How to prepare for tornado season in Oklahoma City
05/06/2024
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It’s important to stay weather aware year-round, particularly in May, when tornado chances increase in Oklahoma City.
Having a tornado plan and constantly communicating that plan to your family and friends can be your key to survival. Here’s information that can help you protect yourself and your loved ones from the dangers of these powerful storms.
Monitor weather conditions
Wherever you are during a severe weather threat, be sure to be aware of the weather and have different ways to get information.
At least one method should work without electricity, without batteries and without a cellular or Wi-Fi signal, such as a weather radio with a hand-powered crank. Go to NOAA Weather Radio and your local news organizations or official social media accounts for emergency information.
Outdoor warning sirens
Oklahoma City has 182 outdoor warning sirens citywide.
When the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning, they draw a polygon on a map showing where the storm is and where it is believed to be heading. The City then activates all the sirens in the affected sectors. The City has increased the number of sectors over the years to be more exact. This process avoids activating sirens in areas where there is little to no threat.
Although the sirens can often be heard indoors, their primary purpose is to alert people outside that a tornado threat is nearby.
What to do when you hear a siren
- If you hear a siren, take shelter immediately and get more information about the storm.
- OKC's outdoor warning sirens sound in and near areas where the National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning or there has been a credible report of a tornado.
- There is no all-clear signal.
- When the sirens stop, it does not indicate the threat of a tornado has passed.
- Sirens are activated as new or additional threats are detected.
- Even if you normally can hear a siren inside your home, you may not during a noisy thunderstorm because of wind and rain.
Siren testing
Unless there’s a threat of severe weather, the sirens will be tested at noon on Saturdays. Anyone who can usually hear a siren, but doesn’t hear a siren during Saturday’s test, should report it to the Action Center at action.center@okc.gov.
Tornado safety
- Get inside a well-constructed building and seek shelter if a tornado is nearby. Flying debris is the greatest danger.
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Vehicles and manufactured homes are the most dangerous places to be in a tornado. Many deaths are attributable to being inside a vehicle or manufactured home when a tornado strikes.
- If you're driving when a tornado threat is nearby, get to the closest well-constructed building to take shelter. Never attempt to outrun a tornado by driving.
- The safest place to be is a storm shelter built to FEMA guidelines and ICC 500 standards or a basement.
- If there's no storm shelter, get to the innermost room, hallway or closet on the lowest level of the building. Put as many walls between you and the outside as possible and stay away from windows and doors. Most houses provide life-saving protection from 98 percent of tornadoes in Oklahoma.
- Wear a helmet and/or use pillows, cushions and thick blankets for additional protection. Wear sturdy shoes that will protect your feet if you have to walk through debris.
- Oklahoma City doesn't have public tornado shelters.
Make a plan
Talk about tornadoes with your family. You may not be with your loved ones when disaster strikes, so it’s important to have a plan about how and where you’ll reconnect.
Take into consideration what you will do if there is spotty or non-existent cell service. Visit Ready.gov and use their form to create a Family Emergency Communication Plan. Make sure everyone understands the plan and review it on days there is a higher chance of severe storms. You can’t overcommunicate with your family and friends.
Visit with your child’s school about their tornado plan and don’t forget to make a plan for your pets.
Accessible Hazard Alert System
Oklahoma City partners with Deaf Link to provide the Accessible Hazard Alert System (AHAS), which will send accessible alert messages to registered residents who are Deaf, Blind, Hard of Hearing, or Deaf/Blind before, during and after an emergency or disaster in Oklahoma City. Sign up here.
Build a kit
An emergency supply kit can help you survive on your own for several days after an emergency. Build a kit that you and your family can survive on for 72 hours. includes items your household depends on, like medicine, water, an extra cell phone battery, a weather radio, flashlight and extra batteries, a first aid kit, infant formula and diapers and pet food.
Register your storm shelter
Is your storm shelter registered with Oklahoma City, and is your contact information current? If not, log on to okc.gov and click the “register my storm shelter” link under the resident heading at the top of the page. The Storm Shelter Registry is a free, voluntary service that allows you to provide information about your storm shelter so police, fire and emergency responders can find you in case of an emergency. If you don’t have internet access, just call the Action Center at (405) 297-2535.
What to do if a tornado hits Oklahoma City
Self-deployment
Resist the urge to rush to the scene of a disaster to help until the local community has requested volunteers. Self-deployment of unaffiliated responders can create another level of chaos in an already complex and dangerous environment.
Volunteers
People wanting to volunteer during or after a disaster can visit the Oklahoma Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster’s website at okvoad.org. It’s always best to be affiliated and trained by a relief organization before the tornado hits so you can be as effective as possible.
How to help
When disaster strikes, the best way to support people affected by the disaster is by making cash donations to reputable organizations responding to the disaster. Cash donations allow relief organizations or survivors to purchase what they need, when and where they need it. Buying supplies locally helps local businesses and keeps tax revenues in the community.
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Media Contact: Kristy Yager, (405) 297-2550, kristy.yager@okc.gov
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City Hall, 200 N Walker Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73102
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