Severe weather preparedness with the National Weather Service of Paducah

PADUCAH, Ky. (KBSI) – According to the National Weather Service of Paducah the region saw 59 tornadoes last year.

That marks the second highest number they’ve seen since 1995. With March through July being prime time for severe weather and tornadoes. Weather experts saying to be prepared ahead of time.

Christine Wielgos is a Meteorologist for the National Weather Service of Paducah. She says for the next several months they’re team will be working diligently to track and alert citizens of severe weather and tornadoes. She strongly urges citizens to have a weather radio or follow a trusted news source or weather service on social media or tv so you know as soon as bad weather hits.  

“The key is to try to figure out where you’re going to go, how you’re going to react and having those tools available to you is going to be very important because the time to decide what to do or where to go is not going to be when that tornado warning is issued, that’s when you put your plan into action because you’ve already had it all laid out” says Wielgos.

Wielgos says they recommend having weather alerts tuned loud enough that it’ll wake you up out of your sleep. Many tornadoes hit in the early morning hours, so you should have a first aid bag packed and get to a basement or bathtub or the lowest room in your house as soon as you get a tornado alert as you typically don’t have much time after a tornado has been spotted.

“I will tell you when you’re going through a severe weather event it is not easy,” says Wielgos. Theres a lot of anxiety, there’s a lot of stress and your brain isn’t working correctly during those times and so having all of that stuff set up ahead of time is very important.”  

Tips on Tornado preparedness

• Have a first aide bag packed
• Keep a weather radio or trusted weather alerts device close and turned up loud enough it’ll wake you up
• Have a plan ahead of time of where you’re going to go
• Stay away from windows and go to the lowest part of your home or bathroom

For more tornado preparedness tips with the National Weather Service of Paducah.