Emergency manager discusses storm safety

May 31—Storm season is here and the time to prepare is now before it's too late. It is important to have a safety plan in place. Emergency Management Director, Matt Lehenbauer gave some helpful tips with planning and what to do if you are in a dangerous situation.

"Anyone that lives in a single-wide trailer home, RV or travel trailer should have a shelter location preferably on-site, and be able to reach the shelter within 2 minutes walking distance. If this is not possible, then we recommend leaving such a structure well before storms arrive. Even winds of 70 or over can topple a travel trailer, and even a mobile home that is not properly anchored and skirted," he said.

When asked if there are community tornado shelters, he said, "The City of Woodward does not have public storm shelters because, while they may seem like a good idea, public shelters often come with more risks than benefits including: — Opening public buildings as storm shelters gives a false sense of security and offers no more protection than a well-built residential structure. If you don't have rapid access to a shelter that you can walk to within a few minutes, it is safest to shelter in place. Note that the Woodward Regional Hospital is not a public shelter, as it may be needed in the event of a disaster to treat patients, and does not have the capability to shelter large amounts of people. — Traveling to a public storm shelter could put you at greater risk than if you sheltered in place. Traffic is likely to get congested if everyone is heading toward one location. Your vehicle is one of the most dangerous places to be during a tornado. — Tornadoes can happen at night. If a storm wakes you in the middle of the night, you likely won't have enough time to gather your family, load them into a car and drive to a storm shelter. Sheltering in place affords you the quickest and best protection for a short notice event. — If we were to build public shelters, we would be required to build enough shelters to hold all residents and visitors to our City. Conservatively speaking, that would require shelter space for approximately 15,000 people. Staffing public storm shelters so that the shelter could be open on short notice 24 hours per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year would be extremely difficult to do. — Churches, unless they have a structurally-adequate safe room, storm shelter or basement, are not shelter locations."

Pre-planning of what to do and where to go well beforehand is extremely important. What would the plan be if you are out shopping or driving in town already?

"We recommend that people avoid large buildings with wide-span roofs, to include large department and grocery stores, gymnasiums, etc., as these typically have a lower wind-load rating than other buildings. The recommendations are always the same, regardless of where you are: If there is no storm shelter, safe room or basement available, seek shelter in a small sturdy structure, in the smallest, most interior room or closet, away from windows and anything else that could throw debris," Lehenbauer said. "Cover up with blankets, pillows, a mattress, etc., to protect yourself and your family from debris. Remember, the debris is what kills, and most fatalities from tornadoes are from head trauma.

"Even putting on a helmet or tucking low and covering your head works to prevent injury. It is extremely important to have a way to get information as well while you are sheltering, so you know when it is all-clear, so have a weather radio or portable FM radio available to monitor the situation."

Also, many families live outside of town and could find themselves in a dangerous situation on the way home on the highway or a back road.

"The 'official' stance is to seek shelter outside of your vehicle, in a ditch or other low-lying area. However, then you will likely be battling flash flooding and lightning, so this is not always the safest route to take. As a last resort, drive away from the storm in a safe manner, staying out of low-visibility areas (heavy rain) and drive at a right-angle to the storm," Lehenbauer said. "Remember that in this instance, storms nearly always go in an easterly-direction, so if this is your only option, drive away from the storm. A vehicle is, however, extremely dangerous to be in during a tornado. You are surrounded by thin tin and glass, and that is not an ideal situation.

"Also remember to keep a calm demeanor about you, because if you panic and crash due to erratic or high-speed driving, you only are adding to the problem."

Another vehicle situation would be for those employees who drive for their job, to name a few: postal workers, delivery trucks and fast-food delivery. Lehenbauer had tips on this as well.

"Have points identified along your route, such as convenience stores, or other sturdy structures that you can go to and take shelter. As always, being informed of weather conditions and avoiding the area of possible tornadic activity is always best. If a tornado watch is issued, it would be best to delay any travel in the area if you don't have rapid access to a shelter," he said.

Woodward hosts a lot of fun events, but what happens when there is a storm threat during an event?

"Lightning is the first concern at any outdoor event. At the Woodward Arena at Crystal Beach, the park (as well as the golf course) are covered with a lightning alarm system" Lehenbauer said. "The alarm will sound a siren if lightning is within a dangerous distance. At any time if you are in the park for any activity and the alarm sounds, you should leave the park and seek shelter or return home.

"The system has an all-clear sound that is an air-horn, to advise anyone still in the park that the area is clear from lightning. The same advice as for any other situation holds true here: Stay weather-aware well before an event, and leave the event if a tornado or severe thunderstorm watch or warning is issued, and know the difference between a watch and a warning."

As a summary of these tips, Lehenbauer said, "Remember, it is your own responsibility to ensure the safety of yourself and your family. Have a plan in place for any and all possible emergencies and advise all parties in the household of the plan. Make sure your cell phone is charged, have an FM radio and listen for sirens. In addition, if you live in the country, be sure to have a shelter nearby or leave to find shelter well in advance of the storm."

For weather alerts, Emergency Management can send out alerts automatically for life threatening weather conditions on all phones unless the feature shows opt out.

There are a number of apps available that will alert as well. Severe Weather Alerts, which is for Android phones, that sounds a warning tone when a severe weather alert is issued. For iOS devices, they have a built-in weather app that can be set up to push alerts to iPhone or iPad devices.

"We do stress caution with using some of the other phone apps that use non-government sources for weather information, as they can be inaccurate and slow in updating," Lehenbauer said.

"For general weather information, we recommend the Mesonet app. It is free on the iOS and Android app stores, and shows a wide variety of weather information direct from the Oklahoma Climatological Survey office and the National Weather Service Norman Forecast office. For the best radar app available, one that we in the meteorology profession use is RadarScope," he added. "Not an app, but a website that works great for mobile phones is mobile.weather.gov. You can enter in your location the first time you use this, and then bookmark the link to your phone's screen to get accurate and official forecast information directly from the National Weather Service, which will make it perform just like an app."

For the hearing-impaired, there is a program called OK-Warn, which sends alerts to smartphones via text message. You can sign up for these free alerts at www.readywoodward.com. You can also register your storm shelter at this website.