What should you do when a tornado is headed for your vehicle while driving?

Answer 1

FIRST OFF NEVER USE AN OVERPASS FOR SHELTER.

The Truth About Overpasses Many people mistakenly think that a highway overpass provides safety from a tornado. In reality, an overpass may be one of the worst places to seek shelter from a tornado. Seeking shelter under an overpass puts you at greater risk of being killed or seriously injured by flying debris from the powerful tornadic winds.

The idea that overpasses offer safety probably began in 1991, when a television news crew and some citizens rode out a very weak tornado under an overpass along the Kansas Turnpike. The resulting video continues to be seen by millions, and appears to have fostered the idea that overpasses are preferred sources of shelter, and should be sought out by those in the path of a tornado. In addition, news magazine photographs of people huddled under an overpass with an approaching tornado imply that this is the correct safety procedure. NOTHING CAN BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH! http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ddc/?n=over

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO If you're outside in a car or in a mobile home, go immediately to the basement of a nearby sturdy building. Sturdy buildings are the safest place to be. Tornado winds can blow large objects, including cars and mobile homes, hundreds of feet away. Tornadoes can change direction quickly and can lift up a car or truck and toss it through the air; never try to out-drive a tornado. Mobile homes are particularly vulnerable. A mobile home can overturn very easily even if precautions have been taken to tie down the unit. If there is no building nearby, lie flat in a low spot. Use your arms and hands to protect your head. Tornadoes cause a lot of debris to be blown at very high speeds, and you can be hurt by this debris if it hits you. Dangerous flying debris can be blown under highway overpasses and bridges, or weaker overpasses and bridges could be destroyed. You will be safer lying flat in a low-lying area where wind and debris will blow above you. Tornadoes come from severe thunderstorms, which can produce a lot of rain. If you see quickly rising water or flood water coming towards you, move to another spot. Avoid places with wide-span roofs, such as auditoriums, cafeterias, large hallways, or shopping malls. Wide-span roofs are frequently damaged or destroyed in tornado winds, providing less protection and more risk of injury, than roofs over smaller rooms.

MORE INFORMATION ON TORNADO SAFETY

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lmk/preparedness/tornado_large/index.php

http://www.disastercenter.com/guide/tornado.html

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/fwd/wcm/safety_rules_lists.pdf

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/brochures/tornado.shtml

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/elp/swww/v5n1/tornadoes2.htm

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/safety.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00758/en/disaster/tornado/safety.html

http://www.tornadoproject.com/safety/safety.htm

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/faq/faq_tor.php

WHY OVERPASSES ARE NOT TO BE USED FOR SHELTERS

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/papers/overpass/slide01.html

agreed completely but if you cant reach shelter lie face down in a ditch with you hands over your head.