For many, an approaching storm might be inconvenient — a day when that afternoon at the dog park or the barbecue, camping trip or baseball game gets put on hold.
But for some, it can bring bursts of anxiety that weigh heavily on daily routine. Maybe it’s that experience in a significant storm that triggers the stress, or perhaps it’s fear of the thunder, the roaring winds, or of being hurt or having your home and property destroyed.
“Storm anxiety — that’s indeed a thing, and you need to empower yourself and take control of your stress,” Dr. Joseph Alton, author of “The Survival Medicine Handbook,” told FOX Weather.
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And when the forecasts turn even direr amid threats of severe and potentially destructive weather, the stress levels can become overwhelming.
There is no way to keep the severe weather from coming, but there are ways to empower yourself through knowledge and preparation to help deal with the anxieties.
“It can be helpful to think about what exactly it is about severe weather or storms that make you afraid, stressed or nervous,” said meteorologists with the National Weather Service office in Norman, Oklahoma. “Knowing what it is that makes you stressed or anxious can help you find ways to deal with that stress and anxiety.”
The meteorologists in Norman compiled an excellent resource webpage full of tips to help deal with storm anxiety.
For those in Tornado Alley, the meteorologists in Norman also answer common questions from those who suffer storm anxiety, from concerns on how to shelter from storms (“I don’t have a storm shelter,” or “I’m afraid I’ll be driving when a storm hits”), how to make sure you’re getting and using the correct weather information (“How do I know if the storm is really dangerous?”), how to make sure you’re receiving storm warnings (“I’m worried a tornado will drop out of the sky from any storm, and it will hit me with no warning”), and what to do if you’re afraid you’ll be separated from your family with no way to reach them.
And know that you are not alone if you suffer from these anxieties. A 2014 study by Ball University found that 85% of people surveyed admitted at least some increased anxiety around severe storms, and about 2-3% of the population experience a more intense form of severe weather phobia.
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Lorraine Andrews, who lives in Naples, Florida, has been through many hurricanes. But Hurricane Wilma left a mark. She was visiting family in Aventura when Wilma made a turn in track and roared into southern Florida.
“It hit where we were; it must have torn down every single tree in the area,” Andrews said. “The wind — it took so many trees. We went into a room with no windows — we didn’t want to hear any of the wind, so we stayed in that room… As soon as they said the wind was approaching Fort Lauderdale, we started hearing the tiles flying off the neighbor’s roof and hitting our house.”
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She says now she doesn’t even stay in town during hurricane season, staying with family in Illinois or California.
Storm stress even afflicts those whose job it is to forecast the storms.
“Where my family is located scattered across Oklahoma, I definitely find myself on the anxious side when looking at a model run or storms developing on radar heading in their direction,” says FOX Weather Meteorologist Jordan Overton, “knowing as a meteorologist that conditions are conducive of significant weather.”
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I suffered quite a bit of storm anxiety as a teenager. I grew up in the coastal Pacific Northwest, where severe weather is rare, but I lived for three years in North Carolina, and my first experiences with severe thunderstorms were frightening, to say the least. That led to many sleepless nights and anxious days when thunderstorms were in the forecast.
I spent those years watching weathercasts every night and charting the storms on my maps to know when and where the storms might strike, so I could mentally prepare and not be surprised. Learning about storms not only sparked an eventual career but took some “fear of the unknown” away. We hope these tips can help those who feel anxious too.