A tornado drops two mile northeast of Niles, Kan., on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. The large tornado that the National Weather Service said was on the ground for about 90 minutes damaged or destroyed about 20 homes in rural northern Kansas and came within a mile of hitting the small town of Chapman. (Tanner Colvin/Salina Journal via AP)

As the heat crept up Tuesday afternoon and the air grew heavy with humidity, many longtime area residents probably sensed severe weather was in the offing.

The National Weather Service in Topeka confirmed those senses, issuing multiple alerts, starting with severe thunderstorm warnings and escalating to tornado watches and finally take-shelter tornado warnings. The warnings were for those in the path of a large twister, which snaked its way from north of Salina to the southeast, just missing Abilene and Chapman but causing considerable damage as it passed through on its way to the Flint Hills.

The outbreak of this week’s severe weather served as a reminder to Douglas County residents that Kansas is in the midst of tornado season, said Teri Smith, Douglas County Emergency Management director. The county has been fortunate in recent years to have largely avoided damaging tornadoes, although a July tornado did cause damage last year in Eudora. Others have touched down in rural areas, but the last tornado to cause significant damage struck southwestern Lawrence in 2003.

National Weather Service data shows 40 tornadoes touched down in Douglas County from 1950 to 2015, resulting in one death and 48 injuries. The 4,476 tornadoes recorded in the state during that same time period caused 237 deaths and 2,912 injuries.

The county’s fortune could change with the next tornado-breeding supercell’s development, and that has Smith reminding residents to stay attuned to weather conditions and have a plan of action. The list of tornado warning resources available to the public include the county’s outdoor sirens, a land-line call notification system, monitoring weather on radio, television and the internet, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration radios and smartphone severe weather apps. Smith recommended residents make use of more than one of the options.

“It’s really good to have redundancy not knowing if we’ll lose electricity with an approaching storm,” she said. “NOAA radios have battery backups.”

The latest tool in the storm warning arsenal not dependent on outside power are smartphone apps, which earn the recommendation of Smith and Jillian Rodrigue, Douglas County Emergency Management assistant director.

“Many of those, you don’t have to pay for,” Rodrigue said. “FEMA has a free app.”

Information on that app can be found at fema.gov/mobile.app. It provides National Weather Service alerts for up to five locations and will provide possible places to take shelter.

Land-line alerts are available through the Northeast Kansas Regional Notification System, Smith said. Information on how to sign up for that free service can be found at douglascountyks.org/depts/emergency-management.

One thing Smith and Rodrigue advised against was relying on outdoor sirens for warnings of approaching tornadoes. A lot of coordination with the county’s GIS and planning departments goes into the placement of sirens to avoid redundancy and overlap, but they are meant to alert those outside.

“They may not be heard over TVs and radios,” she said. “You add wind and hail, and it can be very difficult to hear sirens, especially with the windows closed with rain and storms.”

It is important that residents back up warning devices with situational awareness of severe weather, Smith said. Individuals and families should have a severe weather plan in place and also think about how they can be safe when not at home.

“When people hear in the morning there is the possibility of severe weather, they need to know what to do with that,” she said. “It’s checking to see what is developing throughout the day, or seeing what’s going on before heading out to the lake. It’s being aware of where you can find shelter. It’s having a plan of what to do and where to go.”

Most native or longtime Kansas residents are aware of those needs, Smith said. A concern in Douglas County with two college communities and three universities is that many residents don’t have that background, she said. It’s her job and that of her department to educate those newcomers through such things as presentations and public service announcements through media partners, Smith said.