At the possible expense of sounding “alarmist”, I am personally concerned over storm safety of Florida’s seasonal winter residents. Having been one myself for several years now, I’m surprised at how many people invade the sub-tropical state each winter to escape the harsh cold winter reality of the Midwest, although I fully understand their reasoning for doing so.

Most of them bring an armada of Recreational Vehicles and/or rent mobile homes throughout the state. With so many people living in what amounts to be basically a vehicle, it should be no surprise that during past tornado events in Florida that several winter residents have lost their lives.

In early 2008 a weak F2 tornado killed one woman in Lake City, FL after destroying 19 homes and seriously damaging about a dozen other residential structures. Anyone with knowledge of residential structures and tornadoes knows that an F2 is by all accounts a weak tornado that wouldn’t be considered a major threat in Tornado Alley unless it crossed a busy highway and/or struck a mobile home park – but that is exactly what it did when it began it’s path across Lake City, FL. And, with so many mobile home parks in central and southern Florida, they are easy targets for storms to find.

Any emergency management official in Florida will recall the recent events of early February 2007 when a tornado tore through Lake County, FL and killed 19 people being dubbed the “Lady Lake Tornado”. Again, the majority of those fatally injured were in mobile home type residential structures.

Many residents of the area’s hit during this event stated they had no way of being warned about the tornado before it struck. According to a CNN report from the time, there were no tornado sirens. However, state meteorologist Ben Nelson stated that “weather services in Melbourne and Tampa provided at least eight to 15 minutes of warning,” as the storm begin to produce a tornado once it got into Sumter County at about 3 a.m.

A spokesperson for Volusia County Emergency management said a warning siren wouldn’t have worked in that county because it’s “too large of an area.” But local authorities worked closely with the media to get word out.

Here is a link to that report from CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/02/florida.storm/index.html

It is true that tornado sirens are a rarity in many parts of Florida. I am a person that takes note of a tornado siren when I see one, and I have often looked in Pinellas, Hernado and Pasco counties and have seen very few, despite the fact that these counties are in the Tampa Bay metro area and are heavily populated.

This season could be especially bad for Florida in terms of tornado events. El Nino is having a strong influence on the overall weather pattern this winter and during moderate to strong El Nino events of the past, Florida has seen an increase of deadly winter tornadoes.

So what is a Florida resident’s first line of defense? If you happen to live in Florida, I have prepared a short list of a few things that you can do to prepare yourself for the unthinkable, such as a tornado that forms in the middle of the night while you and your family are sleeping and is on a direct course with your home.

The first thing you can do is just be vigilant (not paranoid) of local weather conditions. Watch local news stations each evening and take note during the weather segments. Pay attention if the weather forecasters mention a possibility for severe weather.

1. If the above does happen and your local weather forecaster mentions the possibility of severe storms, keep a NOAA Weather Radio on while you are sleeping. Keep it next to your alarm clock at night so that it can wake you up while you’re sleeping if the National Weather Service activated a storm or tornado warning.
2. Set your NOAA Weather Radio to activate ONLY during severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado warnings. Many of these radios are programmable and allow the user to select the type of warnings you wish to be informed about. People who live in-land will be kept awake all night long for unnecessary warnings such as “Special Marine Warnings,” if you do not setup your NOAA Weather Radio correctly. However, once the correct codes are entered for your county and types of warnings you want to receive, a NOAA Weather Radio will be an invaluable tool to saving your life.
3. If you need help setting up your NOAA Weather Radio to ensure you’ll be notified during an event, don’t hesitate to contact your local emergency management office – it is their job and in many cases their passion to help people with these things, but be courteous to them and thank them after they help you.

NOAA Weather Radio is an extremely powerful tool that can and will save your life during the unexpected. That is why it exist. Think of it as nature’s alarm clock. When installed correctly, it will sit there quietly and not make any noise or be of nuisance to you – however if an event happens, such as a tornado you have it setup to notify you of tornado warnings in your county it will activate within seconds of the National Weather Service issuing the tornado warning.

Here are some more tips that can help you prepare after a tornado warning is issued:

1. Keep important documents and medications in a location where you’ll easily be able to gather them before leaving your home. It’s best to keep these items in a bag, a fireproof safe or someplace where you will not have to spend much time ensuring that you have what you need.
2. Leave mobile homes, including recreational vehicles immediately. If you’re fortunate enough to be staying in a park that provides a public tornado shelter you should immediately go to that shelter.
3. Remember that the National Weather Service and available advanced technology allows forecasters to issue tornadoes warnings well ahead of a storm – sometimes up to 15 minutes, so wait to make sure there is no threat before leaving your shelter! Don’t not just assume that after 10 minutes passes that there is no danger and return. Be informed, you should have a battery powered radio at least to monitor local weather conditions.
4. Also it is important to remember that just because advanced technology can help warning meteorologist issue prompt warnings well ahead of a storm, do not assume that you have time to “linger” while leaving your residence! Go immediately!
5. One of the most important things you can do is discuss this scary topic with your family and have a “Tornado Plan”, practice that plan and be sure your kids know what to do during an active tornado warning! Prepare for possible tornadoes at any time of the day. In Florida, it is not uncommon for them to happen during the overnight or early morning hours, however they are just as common during the afternoon and evenings.
6. Pick a pre-designated area to met your family after a tornado event, if one should happen. Be sure that your kids know how to contact you after such an event, it is possible that cellular phone service may not be available due to damaged communication infrastructure. So do not rely on your cell phones.

I am sure to some people this sounds like a lot, but it really isn’t. We teach our families what to do in times of disasters such as a home fire, and we have smoke detectors installed to be ready. It is just as important to be ready for nature’s most violate acts, such as tornadoes. Inform yourself, inform your family. While it is a scary topic for a lot of people, just a few minutes of preparation and paying attention can save your life.

NOAA Weather All Hazards Radio (contains all the codes you’ll need to setup your radio):
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/nwrsame.htm

Tags: Florida, storrm safety, tornado