John P. Mueller’s family followed a plan when a tornado tore through their neighborhood 30 years ago.  They emerged without a scratch. 

Today, Mueller makes sure hundreds of hospital patients and staff follows a plan to protect themselves if a tornado hits St. Charles.

Mueller was 10 years old when a twister touched down across the street from his childhood home in north St. Louis County.  It was the afternoon, but the sky was already pitch black, Mueller said.  Loud thunder clapped as powerful winds rattled the house.  Mueller’s mother took her children int0o the basement where they waited until the violent storm passed.  They emerged to discover the tornado had spared their house. But their neighbors were not so lucky.

“It touched down and totally wiped out the back end of the house across the street,” Muller said.  “It skipped over another house and took out a porch two houses down.  It broke a lot of windows, nut not at our house.  It’s kind of strange the way a tornado can flatten one house and the house next door will be fine.  The unpredictability of these storms ins amazing.”  Today, Mueller leads the sever weather drills and organizes safety procedures as the director of safety and security for SSM St. Josephs Health Center in St. Charles.

“We don’t have a tornado shelter because there are too many people in the building, so we just rely on common sense,” he said.  “Patient safety is our number one priority.  If a patient’s condition permits, we move them in to the hallway to get them away from the windows.  If we can’t move them, we close the cubicle curtains around the beds.  We have diesel generators to run life-support equipment if the power goes out.”

Visitors, staff, and mobile patients are instructed to move to the interior of the building, far away from glass and debris.  “When things are at their worst, we have to be at our best,” Mueller said.  “You never know when you are going to need to use these procedures.  You just have to be prepared.” 

Missouri experienced a record 84 tornadoes last year, beating the previous record of 79 tornadoes in 1973.  St. Charles County lies within Tornado Alley, a region stretching from Texas to Nevada that experiences the majority of the nation’s tornado activity. 

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 23 tornadoes were reported in St. Charles County between 1950 and 2003.  “Tornado season” runs from March through August, with most tornadoes occurring during April, May, and June.  A tornado is a rotation column of air that extends down from a thunderstorm cloud and touches the ground.

Tornadoes are categorized according to the Fujita scale, ranging from F0 with wind speeds up to 72 miles per hour, to F5 with speeds exceeding 260 miles an hour.  St. Charles County has not experienced an F4 or F5 but it has seen five F3 tornadoes, according to NOAA.

Every household should have its own tornado plan, said Nicole Holtgrefe, American Red Cross Emergency Services Specialist.  Holtgrefe handles the organization’s disaster preparedness activities for St. Charles, St. Louis, and Jefferson counties.  She offers free disaster preparedness courses to any group that requests one, including businesses, churches, and schools.

“You need to have your disaster supply kit and your plan in place before a disaster happens,” Holtgrefe said.  “A disaster supply kit should contain the items that would keep a family safe up to three days if they had no electricity or water.”

The kit should include basic first aid supplies, essential medications, flashlights, batteries, a battery-operated radio, long sleeve shirts and pants, shoes canned food, and at least a gallon of water per family member.  Families should know where their “safe spot” is in their home.  A basement is usually the safest place during a tornado.  If there is no basement, go to a small room with no windows in the interior of the home, such as the bathroom.  People in an apartment building should go to the lowest floor, staying within the building interior. 

“If you’re outside, in a car or in a mobile home, the best thing to do is find shelter,” Holtgrefe said.  “If you can’t get to shelter quickly, its’ better to go outside and lay in a ditch or low area.”

Some people seek shelter beneath overpasses.  Holtgrefe said this is a bad idea.  “The overpass acts as a wind tunnel.  You could get sucked out into the tornado,” she said.

After the tornado passes, curiosity compels people to inspect the damage.  Holtgrefe said people should resist this temptation.  “They should stay away from damaged buildings and debris.  There could be downed power lines, broken glass, or other dangerous things,” she said.  “It’s best to turn on your battery-operated radio and listen for emergency instructions on where to go.  The radio will tell you when it is safe to come out of your ‘safe spot.’”

The National Weather Service issues tornado watches and tornado warnings, two terms that confuse many people, Holtgrefe said.  A tornado watch means that conditions are favorable for tornado activity.  “That is the time for people to be alert, listen to the radio or TV, know where their disaster supply kit is and where their ‘safe spot’ is,” she said.  People should go to their “safe spot” if the watch is elevated to a tornado warning, which means a tornado has actually been sighted and is heading their way.  Visit the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter website at www.redcrossstl.org for more information.

Ina Obenland, public information officer for the St. Charles County Division of Emergency Management, also helps educate the public about tornado preparedness.  Obenland recommends everyone own a NOAA weather radio, which delivers a warning when severe weather approaches.  “We’d like to see NOAA weather radios become as common as smoke detectors in people’s homes and businesses,” Obenland said.  “You just set it to only hear warnings for St. Charles County.”

Much like a smoke detector, a NOAA radio will emit an alert tone that will wake people from their sleep.  The same cannot be said of the county’s outdoor warning sirens, Obenland said.  “The sirens are not designed to be reliably heard indoors,” she said.  “They are intended to warn people outside to go inside and take shelter.  In a loud storm you may not hear the siren.  That is why we recommend people have a NOAA radio.”

People hold several misconceptions about tornadoes, Obenland said.  “A lot of people think you should open the windows in your house because, when a tornado passes, the pressure differential will cause your house to explode,” she said.  “But experts agree that opening your windows does not serve any purpose.  It will not reduce the risk of damage to a structure.  Your time is better spent getting to shelter.”

Some people believe tornadoes cannot cross rivers, but they can.  “Right here in the metro area, several tornadoes have been observed crossing the Mississippi,” Obenland said.

“Some people think tornadoes do not hit large cities, but downtown St. Louis has been hit four times in the last century.  Fort Worth and Salt Lake City have been hit by tornadoes during the last few years.  It’s strange to think of a tornado going through a downtown metropolitan area, but it happens.”

Obenland and her department conduct as many as 300 disaster safety and planning seminars each year.  These are provided free fro churches, businesses, professional associations and other interested groups.  The county also distributes free disaster preparedness brochures.  Visit www.scchealth.org/docs/ems for more information.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) distributes free booklets on how to build a “tornado safe room.”  This is typically an 8-foot room built of cast-in-place concrete, concrete masonry, or steel-reinforced wood framing.

They must be anchored to the ground.  As an attachment to the house, it could be used as a bathroom or storage room until it is needed for shelter.  If built according to FEMA specifications, the room will withstand wind speeds of 250 miles per hour and stop projectiles moving 100 miles per hour.  It could cost between $2,500 and $6,000, depending on the materials and whether a contractor is used.  For more information on building a tornado safe room, call 1-888-565-3896.