, move to the northeast at 30 miles per hour though they can reach speeds of 70 miles per hour. It's never a good idea to try to outrun a tornado. The average tornado is about a quarter of a mile wide, but they can be as large as a mile in diameter.

The average tornado travels around 15 miles on the ground, but there are exceptions. The 1925 Tri-State Tornado which came within 30 miles of Dongola, traveled more than 200 miles on the ground from southeast Missouri into Indiana, devastating Gorham, Murphysboro and Desoto. It stayed close to the ground, had a huge diameter, and many could not recognize it as a tornado from a distance.

 

A tornado watch mans that a tornado is possible.

A tornado warning means that a tornado has actually been spotted, or is strongly indicated on radar.

Some things people describe when they tell of a tornado experience:how to watch for a tornado

  • A sickly greenish or greenish black color to the sky.
     
  • If there is a watch or warning posted, then the fall of hail should be considered as a real danger sign. But hail can happen without a tornado near.
     
  • A strange quiet that occurs within or shortly after the thunderstorm.
     
  • Clouds moving by very fast, especially in a rotating pattern or converging toward one area of the sky.
     
  • A sound like a waterfall or rushing air at first, turning into a roar as it comes closer, perhaps like a train or jet.
     
  • Debris dropping from the sky.
     
  • prepare for the unexpectedAn obvious "funnel-shaped" cloud that is rotating, or debris such as branches or leaves being pulled upwards, even if no funnel cloud is visible.

If you see a tornado seeming not to move, it may be moving toward you! Tornadoes generally move northeast, but may move anywhere from eastward to northwest.

Encourage your family members to plan for their own safety in many different locations. Make decisions about the safest places well BEFORE you ever have to go to them.

In a basement, get away from the west and south walls. Hiding under a heavy work-table or under the stairs will protect the family from crumbling walls, chimneys.

tornado safetyIn a small, windowless, first floor, interior room like a closet or bathroom. The bathtub and commode are anchored directly into the ground, and sometimes are the only thing left in place after the tornado. Getting into the bathtub with a couch cushion over you gives you protection on all sides, as well as an extra anchor to the foundation. Plumbing pipes may or may not help hold the walls together, but all the extra framing that it takes to put a bathroom together may make a big difference.

storm safetyIf there is no downstairs bathroom and the closets are all packed with "stuff," a hall may be the best shelter. Put as many walls as you can between yourself and the tornado. In a pinch, put a metal trash can over as much of you as you can. It will keep some flying debris from injuring you. Even that may make the difference between life and death.

Wherever it is, the shelter should be well known by each member of the family. -- tornadoproject.com

 


Dongola, Illinois