Wednesday's anticipated severe weather could cause some tornadoes to form in North Alabama. 

Posted: Mar 16, 2021 5:15 PM

Updated: Mar 16, 2021 5:39 PM

Posted By: Grace Campbell

Wednesday's anticipated severe weather could cause some tornadoes to form in North Alabama. 

Some people in our area suggest making sure your phone is fully charged and that you pack a bag of snacks, water and a first-aid kit the night before in case you have to head to a safe place in the middle of the night. 

“You’ve got to hope for the best and prepare for the worst,” said Tyler McGovern.

McGovern experienced the April 27 tornadoes that devastated Alabama. After living through that, he suggests stocking up on essentials like non-perishable food items and gasoline for your car and generator. 

“Whatever you have after the disaster happens, that’s what you’re stuck with," he said. "If your phone is only at 20% and you’re almost out of gas, you know, you’re going to be in a lot tougher situation than if you’re fully prepared.”

You should know where the closest storm shelter is and plan to start heading there if a tornado watch is issued.

Wendy Smith said it's important to not wait until the sirens or tornado warnings go off before you start heading to your safe place. 

“It happens so quickly that you don’t have time to do anything by the time the siren goes off, because when the siren goes off, it’s a warning so that means, it’s there," she said.

Smith suggests staying put and finding the safest place possible if you're not at a storm shelter when a tornado warning is issued.

“Do not be on the road thinking, ‘well, I can get over here before this happens,’ because they’re very unpredictable about where they’re going. They can say it’s going to go this way, but I mean, we don’t know,” Smith said.

Bottom line is, you should always take a tornado watch or warning seriously.  

“Do not take it for granted and just because they said, 'well, last three times we could get tornadoes' and we didn’t, don’t just say ‘well, they keep crying wolf,’ because that is a possibility of when you could get hurt,” she said.