Tornado sirens go off, what do you do?

Watch the TV to see exactly where the threat is. But I'm usually flipping between the 3 locals long before the sirens go off. The sirens can go off where we can hear them and the threat can be miles away moving in a direction not threatening us. In the 63 years I've lived in the NW part of OKC I've never had to take shelter during a storm knock on wood. And I've heard sirens plenty of times. Closest one was the one that hit the lawnmower shop on 50th and Rockwell and that one was still almost 2 miles away from our house

I usually already know about the threat before they go. I'm usually having to tell my wife that the real tornado threat is on the other side of town.

Tornado sirens go off, what do you do?

Get scared and a lot more scared if the electricity goes out. It's a pretty damned bad sign when that happens. Then my plan would be to rush to my safe room and hope not to hear the roar of a tornado.

I pray for protection when a tornado warning comes out. The last time I felt I had to pray was over 5 years ago. As it turned out, the electricity didn't go off as the tornado thankfully lifted back into the clouds and there was only minor to no damage in town. I have had a safe room for nearly 20 years and have yet to get panicked enough to go in there from the result of a tornado warning. I hope it continues year after year.

Responding to fear of a tornado by getting in a vehicle and going somewhere for shelter is a very risky act. It can end up being a very scary and possibly fatal experience. Don't do it. Here is an awful example of what can happen as excerpted from the story of the 1990 Stillwater tornado:

"During the height of the storm, Brenda Bradley was driving her pickup to a friend's home. She wanted to get there for safer shelter than her mobile home. Her 4-year-old son, Taylor, was with her. They had just reached the driveway of the friend's home on Briarwood St. when the tornado hit. She got out of the truck with cuts and a wrist injury that required surgery. But winds drove large debris from a roof a block away into the passenger side where Taylor was sitting. He died from internal injuries. His death was the only death in Oklahoma blamed on a tornado in 1990." It was rated a F-3 tornado.

The photo below shows the tragic scene with their friend, Melissa Warmack, in sad reflection.

https://stillwaterweather.com/photos/deathscene.jpg

Usually head outside.

Turn on local tv coverage while my wife goes to work in prayer.

Usually I've already been following the storm on my phone or laptop. I don't do anything unless a strong rotation is on a path towards us. Then we get in a small closet that's in the very center of the house. In 22 years we've been in the closet once.

Turn on the weather radio to figure out where the major issues are. If near me, then seek shelter, otherwise, keep doing whatever I was doing. I have most of my tech setup on batteries, so even if power goes out, everything will stay running for another 30min-2 hr depending on importance.

In most cases, I'm already watching the weather and know what's going on by the time the sirens go off. If we're in the path (or possible path) of a tornado we'll be hunkered down in an interior closet (no shelter, alas!) or if its off somewhere else and going a different direction we just keep watching.

In the rare occasions where I'm woken up by sirens its usually a bit more of a mad scramble to both figure out what the situation is and also get somewhere safe in case there's not any time. So far, though, that's only happened when its elsewhere and I feel foolish for panicking a little.