A family in eastern Tennessee says a tornado warning from the National Weather Service delivered by the AccuWeather® app faster than any other source gave them crucial time to prepare.
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00:00Here at AccuWeather we have thousands of examples of how the superior accuracy of our forecasts and warnings save lives and help people make better decisions.
00:09We're especially gratified, moved and proud when our customers take time to reach out to share their amazing stories of personal impact when faced with dangerous weather.
00:20More than 100 times every year AccuWeather has been documented as providing more accurate, more advanced notice of significant and extreme weather events.
00:29AccuWeather's proven superior accuracy has saved more than 12,000 lives and prevented injury to more than 100,000 people.
00:38Over the past 63 years we've heard from people across the country who say AccuWeather's forecasts and warnings saved their lives.
00:47Michelle Anderson emailed AccuWeather on May 16, 2024 saying AccuWeather provided her with the only warning before a destructive thunderstorm and windstorm struck her neighborhood near Houston, Texas.
01:01Michelle wrote, AccuWeather is the only reason my family was safe. Your alerts timeliness gave me the time I needed to prepare my family and my home.
01:11My cell phone's emergency alerts did not go off until 20 minutes after the storm had fully passed. That's the difference between life and death.
01:21One of the latest testimonials of AccuWeather's proven superior accuracy is from Kelly Jo Johnson.
01:27She received a tornado warning on her cell phone through the AccuWeather app on the night of February 6, 2025 while staying with her kids in an RV in Morgan County, Tennessee.
01:39Severe weather warnings, like the tornado warning Kelly Jo received, are delivered faster through the AccuWeather app than any other source, and that's proven.
01:49AccuWeather's extra advance notice provided Kelly Jo with enough precious time to get her children out of the RV, which is a particularly dangerous place to be in a tornado.
02:00They ran to a neighbor's house in the dark to seek safe shelter. Those neighbors had no awareness that a tornado warning was issued because they did not have the AccuWeather app.
02:12We had never heard from Kelly Jo before. She was so moved and thankful for the extra advance notice from AccuWeather, she took time out of her day to write a detailed email thanking the AccuWeather team,
02:25saying in part,
02:26What I couldn't believe was how much advance notice we were given of the coming danger. My neighbors were notified only seconds before the storm hit. My family had minutes to prepare.
02:38Kelly Jo went on to write,
02:40I don't think it's an exaggeration to say AccuWeather saved lives last night. We will never be able to repay you.
02:48Members of the AccuWeather team teared up reading Kelly Jo's email just hours after the tornado struck, destroying homes nearby.
02:56We're so grateful for her validation of our important life-saving work that we went through great efforts to get in touch with Kelly Jo by phone and asked her to share more details of her story.
03:08Kelly Jo says she wants to share her experience to let everyone know about life-saving warnings available to everyone through the free AccuWeather app.
03:17Those warnings are delivered to the AccuWeather app faster than through any other source.
03:23We're glad to share that Kelly Jo, her family and her neighbors are safe and their homes were spared by the tornado that struck nearby.
03:32We were there like a good 10 minutes before their phones went off crazy that there was a tornado warning and then like within a minute after that the storm hit.
03:41So it was the AccuWeather app that alerted you well in advance of all other sources and you were then able to contact other people within the area.
03:54It literally saved lives because you guys were watching when we weren't.
03:59It makes me a little, apologize, emotional because you begin to realize how much you depend on other people.
04:07Somebody had eyes on this and was watching it and said these people need to know.
04:11Does it give you a sense of relief to understand that the AccuWeather app isn't an app, it's your own meteorologist that is always looking out for you?
04:23It absolutely does and I mean I've known you guys were very passionate about what you do.
04:29I've watched you guys as you guys have given accurate in advance forecasts in other areas that we knew what we were looking at.
04:39So that by just knowing and watching you as an advance, it led me to trust you guys.
04:47When I was being told that I'm in a tornado path when there is literally nothing to give me any indication of why I should pack up my kids and go and bother a neighbor late at night.
04:59It literally is more than an app, it's more than anything to know that there's meteorologists that are looking out for my family.
05:08Thanks to the AccuWeather app, Kelly Jo and her community are not only safer, but they're spreading the word to help others stay safer as well by encouraging them to download the free AccuWeather app.
05:19If you don't use AccuWeather, you don't have the best. Keep your family safest with AccuWeather.