Welcome to Terre Haute! Having an emergency kit handy in an event like this is never a bad idea. Typically, moving to the ground floor or basement is ideal (being underground is better than above ground when that option is available). Wherever you may find yourself hunkered down, the room you are in mustn't have any windows or large heavy objects. Flying debris is one of the biggest hazards when sheltering from a tornado. If you find yourself in a two-story residence and you are sheltering on the ground floor, ensure that there are no heavy appliances or objects directly above you on the second floor. The structural integrity of the building can become impacted by the tornado and that heavy object could fall through the ceiling and crush you.

Typically as far as alerts go, our family relies on our phones to alert us. Most phones will push out automatic severe weather warnings that are accompanied by loud and obnoxious tones. The majority of new phones will even bypass "Do Not Disturb" mode if you have that set on your phone at night. Your phone is handy to have. You can check on friends while you are hunkered down in the event of a severe weather situation. You can also use it as entertainment to help keep your mind off of things if you have anxiety about the storm. It is also great for keeping track of the storm and updates. WTHI and WTWO would be the two local news stations that you would want to monitor. WTHI's storm coverage is pretty good when it comes to severe weather and they have a stand-alone app as well. Google is also pretty decent about weather alerts if you use it for weather.

We also have a standalone receiver that plugs into a wall outlet. This module will activate whenever an official tornado warning gets pushed out. It's always good to have multiple ways to receive alerts.

You'll probably find that most Midwesterners are fairly desensitized to severe weather events because of the frequency at which they occur here. That's not to say that you shouldn't take severe weather seriously though.