If it's a tornado WARNING, then yes, get in the basement. "Warning" means a tornado has been sighted in the area. If it's a tornado WATCH, though, that just means the conditions are present for a tornado, but one has not yet been sighted. Not the same level of urgency.
This distinction is old hat for us midwesterners, but for those in the east, this may not be as familiar.
I was born and raised in Chicago, currently live in St. Louis, and have also lived in St. Paul, Minnesota, and near Lincoln, Nebraska, where I saw a lot of tornadoes. I spent a year on the Long Island Sound, in Greenwich, Conn., but don't recall any tornadoes from that time.
It was a warning. Last time I went through one, everything stopped, just as it did now...then all Heck hit.
Thankfully, it hit about 2 minutes away from where I lived and no one was hurt.
I’m now in that “calm before the storm” moment.
I assumed it was a warning because of the headline.
ILLINOIS HOLLA!