Tornado drills held across the state to mark Severe Weather Awareness Week
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Statewide tornado drills were held in schools across North Carolina Wednesday to mark Severe Weather Awareness Week.
North Carolina averages 26 tornadoes, three tornado fatalities, and 39 tornado injuries each year. Most tornadoes and tornado related casualties occur during meteorological spring(March to May), with a peak in April, particularly among strong and violent tornadoes. That means it's important for you and your family to stay alert and prepared this time of year.
Tornadoes are nature's most violent storms. They are spawned from powerful thunderstorms, and they are known to be deadly and devastating to neighborhoods and towns in their paths. A tornado appears as a rotating funnel shaped cloud that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground. The winds inside can reach 300 miles per hour, and damage paths can be in excess of one mile wide and 50 miles long. Some tornadoes develop so rapidly that little, if any, advance warning is possible.
PHOTOS: Severe weather in North Carolina
In addition to tornadoes, straight-line winds can be a major threat. Severe gusts of wind from a thunderstorm, called downbursts or straight-line winds, are a serious danger and can result in injuries and fatalities. Damage from straight-line winds can look like and be just as bad as tornado damage. There have been 16 deaths and more than 70 injuries in North Carolina during the last five years due to straight line winds.
Follow these tips to stay safe during a tornado:
1. When your area is under a tornado warning, or if you see a tornado approaching, seek shelter immediately! Most injuries associated with high winds are from flying debris, so remember to protect your head.
2. If you are in a structure such as a residence, small building, school, nursing home, hospital, factory, shopping center, or high-rise building: Go to a pre-designated area such as a safe room, basement, storm cellar, or the lowest building level. If there is no basement, go to the center of a small interior room on the lowest level (such as a closet, bathroom, or interior hallway) away from corners, windows, doors, and outside walls. Put as many walls as possible between you and the outside. Get under a sturdy table and use your arms to protect your head and neck.
3. In a high-rise building, go to a small interior room or hallway on the lowest floor possible.
4. Do not open windows.
5. If you are in a manufactured home or office: Get out immediately and go to a pre-identified location such as the lowest floor of a sturdy, nearby building or a storm shelter. Mobile homes, even if tied down, offer little protection from tornadoes.
