{"id":4817,"date":"2022-06-06T09:31:33","date_gmt":"2022-06-06T14:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/?p=4817"},"modified":"2024-02-09T13:21:44","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T19:21:44","slug":"tornado-safety-for-seniors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/blog\/tornado-safety-for-seniors\/","title":{"rendered":"Tornado Safety Tips for Seniors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Does your loved one live alone? Do they live in an area that tornadoes commonly pass through each year? If so, then tornado safety for seniors is something you\u2019ve likely considered.<\/p>\n

On average, about 1,200 tornadoes are reported<\/a> each year in the United States. In 2021, 1,376<\/a> touched down in the US, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).<\/p>\n

While many aren\u2019t deadly, 2021\u2019s twisters claimed about 100 lives<\/a>. Which means It\u2019s a good idea to talk with your loved one about how they can best prepare in the event of a tornado in their area.<\/p>\n

In this article, you\u2019ll learn how to help your loved one know what to look for, how to best prepare their home, and what to do if a tornado actually touches down in their area.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s dive in.<\/p>\n

Tornado Safety for Seniors: Know What to Look For<\/h2>\n

If your loved one lives in an area affected by tornadoes, make a plan ahead of time with them for what to do if there is a tornado alert. Here are some tips to consider.<\/p>\n

When is the tornado season for different areas of the United States?<\/h3>\n

While tornadoes can happen any time of year, here are the times they\u2019re most likely for different areas of the US. For the southern Plains, peak tornado season is May through early June. On the Gulf, it\u2019s early in the spring. For the northern Plains and upper Midwest, tornadoes are most likely in June or July.<\/p>\n

Know the difference: tornado watch versus tornado warning<\/h3>\n

A tornado watch means there is a good chance one will touch down nearby, and usually includes many counties and lasts for several hours.<\/p>\n

A tornado warning, on the other hand, means severe weather is already present. If a tornado watch is issued for their area, it\u2019s time to immediately seek shelter and put your tornado response plan into action.<\/p>\n

Know what tornado conditions look like<\/h3>\n

Help your loved one understand tornado conditions: dark, greenish skies, large hail, dark and rotating low-hanging cloud formations, and a loud, train-like roar.<\/p>\n

Make sure your loved one\u2019s smartphone receives Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)<\/h3>\n

The Wireless Emergency Alert system<\/a> allows authorized national, state, or local governments to send public alerts \u2014 including tornado alerts \u2014 to participating wireless carriers. Most smart phones are set up to automatically receive WEA alerts, but not all providers necessarily opt in to using this voluntary government service, so we recommend checking with your carrier.<\/p>\n

Understand tornado warning signals for their area<\/h3>\n

Make sure your loved one knows where a tornado watch or warning could come in. Besides WEA, severe weather warnings are issued through outdoor warning sirens, local and cable television, local radio stations, smartphone apps, and NOAA weather radio.<\/p>\n

What to prepare in case of a tornado<\/h2>\n

While you can\u2019t know how any home will fare during a tornado, here is how to keep your loved one as safe as possible if a twister does touch down in their area.<\/p>\n

Designate a go-to safe area at home, or nearby<\/h3>\n

Identify a place for household members and pets to gather during a tornado: according to the Red Cross, good choices include<\/a> a basement or small room on ground level like a bathroom or closet with no windows<\/p>\n

In a high-rise, find a hallway in the center of the building, in case there isn\u2019t time to get to the lowest floor. Mobile homes are unsafe for tornadoes, so designate a nearby building<\/a> instead.<\/p>\n

Locate a local emergency shelter<\/h3>\n

What if your loved one must evacuate their home? The Red Cross offers a free shelter program<\/a>, with an interactive map so you can help find them a nearby safe place.<\/p>\n

Put together a tornado safety kit<\/h3>\n

Include food, water, a first aid kit, a flashlight (with extra batteries), matches and candles, cash and credit cards, and instructions on how to turn off the home\u2019s utilities.<\/p>\n

Consider a medical alert device for seniors<\/h3>\n

These systems can contact emergency services if a disaster happens, to get your loved one help when it\u2019s needed.<\/p>\n

Help your loved one know what to do during a tornado<\/h2>\n

If a tornado does touch down where your loved one lives, here is what the CDC recommends to do to stay safe during a tornado<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If they see warning signs, take immediate shelter<\/h3>\n

Make sure your loved one knows their safe place, and that a tornado warning means it\u2019s time to immediately seek their designated shelter. For added protection, they can get under something sturdy, like a workbench or heavy table, and cover their body with a blanket or even a mattress, especially their head.<\/p>\n

Seniors with limited mobility can protect themselves by covering up<\/h3>\n

If your loved one is in a wheelchair, or can\u2019t move without assistance, they can protect themselves from falling objects by covering up with blankets and pillows.<\/p>\n

Keep pets indoors<\/h3>\n

They should gather any companion animals and keep them close by and under control in the safe space.<\/p>\n

Bring indoors items that could be picked up by strong wind (only if there is time)<\/h3>\n

If there is advance warning of an approaching tornado, it\u2019s a good idea to bring outdoor items like grills, trashcans, lawn furniture \u2014 anything that could become a flying object in high winds \u2014 indoors.<\/p>\n

Next steps: tornado safety for seniors<\/h2>\n

If your loved one lives alone in an area with a tornado season, you want to do the best you can to help them prepare. While severe weather can be scary, knowing how to prepare their home in the event of a tornado can help calm nerves, and even save lives.<\/p>\n

If you have any more specific questions about how to keep your loved one safe in the event of a tornado, please reach out by calling us at\u00a0 855-461-2552 or send us a message<\/a>, anytime. We\u2019re always here to help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Does your loved one live alone? Do they live in an area that tornadoes commonly pass through each year? If so, then tornado safety for seniors is something you\u2019ve likely considered. On average, about 1,200 tornadoes are reported each year in the United States. In 2021, 1,376 touched down in the US, according to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":4818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[17,45,57],"yoast_head":"\nTornado Safety Tips for Seniors | Benton House<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn tornado safety for seniors, like how to best prepare their home, and what to do if a tornado actually touches down in their area.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/blog\/tornado-safety-for-seniors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tornado Safety Tips for Seniors | Benton House\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn tornado safety for seniors, like how to best prepare their home, and what to do if a tornado actually touches down in their area.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/blog\/tornado-safety-for-seniors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Benton House\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-06T14:31:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-09T19:21:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/tornado-photo.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1271\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"momoindigodesignbiz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tornado Safety Tips for Seniors | Benton House","description":"Learn tornado safety for seniors, like how to best prepare their home, and what to do if a tornado actually touches down in their area.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/blog\/tornado-safety-for-seniors\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tornado Safety Tips for Seniors | Benton House","og_description":"Learn tornado safety for seniors, like how to best prepare their home, and what to do if a tornado actually touches down in their area.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/blog\/tornado-safety-for-seniors\/","og_site_name":"Benton House","article_published_time":"2022-06-06T14:31:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-02-09T19:21:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1800,"height":1271,"url":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/tornado-photo.jpeg","path":"\/home\/bentonhouse\/public_html\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/tornado-photo.jpeg","size":"full","id":4818,"alt":"Tornado on horizon","pixels":2287800,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"momoindigodesignbiz","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/","name":"Benton House","description":"Senior Living and Memory Care","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/blog\/tornado-safety-for-seniors\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/tornado-photo.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/tornado-photo.jpeg","width":1800,"height":1271,"caption":"Tornado on horizon"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/blog\/tornado-safety-for-seniors\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/blog\/tornado-safety-for-seniors\/","name":"Tornado Safety Tips for Seniors | Benton House","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/blog\/tornado-safety-for-seniors\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2022-06-06T14:31:33+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-09T19:21:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4742f92634f58d7da279d56b3e3f37a7"},"description":"Learn tornado safety for seniors, like how to best prepare their home, and what to do if a tornado actually touches down in their area.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/blog\/tornado-safety-for-seniors\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/blog\/tornado-safety-for-seniors\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/blog\/tornado-safety-for-seniors\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tornado Safety Tips for Seniors"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4742f92634f58d7da279d56b3e3f37a7","name":"momoindigodesignbiz","url":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/blog\/author\/momoindigodesignbiz\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4817"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4817"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7383,"href":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4817\/revisions\/7383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bentonhouse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}