Tornado safety

The answer is C. Lie down in a ditch.

The first rule is to get away from the path or a tornado, but it's risky to try to outrun a tornado, which can move and change directions quickly.

Despite that well-known video showing people riding out a tornado beneath an underpass, experts say that you should NOT head for an underpass to avoid a tornado. Doing so puts you at high risk of being hit by flying debris or being blown out of the underpass. And climbing up into an underpass violates a cardinal rule of tornado safety -- you want be low -- close to the ground -- because that's where the wind speeds are the slowest. So the old recommendation about taking shelter in a ditch if there's no sturdy structure nearby still holds.

Riding out a twister in your car is not a good idea either -- tornados can toss cars like toys.

Here's another myth that needs to be dispelled: opening windows if you're inside a building will "equalize pressure." But tornados don't cause damage that way -- they generally destroy buildings by lifting the roof first. So don't waste precious time opening windows. Get to the basement or a sturdy interior room, under a sturdy workbench, a mattress, or other protection.

Resources

• The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) publishes good tips on tornado safety, from preparing your house to inspecting damage. The brochure also illustrates the "Fujita - Pearson" scale for measuring tornado size and damage.

May 25, 2002