On 1 March 1997, powerful tornadoes touched down in Arkansas (USA) on a Saturday afternoon. Twenty‐six fatalities and 400 non‐fatal injuries were reported. We performed a population‐based cross‐sectional study to determine factors associated with appropriate responses to tornado warnings. Of 146 survey participants, 140 (96 per cent) knew the difference between ‘tornado watch’ and ‘tornado warning’ and were aware of when the warning was announced. Of those 140 participants, 64 (45.7 per cent) responded to the warning by seeking shelter, and 58 (90.6 per cent) of those 64 acted within five minutes of hearing the warning. Four factors were positively associated with those seeking shelter: having graduated from high school (OR = 4.2, 95 per cent CI =1.1−15.5); having a basement in one's house (OR = 3.8, 95 per cent exact CI=1.1−17.1); hearing a siren (OR = 4.4, 95 per cent CI = 1.3−18.9); and having prepared a household plan of response when tornadoes occur (OR=2.6, 95 per cent CI = 1.1−>6.3). On the basis of these findings, we recommend: first, that people who live in tornado‐prone areas have a personal plan of action to help them respond immediately to warnings; second, public‐health education officials in areas with frequent tornadic activity should do more to educate the public about what they can do to protect themselves from a tornado; and third, that emergency‐management officials planning protection measures for vulnerable communities should consider that most people have limited time (our study documented five minutes) in which to respond to a tornado warning. Thus, shelters in tornado‐prone areas should be quickly accessible by residents.