In April of 2011, we watched a massive tornado rip through Tuscaloosa, Alabama. All we could do was sit and stare at the television and pray. Pray for those that were in the path of the storm. Pray for those who lived where it was headed. And pray that it did not hit us. You can’t outrun a tornado, but you can be prepared.
The absolute most important thing you can do is to keep an eye on the weather. Don’t rely on your friends or family to keep you abreast of the weather. Make it a daily habit every morning to check the weather for your area. Storms caught so many off guard that day because they didn’t check the forecast and didn’t know about the potential of tornadoes. You don’t want to be on the road in this weather!
Next is set up alerts so that you will be notified immediate if a tornado threat is in your area. My alerts call, email and text me.
Prepare a box for sheltering in place during a tornado warning. In that box, you need the following items:
- Candles
- Matches or 2 lighting sticks (in case one doesn’t work)
- Flashlight with extra batteries
- A corded home phone (if all you have is operation in your home are cordless phones)
- Water
- Snacks
- Emergency radio
- Shoes (or put your shoes on as soon as you know there is a tornado warning)
Also if you are under a tornado warning, put bicycle helmets on your kids to protect them from falling debris.
You might also consider purchasing a tarp, ladder, chain saw and chain saw oil. These 4 items were impossible to find after the tornadoes hit.
Make sure you fill up your vehicles with gasĀ if there is a threat of severe weather. After the tornado hit, it was near impossible to get gas as gas stations didn’t have power for their pumps.
Prepare a stockpile for natural disasters where going to the store is next to impossible (such as in a blizzard or a flood).
The government recommends that you have at least 72 hours worth of items because it might take them that long to reach you in a natural disaster. Visit Ready.Gov for more info.
- Enough bottled water to last your family 3-5 days
- Enough easy to make food to last your family 3-5 days (tuna, canned goods, etc. Stuff you don’t have to cook.)
- Enough food to last your pets for 3-5 days.
- Enough candles, matches and batteries to last 3-5 days
- Emergency radio
- A corded home phone (if all you have is operation in your home are cordless phones)
- Warm blankets if your power is out for a while in the winter
- Medical information for each family member – The information should include chronic illnesses, allergies, and prescription medicine information such as name, dose, and frequency it should be taken.
- Cash – If the power is out in your town, ATMs and credit card machines will not work.
- Important numbers – if you don’t know the numbers of your family and friends by heart (common in this day and age), keep a list of their numbers in your kit so you can use a landline to reach them.
If your home is not built with a good and safe area to use to shelter in place in the event of a tornado (such as a basement or cellar), you can always add an after market tornado shelter. They range in price from about $5,000 to $7,000. But if you live in an area where the threat of tornadoes are high, that is cost is nothing in the grand scheme of things. We put a tornado shelter in our home in Alabama. It is a worthwhile investment for us.
- Flat Safe (the one we had)
- Survive-A-Storm Shelter
- You can also Google for more tornado shelter companies in your area
I hope these tips help your family to prepare but I do hope you never have to put them into action.