For those of you who don't live in the Midwest or Tornado alley, tornadoes are
no joke[1] . You usually have some warning that conditions are ripe and to take cover. It sounds stupid, but when you've lived in that type of area long enough you can "tell" when the conditions are right and it's not going to be your average thunderstorm. As to knowing for
sure that shit's about to hit the fan, you'll have maybe a few minutes if you're lucky.
The sky turns this
ugly green color[2] and the tornado sirens will begin to
wail[3] , if you've never heard them think WWII air raid siren. Usually they're tested once a month (where I'm at in central Illinois anyway), if it's not the day they test you get your ass into your basement as soon as possible. Remember what's above you when you pick a place to hunker down in the basement. Under the stairs is generally a good choice. Nothing will fuck up your day quite like your oven crashing through the floor onto you.
If no basement is available, get as far into the building as you can into a room without windows. Bathrooms are good (remember though, no windows!), get in the tub. Hallways are alright too as are closets. Get into a sort of
kneeling fetal position[4] , put your hands over the back of your neck, things
will fall on you. Most often you'll be lucky and you won't be hit, however, you could emerge to find your entire neighborhood destroyed, or every house on the street could be gone and yours untouched. There's no logic with a tornado.
If you're in a car, don't try to outrun it, you won't make it. If you can find shelter, great, if not pull over. If there's a ditch on the side of the road hop in and get as low as possible, things will be flying through the air, heavy things that you don't want hitting you at over 100 mph. Do not try to take cover under an overpass, you will get fucked up. (Some people have asked if you really can't outrun it. The big ones travel at about 70 mph with 300 mph winds. They're about a mile wide and the "record" one was 2.5 miles wide. You most likely have to travel on a road in a straight line, the tornado does not. Seriously, you won't make it.)
I've lived in tornado country my entire life and so far I've had the luck to never get hit, they always seem to dissipate or change course before we get hit.
People who have been in one (and survived) say it sounds like a freight train going over you. Here's a
Youtube video[5] where you can get a pretty good idea of the sound, skip to about 0:10. These are people that are at a convenience store and are taking cover
inside the walk in refrigerator. Imagine if you were in the open.
Tl;Dr: Tornadoes are no joke.
Sorry for the lecture, but too many people have no idea what to do when confronted with a tornado and people shouldn't die when they don't have to.
Edit: The
reasons[6] you don't take cover under an overpass is that the constricted space causes the wind speeds to increase dramatically and it funnels debris into it. It seems in every major tornado people still take cover there and every time people are killed or seriously injured.
Edit 2: It seems that there's a bit of current debate on whether or not it's better to remain in the car or try to take cover outside it. It seems both are last resorts. You really need to find shelter. Apparently, if you don't manage to hunker down and you're in the car your options are to remain inside and possibly get tossed or to get out and possibly get nailed by flying debris. Apparently it's a crap-shoot and blind luck at that point.
To throw in a Ron White quote: "It's not that the wind's a-blowin', it's what the wind's a-blowin'".
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