BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Extreme weather can happen anytime in Kentucky. But typically, mid to late spring can see the highest chances for tornadoes. So knowing where to seek shelter when we’re not at our homes is important information to have before storms hit. 

Warren County has eight tornado shelters throughout its park system. 

“They’re open everywhere. You don’t even have to be in an activity in the park, you can come here and take shelter,” Travis Puckett, deputy director of the Warren County Emergency Management said. 

The shelters are made to weather 200 mph winds. 

“We make periodic stops to come by and check the cleanliness, the readiness,” Puckett explained.

All the shelters have water, weather radio, flashlights and other emergency items and even changing tables. Some of the shelters have bathrooms. Park management will open the shelter when there is a tornado watch. 

“Try to figure out where the warning is, where that weather is at, we always want people to be weather aware,” Puckett said. There are more than 30  warning sirens in the county. Puckett also advises residents to have some weather alerts enabled on their mobile devices. And he encourages those who may be out during a tornado warning to seek safety at one of the park’s shelters.

“We don’t want people to get out of their vehicles but of you can get under an underpass or shield something that would be the greatest,” Puckett said.  

The Warren County Park Department says pets are allowed if they are on a leash or in a cage, and there are tornado signs in the parks to help direct patrons to the shelters.