BLOOMINGTON - A tornado is bearing down on you and you don't have time to turn your car around and drive away from the twister. Do you stay in your vehicle or get out and lie in a ditch until the tornado passes? | Five-day forecast

The correct answer depends on whom you ask.

American Red Cross has altered its recommendation this year. If you're caught outdoors, can't get into a sturdy building and don't have time to drive away from the tornado, Red Cross suggests pulling over and parking, keeping your seat belt on and the engine running, crouching below the windows and covering your head, said Scott Vogel of the Red Cross Heartland chapter in Bloomington.

But National Weather Service still recommends getting away from the vehicle and anything that can fall on you and getting down to the lowest depression possible, said Chris Miller, meteorologist with the weather service in Lincoln.

Both organizations emphasize that they remain in lockstep on all other tornado preparedness and response recommendations. But the difference of opinion is noteworthy now because most tornadoes happen between April and June.

"This is not something that a lot of people will run into but people need to be prepared," Miller said.

As a tornado approaches, most people have time to get to a basement or turn their car around. But being in a car and suddenly having debris rotating around you isn't unprecedented.

Of 124 tornado fatalities nationwide in 2008, 13 percent of the victims were outdoors or in their vehicle, Miller said. Most of the rest were in mobile homes or permanent homes, he said.

Red Cross changed its recommendation based on information from an independent panel of health and safety experts. Red Cross believes the risk is greater for people getting themselves and others out of a vehicle and into a twister, Vogel said.

But Miller said "Based on the damage we've seen from tornadoes - in which automobiles have been thrown in the air and crushed - the best thing a person can do is to get as far away from the vehicle and anything that can fall on you as possible and get down to the lowest depression to protect yourself from debris flying in the air. If a tornado is rotating at 150 miles per hour, there are all sorts of debris flying through the air and you want to create as low a profile as possible."

Miller conceded "Minimizing your risk of injury in that type of situation would be a difficult thing to do."

Vogel said Red Cross wants to meet with the weather service to explain the change.

"We're all in this together."

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Tornado tips

• When severe weather approaches, listen to your weather radio or local radio. A watch means a tornado is possible. A warning means a tornado has been sighted and may be headed to your area.

• When a warning is issued, get into the basement of a sturdy building. If the closest sturdy structure has no basement, go to an interior room or hallway without windows.

• If there's no nearby building and you're driving, drive out of the path of the tornado.

• If you're driving through strong winds and flying debris - meaning the tornado is close by - Red Cross recommends parking the vehicle but keeping the engine running and seat belts on, crouching below the windows, and covering your head until the tornado passes. National Weather Services recommends getting out of the vehicle and lying in a ditch or the lowest depression possible until the tornado passes.

SOURCES: Scott Vogel, American Red Cross; Chris Miller, National Weather Service