The region had its first taste of summer severe weather Tuesday night, as a line of severe thunderstorms plowed through the area. And, though the weather can be unpredictable, there are several steps people can take to help mitigate the dangers that come with extreme weather situations.

In the event that severe weather is expected, people should be aware of any watches or warnings issued by the National Weather Service, meteorologist Aaron Tyburski said.

“We’re going to put out a watch when the conditions are favorable for severe weather, whether it be flooding, thunderstorms or tornadoes,” he said.

“If you’re in that general area, we want you to take precautions, keep an eye on your local media and any weather service products that come out as well,” Tyburski said.

If outdoors, alternate plans and places of shelter should be considered.

“For a warning, the event is happening, and we detected, either looking through radar or getting reports from people on the ground, that severe weather is either likely or occurring,” he explained.

“If you hear of a warning being issued, you’ll definitely want to get inside, because one of the threats for severe weather is wind which could blow trees down or poles and cause property and other damage that could injure you,” Tyburski said.

Severe thunderstorms often include hail, which can cause damage of its own, including to vehicles and people, he said.

“Another reason to get inside is lightning. Lightning doesn’t particularly make a storm severe, but all thunderstorms have lightning, so if you hear thunder, there’s lightning at least in the vicinity, and that can be dangerous,” Tyburski said.

Those indoors should avoid running water, such as bath tubs, showers and sinks if possible, as well as all corded devices including landlines and cell phones plugged into a wall or computer charger.

If outdoors with no nearby shelter, people should get away from metal structures like bleachers and avoid trees and other tall objects, Tyburski said.

Though often overlooked due to myths about the size of nearby mountains, tornadoes can and do strike the area and should be considered a serious threat, Tyburski said.

“If you hear a tornado warning, you want to get to your basement, to an interior room of your house, or a below ground structure,” he stressed.

“Very similar to severe thunderstorms, they can cause a lot of very destructive damage in a very small area, but some can last a long time,” Tyburski said.

Those living in mobile homes or driving are advised to seek shelter in a sturdy structure or lie flat in a ditch as low as possible to try to stay out of the path of flying debris, Tyburski said, stressing that it is never a good idea to try to outrun a tornado or hide under an overpass.

“If you run up into that little nook in there, just by the basic laws of physics, that air is going to go through there much faster than it would elsewhere. So it actually can be a little more detrimental being in that location,” he explained.

A common phenomenon that can occur, even without accompanying severe thunderstorms, is flooding.

“With flash flooding, that’s going to be more of a short term, localized event, where as flood warnings would be more of an overall where the larger rivers and streams rise, and that may be due to a prolonged rain event, or a rain event combined with snow melt or melting of ice on rivers during spring,” Tyburski said.

“That tends to be more of a flooding issue, that will affect property and your life as well, if you’re close by,” he said.

“Those are the differences, One is very quick and one’s a little slower, but each creates equal issues for the public,” Tyburski said.

Anyone under a flash flood or flood watch should be prepared to move valuables out of basements and, if necessary, immediately move to higher ground.

Anyone encountering water along the roadway is encouraged to “turn around, don’t drown.”

“You may think you know the road because you’ve driven it so much, but it doesn’t take much, a one or two foot drop in the road. You may not notice as you drive on it every day, but then when it’s covered by water, that one to two feet can make a big difference of your car being submerged or actually being separated from the road and starting to float away, and if that happens, you’re at the mercy of the way the water is going,” he said.

One way to stay ahead of any potential extreme weather complications is to have an emergency kit prepared ahead of time, which should include a weather radio.

“Even with cell phones and their capabilities today, if a tower was knocked out and your ability to get a signal for your cell phone is reduced, a weather radio will still provide watches, warnings and other information because all areas in Pennsylvania are covered by one or more weather radio towers,” Tyburski explained.

“They can be found through a lot of commercial places and they can be pretty small and straightforward,” he said.

Other items to include in such a kit include drinking water, some food items, a first aid kit, important medications and personal identity information.

“More of a common sense, ‘how could I make my way through maybe three or four days without electricity or communication, things like that. How would I be able to just get the basics of food and water as well,” Tyburski said.