BELLEVILLE, Ill. — The most dangerous time for tornadoes to hit is at night, especially between midnight and 6 a.m. Overnight storms are 2.5 times more likely to be deadly.
“We're plunged into darkness, we don't have that line of sight or that visual that we normally would during the daytime,” National Weather Service Meteorologist Jared Maples said.
St. Clair County Emergency Management Director Herb Simmons said not only can you not see the tornadoes people can also sleep through the warnings.
“Have your phone at the side of the bed with your alert on it. That's the best way. Everybody says, ‘Well, you know, we want to hear the warning sirens go off.’ Well those outdoor warning sirens are meant for outdoors, when you're outside,” Simmons said.
Another option is a weather radio, you can find them at CVS, Walmart, Target, Amazon and even hardware stores.
“The weather alert radio is our best defense because it will wake you up without a doubt. It's going to give you the message to seek cover,” Simmons said.
Something else to have by your bed: Shoes and a bag with anything you might need including water, medication and non-perishable food or snacks.
“You gotta think about if you are hit by a tornado, what's laying around: Glass, nails, woods, all kinds of things that could impale your feet,” Maples said.
Maples said sometimes it's better to just stay up until the threat has passed to keep your family safe.
“But if you do go to bed, you need to know what you're going to do when you wake up. If you do have a warning, you need to know where you're going to go immediately," Maples said.
There’s still one more way to get alerts -- your county or city likely has its own messaging system that can also notify you of severe weather or other incidents.
In St. Clair County, it's called "code red" and it takes less than five minutes to set up, and it's something you can do anytime.