(Updated March 31, 2025)

It’s hard to protect yourself and your family from tornados, damaging straight-line severe thunderstorm winds, or large hail, if you don’t know that the National Weather Service has issued a tornado or severe thunderstorm warning for your location.

So, here’s my list of the best ways to get tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings.

1. Wireless Emergency Alerts

If you have a modern smartphone, the ability to receive tornado and flash flood warnings via the wireless emergency alert (WEA) system is built in. It should have been enabled when you bought the phone. Unless you have since turned WEA off, it will scream at you if you’re under or near a tornado or flash flood warning.

Severe thunderstorms are often deadly, in part because their straight-line winds can blow trees or large limbs down on houses, cars, etc. Not all severe thunderstorm warnings result, however, in WEA alerts. The NWS issues a WEA alert only for severe thunderstorms that could contain at least 2.75 inch (baseball-sized) hail or 80 mph straight-line winds, or both. Storms below those thresholds can still be dangerous to life and property. To be warned about those storms, you’ll need something in addition to WEA (see below).

2. Smartphone apps

Several smartphone apps can give you warnings with even more geographical precision than WEA. Plus these apps can warn you about severe thunderstorm warnings, as well as tornadoes and flash floods. My favorites are:

• StormShield app
• FEMA app

Both apps are free.

Your local television station might also offer a free app that can provide warnings. Visit your favorite stations’ websites to find out.

The American Red Cross also has a free app, but I do not recommend it. In my experience, its tornado warning alerts have arrived several minutes late.

3. NOAA Weather Radio

This is a special radio receiver that receives spoken weather information directly from the NWS. Models are available for around $30. You can find them lots of places. Just do a web search for “weather alert radio near me.” You can set these radios up so they remain silent until and unless the NWS issues a warning for your county.

One slight disadvantage of NOAA Weather Radio is that it only provides county-wide alerts. So, if you live in a geographically large county, you could receive an alert for a storm that won’t affect you. But that’s better than being in the path of a dangerous storm and not knowing! Plus, NOAA Weather Radios might be the best at waking you when severe weather threatens late at night.

4. Text messages

If you don’t have a smartphone, there might be other ways to get alerted of weather warnings, depending on where you live.

Some local TV and radio stations provide free weather alerts via text messages. Check the websites of your local stations to see if they do.

There are also online weather alert services, like www.weatherusa.net that provide warnings and watches via text message, either for free or a small fee, depending on how many devices you have or how many locations you wish to monitor.

5. Phone calls

Some local governments operate “reverse 911” systems that can place a voice call and/or text message to you when a warning is issued. For example, Allen County, Indiana implemented the “Swift 911” system in late 2016. To find out if this is available where you live, check the website of your municipal and/or county government and/or emergency management agency, or call the administrative number for your local police department (don’t call 911 for this information!).

What about tornado sirens?

It’s very important to understand that tornado sirens — known in the emergency management community as “outdoor warning sirens” — are designed to alert only people who are outdoors. You’re not likely to be outdoors late at night. Even if you can sometimes hear tornado sirens inside your house, the sound isn’t likely to be loud enough to wake you (unless you live very close to a siren). Plus even when you hear a siren, you have no idea where the threat is. Some jurisdictions sound every siren, even if the warning affects only a small part of the jurisdiction.

Therefore, you must not rely on tornado sirens to warn you of storms while you’re indoors and possibly asleep. Instead, acquire one of the warning methods described above.