"You have only a few minutes." What to do if a thunderstorm, hurricane, or tornado catches you in nature

News reports regularly feature stories of people killed by lightning strikes or falling trees. Meanwhile, many tragedies could have been avoided. Together with the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES), Onliner.by tells what to do during dangerous weather phenomena.

— Any wind with a speed exceeding 20 meters per second is considered squally. Such wind is dangerous primarily because it can cause various structures to fall on a person, leading to injuries or even death, — says Maxim Klachko, head of the center for public and media interaction at the MES.

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— Therefore, if you feel the wind intensifying, it's a serious signal that you need to leave. In the city, you can hide from squally wind in any shopping center, pharmacy, or residential building entrance.

But what to do if a storm catches you on the beach, where there are only gazebos, sun loungers, and trees around? For example, as it happened at the Minsk Sea, where a girl died during a hurricane in 2023.

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— The best option is to pack your things, get in your car, and leave the place as quickly as possible. But people often stay until the last moment and only leave when the wind is already very strong. In such a case, you need to move away from trees, metal structures, tents, gazebos, sun loungers — everything that could potentially cause injury — and go to an open area. There's no universal formula for behavior here, but you need to try to assess the situation soberly.

Most often, people get scared and start to panic. For example, they climb into a tent, thinking it will protect them. But this is a mistake. We know of cases where a person hid from wind and rain in a tent, but it was struck by lightning, after which a tree fell, and the person died.

And what if you hide from the rain and wind in a gazebo?

— That's also a mistake. While in it, you simply won't be able to assess what's happening around you. Moreover, the gazebo might be poorly secured. Although, if it's well-cemented, nothing bad should happen.

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What to do during a tornado: how to escape and where to hide to survive

A tornado can pose an even greater danger. It is an atmospheric vortex that originates in a thundercloud and descends to the ground in the form of a column. On its path, a tornado breaks trees, demolishes unstable buildings, lifts objects into the air, and can take a person's life.

— As a child, I had the chance to observe a tornado. It's a very powerful phenomenon, — recalls Maxim. — This happened in 1998 in the village of Lahishyn, Pinsk district. The tornado ripped roofs off houses then. On a neighboring plot, there was a huge poplar tree. It fell on a barn. The animals inside died.

The rescuer advises waiting out a tornado in any nearby building, but not near power lines or at a bus stop: in very strong winds, they often fall.

— If there are no buildings nearby, you need to go to an open area and crouch down as low as possible. This way, your body will offer less resistance to the wind, and the risk of injury will decrease. On the internet, you can see footage of a person walking towards a tornado being literally blown away by the wind. If he had crouched, this might not have happened.

If a tornado catches you in a forest, you need to run from it. But not in the direction of the vortex's movement — it's very fast and will catch up. You need to run diagonally.

At the same time, you must crouch as low as possible, lowering your head.

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And what to do if a tornado catches you at the Minsk Sea, where there are many trees and little open space?

— In such a case, I would go to my car and drive to a safe distance. But being in a car in the forest near a tornado is also a bad idea: trees often fall on cars.

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Thunderstorm and lightning: how to recognize danger and where to find a safe place

Lightning can also be a deadly threat. It is very difficult to survive a lightning strike. Most often, a person suffers severe shock and dies from cardiac arrest.

Unfortunately, cases of people dying from lightning strikes occur almost every year. Someone hides from the rain under a tree that is struck by lightning, and someone simply lingers in the garden. One of the latest such incidents occurred near Myory in June 2024: during a thunderstorm, an 82-year-old man was simply pushing his bicycle next to him.

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— There have been cases when lightning struck a body of water, and a person in the water also died. Another example: a man was riding a bicycle in a field and apparently talking on his mobile phone. As a result, he also died, and the phone was found nearby, — says Maxim.

How to protect yourself?

The expert believes that encounters with lightning can often be avoided. For this, one should use special online services that show dangerous weather phenomena.

If you are on the beach, you can approximately determine how far away lightning is striking. To do this, immediately after the flash, count the number of seconds until the thunderclap. An interval of three seconds corresponds to approximately one kilometer.

If less than 10 seconds pass between the flash and the thunder, you need to seek shelter as quickly as possible.

— Let's imagine you are on the beach. You need to quickly look around. Lightning strikes the tallest objects, so isolated trees, poles, billboards, and metal structures are high-danger zones. You also cannot be in the water: it conducts electricity perfectly. Therefore, I would run to the car as quickly as possible. If you came to the reservoir not by car, hide in a cafe. It is best to turn off your mobile phone.

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Ball lightning is another dangerous phenomenon that people sometimes encounter. True, it is talked about much more often than it is seen. Remember: as children, many told scary stories about a glowing ball flying through a transom, floating around the room, and then exploding.

But these are not just legends. Ball lightning really exists. In 2013, several farm workers in the Rechytsa district experienced its effects. One eyewitness recounted that he and his colleagues noticed a glowing ball about the size of a tennis ball. After that, thunder rumbled, and the ball exploded. The men survived but sustained various injuries.

— This is indeed a rare phenomenon. As a rule, ball lightning poses a danger primarily to private homes, — says Maxim Klachko. — Still, modern apartment buildings are equipped with lightning rods and lightning arresters. During a thunderstorm, you should unplug electrical appliances and close windows. If you do encounter ball lightning, do not make sudden movements.

You can attract it to yourself with an air current. It doesn't last long — from a few seconds to one minute, after which it either explodes or simply disappears.

Where is the safest place at the Minsk Sea?

Beach No. 1. It was hit by a hurricane in 2023. After that, the territory was almost completely cleared of trees, turning it into a sandy zone. According to the expert, in strong winds, a person here should feel relatively safe. The threat of falling trees is practically non-existent here.

How to protect yourself from hail: what to do on the street and in the field

Ordinary hail, which we encounter almost every year, can also cause damage.

— From it, of course, it's best to hide in a building or a car. But if you find yourself in a field and the hail is large, it's best to crouch down, cover yourself with an umbrella, or make a kind of visor with a jacket or sweater. This way, you can at least reduce the force of the impact.

The main thing is not to run or rush anywhere: that way you will only increase the area where hailstones will hit.

Approximately this is how the body position should look.

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According to our interlocutor, all the listed dangers can be avoided by monitoring weather forecasts from Belhydromet and warnings about dangerous phenomena from the Ministry of Emergency Situations (including in the agency's Telegram channel).

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