Think ahead on twisters: Emergency responders advise on tornado preparedness

New Kensington fire Chief Ed Saliba remembers the sound of the wind late at night April 8, 2020, when a tornado touched down in New Kensington.

He was sleeping in a reclining chair in his basement and was alerted to the oncoming danger by his family.

“I had no idea what was going on until my wife and daughter ran down the steps and said we were in line for this tornado to hit,” Saliba said. “The winds were howling. It did sound like a freight train, just like they describe it.”

Saliba, luckily, was right in the safe place he needed to be during the storm — the basement or lowest, most central room of the house is the best place to shelter, he said.

“You need to seek good, sturdy shelter, preferably in a basement,” he said. “Afterward, you have to be careful.”

Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms can present dangers even after the storm has passed, he said, and often keep emergency responders extra busy in the wake of a storm, checking on damage from multiple angles. After that night in 2020, he said, the New Kensington department responded to nearly 30 calls, addressing damaged buildings, fallen trees and downed wires.

“We could go to an address, and it could be a tree that was uprooted that went through a house, brought wires down, and very easily the tree as it uprooted could have busted a gas line that was not too deep,” he said. “You could have so much going on at one time.”

Area experts say taking safety preparations before a storm arrives is the best move. As Western Pennsylvania emerges from a record-breaking month for tornadoes with more storms still to come, making plans ahead of time is essential.

“As with any emergency or disaster, the key is planning and preparing for it,” said Matt Brown, chief of the Allegheny County Department of Emergency Services. “If you know those conditions are favorable (for a tornado) on those days, you need to have a plan.”

Safety tips

If your home doesn’t have a basement, you should shelter anywhere on the lowest floor, as close to the center as possible, said Cassandra Kovatch, public information officer and outreach coordinator at Westmoreland County Public Safety. A room without windows, including a bathroom or a closet, can make a good shelter in an emergency.

To make sure you’re aware of the presence of a tornado, it’s important to sign up for local emergency alerts, she said. Westmoreland County offers CodeRED text, email and phone alerts to residents, who can sign up on the county’s emergency services website.

It’s important to know the difference between a watch and a warning — a watch means conditions are favorable for a tornado to form, whereas a warning means one actually has been spotted in the area. People should shelter when a warning is called, Kovatch said.

David Shallenberger, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh office, recommends packing an emergency bag to keep in the lowest part of your house even before tornado season starts or a storm rears its head.

Batteries, flashlights, canned food, blankets, a battery-operated radio and water are good things to have on hand, he said.

“If you’re going to take shelter in that area you’re taking shelter in, you have to have something that has all the items you need to stay safe,” he said. “That’s something that should be done before tornado season even hits.”

Listening to NOAA Weather Radio, paying attention to a radar app on your phone or keeping up with weather alerts can let you know when the coast is clear.

Even after a storm has passed over, the danger may not be finished, said Anthony Kovacic, Hempfield fire chief and director of emergency services.

“Before you put yourself in danger, if wires are down and there are trees into wires, call the utility company. Make sure that you’re not in a situation where you’re putting yourselves in harm’s way,” he said. “Don’t put yourself in a precarious, dangerous situation. I think human nature is you’re going to want to go out and assess your own damage, but always keep in the back of your mind the threat from that.”

Keeping your wits about you helps prevent injury in a storm situation, Shallenberger said.

“As much as all we are weather enthusiasts, we have to look past that and think of safety first,” he said. “Especially in this region, we have a lot of hills here, and there’s a lot of structures in the area. There’s some portions of a thunderstorm that you may not see, making it twice as dangerous.”

Tornadoes on the road

By staying updated on weather forecasts and predictions, people can avoid driving during a severe storm. But if you happen to be on the road during an emergency, Brown advises taking what precautions are available.

“If the tornado is visible and you’re driving, stay far away from it,” he said. “Unfortunately, those things happen sometimes in rush hour when nobody can move. Those are the ones that scare me the most.”

Stay in the car with your seat belt on, put your head down at a level below the windows, and cover your head with your hands and a blanket, if possible, he advised. If you can, drive your car to an area or ditch that is noticeably lower than the level of the road.

It’s not a good idea to hide under a bridge, despite what movies about storms suggest, he said.

“It really offers little protection from flying debris,” he said. “The winds going under bridges, they’re getting squeezed, so the winds are actually more intense in those areas.”