SIGNAL ALERTS!

Boy's tornado warnings helped save family

When 6-year-old Brevin Hunter heard the tornado siren begin to wail out its warnings, he knew exactly what to do: Put his video game down and head to the basement.

More challenging was convincing his family that he was right.

"Please, Mom. This is what they teach us in school. When you hear the siren, you need to go somewhere safe," Brevin told his mom, Lisa, according to the Chicago Tribune. But when Lisa Hunter looked outside, she saw that the skies looked calm. She thought it was a drill.

Fortunately Brevin kept on bugging, and mom eventually listened. She, Brevin, 11-year-old Brody and an aunt went down to the basement with a futon mattress to play it safe. Roughly 10 minutes later, the tornado hit the family's home.

In the tornado's aftermath, Lisa Hunter praised her son for saving their lives. "There's no way I would have gone if he hadn't kept nagging me," she told the Chicago Tribune.

The family is staying at an emergency shelter at the Crossroads Methodist Church in Washington, Ill.

Lucinda Gresham, a nurse volunteering at the church, praised Brevin's actions. "They are alive today because of that boy," she told the Chicago Tribune.

The Weather Channel has reported that the tornado that hit Washington is believed to have had winds between 166 and 200 miles per hour.

Brevin will be honored for his quick thinking by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, according to WGN.