Weather alert
 

How do you find out about weather alerts? I don't believe the Villages has a siren service.

I have two weather apps on my phone.

Weather.com
Clime from NOAA

I have MA home, FL home and NJ grandkids home locations for alerts

The biggest question is nighttime tornado warning alerts. . .

YMMV

I also have a lightning alert on my phone, as recommended by prior posters here.

So, if you get a tornado alert, what will you do?

Sleep under the mattress.

Welcome to Sumter County, FL
Sign up for alerts…..

I go outside to see if its nearby, listening for the wind train sound!
We were just down the street from one here in MA, EF0, but never saw it.

There were a couple EF-0 reported last summer in MA. Barnstable on The Cape, N. Brookfield in Central MA. Usually it’s Great Barrington in W. Mass that has earned the title of tornado alley...

You’re right though, most didn’t even know about it

Wanted your thoughts on this Coach...couldnt find your original post/thread on the subject

Major US bridges could be vulnerable to ship collisions – including one just downstream from Baltimore’s Key bridge | CNN

Don't forget the ear plugs. Can get a bit noisy when passing over.

Same as a Hurricane, buy a 6 pack and watch the show.

On a serious side, in case of a tornado, most of the houses in TV are 'shelter in place", so go to an interior room or closet and wait out the storm. Personally, I would like the basement option but not available here. We did this for Irma, and apparently one small tornado spun up about .25 miles from our house. Several houses lost some roof shingles, we had a few trees blown over but were able to straighten them out, no other damage. Ian totaled out 6 ceiling panels in the birdcage, so we had all 33 panels replaced, no other damage.

Has there ever been a tornado in or near tv?
Only been here a few years
I think we did experience the winds of one hurricane some time ago.

Simple search found this, if you want more try searching.
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...hlight=Tornado

Also, for the storm alerts, a few of the local (Orlando) television stations have apps that offer storm alerts, along with the ones mentioned above.

IRMA spun off a few small (EF0) tornados, and I think one was within a quarter mile of our house as several houses lost 10 to 25% of their shingles, but thankfully that was the limit of the damage.

My guest bath is an interior room, as is my main closet. But, the bathroom has a tub. Pull a mattress over you when you climb into the tub.

Weather app. If you don’t have one, download one. I use accuweather but there are a bunch out there.
Also the Villages radio station is extremely local!! just like the good old days, if something is happening they will let you know in a timely fashion.

I pick things up and put them down! Really?!

I know you’re kidding. How does an elderly person physically pull a queen mattress off of a bed, drag it across the room, fold it to clear the doorway into a bathroom and then ‘pull it over you when you climb into the tub’?!

Oh wait, I know, you got me...April (4) Fools Day! ;)

Your smart phone provides that via municipality’s broadcast. Also your phone should have an APP for that.

Yesterday's storm gave us an hour power outage. It was a good reminder to always have the necessities handy. Radio, batteries, flashlights, candles and lighter, water and food. Glad it all turned out ok.

Wow! Down here south of 44 we only had a short spurt of heavy rain and some wind. A tornado warning did pop up from my Weather Bug app, but otherwise just an average, quick storm for us with no power loss. Amazing the difference in weather conditions and impact just within The Villages.

Sign up for Emergency Alerts in Sumter Co.
 

Sumtercountysheriff.org
Sign up for alerts on this site if you live in Sumter County

Sign up for alerts on Sumter County Sheriff's web site. They send out weather & traffic alerts.

LOL! :popcorn:

The amount of time between knowing a tornado will hit you and the amount of time you have to get into the interior room is probably just enough. . never mind any mattress fantasy!

Tell me you have never lived with tornados without telling me you have never lived with tornados. :ohdear:

All good advice
Would you agree in any weather scenario involving power outages...that buying milk or other perishables might be I'll advised? That always puzzled me sans a generator

I have two weather apps, a TV that carries local news, local sheriff alerts, etc.

How you prepare really depends on where you live. For example, if I lived in the north part of TV I'd be more worried about power outages than if I lived in the south.

The other advantage of the Sumter county warning is that you get an alert when they will be spraying for mosquitoes. On those nights, I make sure to get the dog out early for his walk.

So true
I think many forget that this development sits in three counties. It's possible even in a moderate event that some wouldn't experience anything....or even notice. No different than any other part of the country when talking about several separate and distinct counties.

Midland makes NOAA weather alert radios with battery backup.

Tornadoes in TV
 

From The Villages News excerpt:

Florida's second worst tornado
outbreak was called the Groundhog
Day outbreak -- and it devastated
The Villages. It all began around 3
a.m. on Feb. 2, 2007. The outbreak
produced three tornadoes. The first
tornado grazed Wildwood on its
East-Northeast path toward The
Villages. At 3:10 a.m. it touched
down onto Bailey Trail as an EF-3
tornado, traveling at nearly 60 mph
while producing 160 mph winds
The tornado traveled across the
entire mid-section of The Villages as it raced East-Northeastward and
then exited five minutes later at 3:15
a.m. In those brief yet terrifying five
minutes, the tornado damaged
approximately 1,300 Villages
homes. Some homes only
experienced light damage while
others suffered massive
destruction.Even though most
residents were sound asleep when
the tornado hit, there were amazingly
no fatalities, but there were many injuries. After leaving The Villages, that first
tornado entered Lake County and
continued its destructive path into
trailer courts and unprepared
residents which resulted in several
deaths. A second tornado hit Deland
and a third tornado hit New Smyrna
Beach. The three Groundhog Day
tornadoes caused 21 deaths,
hundreds of injuries, and $218
million in damages
The Villages 2007 tornado happened
very fast and it could happen again.
The first tornado warning was not
issued until just 8 minutes before it
hit, plus no one saw the funnel cloud
because it was dark. By the time
residents were awakened by the
train-like roaring sound and the train-like roaring sound and the
violent battering of debris against
the walls and windows, it was too
late for many to get to their safe rooms...

In summary, prepare ahead: know where the safest place is in your house. Make sure you have a weather alert weather or weather app and have it loud enough to hear it if you are sleeping. It's almost impossible to see funnel clouds during the night, so time is important if it alerts you. My bedroom alert is set for tornado warnings only, because including tornado watches set it off too frequently in other S A.M E counties nearby. Last year the warnings went off several times during a few scary nights. My phone has apps set for a few bad weather alerts (silent) for a wider zone in case I am traveling about so I am aware. Tornadoes have happened here.

There was one time I got a tornado alert on my phone telling me to take shelter in the basement. I have yet to see a house in Florida with a basement.

Candles were removed from the list due to the fire hazard. After incident reviews, shelter structures were noted that caught fire in affected areas from the open flames.

Build A Kit | Ready.gov

All good suggestions and simple to organize in a few minutes. Go to an interior area, closet or tub. Use some blankets, pile of clothes, or other covering that is manageable for your body type for an immenent situation (think tornado). The idea is for some protection from projectiles. A heavier object, ie mattress, if caught in a prolonged situation is preferrable and you could not evacuate (severe hurricane).

Be safe.

I dont know what it is about some on here and mattresses. If you want constructive and usefully advice...for an aged population, order a lightweight and inexpensive toddler mattress on Amazon. Easy to maneuver and more practical for the tub option. Also, and more importantly, you won't throw out your back, hip, risk a fall etc....and it's easy to store when not in use

Weather Alert Radio
 

You can buy a NOAH weather alert radio at Walmart. It has a loud alarm that you can hear thru your entire house. It alerts you however you set it up - severe storms, tornedos, floods, etc. You are correct that we have no tornedo sirens here. I was here for the Ground Hogs Day tornedo on Feb. 2, 2007. We were surprised to learn we did not have warning sirens. It went right over our house (no damage). It does sound like a freight train!!! Pretty frightening.

We had lots of tornadoes and hurricanes in NC where they also don't have basements. We had a interior walk in closet that many of the homes have here that we kept an emergency kit in. Water flaslights a wind up radio and a waterproof folder that had cash important papers. We had a cat 3 hurricane hit us and had no electricity or water for a week. Was so glad we had cash...credit cards don't work when there is no electricity. Doing the same here although I think hurricanes aren't as normal here but who knows the weather has been weird. We did keep one ice scraper. Haha!

I’ll take that all day everyday! The MA version of the storm is ice and sleet and power outages!

Sumter co. Sheriff’s Office mobile app. It’s in the App Store.
You get weather alerts plus other alerts. Great app to have.

Say 5 "hail Mary's" and get into the fetal position.

I remember that tornado in 2007. My friend lost the back part of her home. They had to rebuild a new living room and dinning room. It was terrifying to see all the damage. Thankfully they were not hurt.

We were thinking of using the walk-in bedroom closet should a tornado warning occur. It has plenty of room and a high ceiling. But it also had access to the attic which I was concerned about so I asked someone at the weather club. He advised not to so we plan to use the small bathroom.