Red Cross Volunteers are Ready to Respond to
Help Affected Communities
NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 1, 2023 — The risk for severe
weather today is in the forecast from East Texas to Tennessee, including much
of Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and northern Louisiana. With the possibility
of severe weather, including the enhanced risk of tornadoes, the American Red
Cross urges all Tennesseans in the path of this line of storms to prepare now.
Stay weather aware and listen to local news or NOAA (National Oceanic and
Atmospheric) Weather Radio for emergency updates.
Red Cross disaster workers are
on standby and ready to help neighbors in need affected by the storms.
Review the tips below for ways
to keep you and your loved ones safe.
TORNADO SAFETY
• Identify
a safe place in your home where household members and pets will gather during a
tornado: a basement, storm cellar or an interior room on the lowest floor with
no windows.
• In a high-rise building, pick
a hallway in the center of the building. You may not have enough time to go to
the lowest floor.
• In a mobile home, choose a
safe place in a nearby sturdy building. If your mobile home park has a
designated shelter, make it your safe place. No mobile home, however
it is configured, is safe
in a tornado.
• If you are under a tornado
warning, find safe shelter right away.
• Stay away from windows,
doors, and outside walls.
• Do not get under an overpass
or bridge. You’re safer in a low, flat location.
• Watch out for flying debris
that can cause injury or death.
• Use your arms to protect your
head and neck.
THUNDERSTORM SAFETY
• If you can hear thunder, you
are close enough to be in danger from lightning. If thunder roars, go indoors!
The National Weather Service recommends staying inside for at least 30 minutes
after the last thunderclap.
• If a severe thunderstorm
warning is issued, take shelter in a substantial building or in a vehicle with
the windows closed. Get out of mobile homes that can blow over in high winds.
• Postpone outdoor activities
if thunderstorms are likely to occur. Many people struck by lightning are not
in the area where rain is occurring.
• Avoid electrical equipment
and telephones. Use battery-powered TVs and radios instead.
• Shutter windows and close
outside doors securely. Keep away from windows.
• Do not take a bath, shower or
use plumbing.
• If you are driving, try to
safely exit the roadway and park. Stay in the vehicle and turn on the emergency
flashers until the heavy rain ends. Avoid touching metal or other surfaces that
conduct electricity in and outside the vehicle.
• If you are outside and cannot
reach a safe building, avoid high ground; water; tall, isolated trees; and
metal objects such as fences or bleachers. Picnic shelters, dugouts and sheds
are NOT safe.
• Never drive through a flooded
roadway. You cannot predict how deep the water may be.
• Stay away from storm-damaged
areas to keep from putting yourself at risk from the effects of severe
thunderstorms.
• Continue to listen to NOAA
Weather Radio or to local radio and television stations for updated information
or instructions, as access to roads or some parts of the community may be
blocked.
• Help people who may need
special assistance, such as infants, children and the elderly or disabled.
• Stay away from downed power
lines and report them immediately.
RED CROSS EMERGENCY APP
Download the free bilingual Red
Cross Emergency App to access
expert advice on how to prepare and respond to severe weather and features
real-time local alerts for severe weather and hazards and includes a map with
local Red Cross shelters. Text GETEMERGENCY to 90999 or search “Red Cross
Emergency” in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
For additional
information about how to prepare for, respond to and recover from severe
weather, visit redcross.org/storms.
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