Louisiana Residents Must Remember Tornadoes Are Also Common 

Consider Safety in Advance

Release Date: March 22, 2006
Release Number: 1603-412

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- Louisiana is in a part of the nation's tornado corridor called 'Dixie Alley', an area that also includes Arkansas , Mississippi , Alabama, the western two-thirds of Tennessee, and parts of Georgia. This area can experience substantial tornado activity during the months of March, April, May, November and December. Due to local population densities and the number of pre-fabricated homes in Dixie Alley, tornadoes in this region frequently turn deadly.

When a tornado is coming, you have only a short amount of time to make life-or-death decisions. Advance planning and quick response are the keys to surviving a tornado.

Have disaster supplies on hand:

Ask an out-of-state relative or friend to serve as the "family contact." After a disaster, it's often easier to call long distance. Make sure everyone in the family knows the name, address, and phone number of the contact person.

A tornado watch is issued by the National Weather Service when tornadoes are possible in your area. Remain alert for approaching storms. This is the ideal time to remind family members where the safest places within your home are located, and listen to the radio or television for further developments.

A tornado warning is issued when a tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. Seek shelter immediately.

Mobile homes, even if tied down, offer little protection from tornadoes and should be abandoned. Mobile homes are particularly vulnerable. A mobile home can overturn very easily even if precautions have been taken to tie down the unit. Residents of mobile homes must plan in advance and identify safe shelter in a nearby building.

When a tornado warning is issued, take shelter in a building with a strong foundation, move to an interior room such as a bathroom or hallway on the lowest floor and get under a sturdy piece of furniture. Stay away from windows. If shelter is not available, lie in a ditch or low-lying area a safe distance away from the unit.

Flying debris from tornadoes causes the most deaths and injuries. One of the best ways to prepare in advance is to build a Safe Room into your home.

In areas not prone to flooding or storm water surges, basements and in-ground shelters provide the highest level of protection against missiles and falling debris. If your house does not have a basement, you can install an in-ground shelter beneath a concrete slab-on-grade foundation or a concrete garage floor.

An alternative above-ground shelter location is an interior room on the first floor of the house. In selecting or building an above-ground shelter, any external or internal building walls used as shelter walls must not be connected to the frame of the house. Closets, bathrooms, and small storage rooms can be good options for interior shelters.

Regardless of where you seek shelter during a tornado, the structural walls and ceiling must be able to protect you from airborne and falling debris and remain standing if the house is severely damaged. Emergency response personnel cleaning up after a tornado have often found an interior room of a house still standing when all other above-ground parts of the house have been destroyed.

Designing a building to resist damage from more than one natural hazard requires different, sometimes competing, approaches. A shelter should not be built in an area expected to be flooded during a hurricane.

In a hurricane, the protection from airborne debris provided by underground safe rooms and shelters is quickly negated when stranded homeowners find themselves trapped by floodwaters. However, building a structure on an elevated foundation or supported by piles, piers, or columns to raise it above expected flood levels can increase its vulnerability to wind damage in a tornado.

In places where homes are supported on piers or located in flood zones, residents should seek shelter elsewhere when a tornado or hurricane is imminent. Individuals should contact their local officials for information in advance of emergency situations to identify buildings designated as safe shelter.

In Louisiana , design approaches for building a safe room at home must be inclusive of all possible hazards. Parish building officials or a licensed professional engineer or architect can recommend safe and appropriate local designs for tornado and hurricane shelters.

For more specific construction guidelines for a safe room, please see the FEMA Publication, Taking Shelter from the Storm: Building a Safe Room Inside Your House.

FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program.  FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.

Last Modified: Wednesday, 22-Mar-2006 08:09:55