Severe Weather Safety

With all of the crazy weather happening nowadays, we have been trying to be better prepared around here. So, I thought I would share ways for you to be prepared too!
We took a Storm Spotter Class the night before our last severe storms. Go here to see when there will be a class near you. Just click on your state.

Storm Shelter:
Not everyone has one or can afford a storm shelter. My brother has one we can use about 5 minutes away. However, if you can't purchase or build one yet, like us, then here are some basic things to do when severe storms are headed your way...particularly during a tornado warning.

• Get into the most interior room (no windows) on the lowest floor of your home. We don't have an interior bathroom, so we choose one of two interior hallways.
• Gather blankets, mattresses (air matress), pillows, etc to help shield you from any flying debris.
• Helmets!!! (maybe even protective goggles). These can be bicycle helmets. Anything is better than nothing.
• Have shoes on. If something happens, you probably won't be able to find them afterwards.
• Be prepared by keeping an eye on the weather and watching radar if it is supposed to be bad. Most local news channels will stream radar on their website!

If you are outside:

• Get into a ditch.
• If there is no ditch, get as low as you can..flat on your stomach on the ground. Protect your head with your hands.
• The idea is to get as low as possible incase of flying debris. Also, don't get near trees. They can be struck by lightning. If anything is taller than you, it can be struck.
• If driving and can't get to a safe place, don't get under an overpass. The winds are much higher under there. Pull over, turn on flashers, and dont get out of the car.

Items to keep on hand for easy retrieval:

• First Aid Kit- bandages (all sizes), alcohol swabs, pain medicine, etc
• Bottled water- We wash and re-fill our 2ltr bottles. We have taken about a dozen to my broter's storm shelter about 5 minutes away. We also have them stashed throughout the house.
• NOAA Weather Radio- try to get one that can run on power or batteries.
• Snacks
• Flashlights
• Batteries- ALL sizes
• Lockbox- For important papers, phones, etc. Ours is fire/water proof. We keep important papers and photos on an external hard drive that we purchased for under $100 at Wal-Mart.
• Instructions to turn off the home utilities.
• Anything else you would want with you.
• We keep all of our items in a large plastic storage bin. My husband can easily grab it and throw it in the car if we have enough warning to get to my brother's shelter.

Video from FEMA:

Helpful Links:
Lots of great info here on this site.
SkyWarn has a spotter training class (we took it a few weeks ago! Free!)
NOAA
NWS-National Weather Service
Codes to program your NOAA Weather Radio
My post with link to info on making a 72-hour preparedness kit.

~April

Storms...PIC HEAVY

Photos from our recent storms. Taken the day after our Storm SpotterClass! Talk about putting it into action.
This is one I took from our house. Look in the very center of the pic.



These were taken by various people around town.





















I have lots more but, those should show just how crazy it was around here!
~April

I'm pooped.

Thursday: broken arm/hospital/IV/meds/vomit
Friday: storms overnight/ hardly any sleep
Saturday: constantly reminding child to take it easy/ prop up that arm
Sunday: church/rain/ packing bags to go to storm shelter/ not making it to my brother's shelter before...tornado warning/bed at 3am
Monday: kids still get up at the buttcrack of dawn/mommy's up because I gotta feed them & they would otherwise destroy the house/no one naps/hubby goes to bed early...
Tuesday: child gets orange hard cast on broken arm/ baby girl doesn't want to go to bed
Wednesday: I'm pooped. I want a hot bath...one where a little boy or two doesn't decide he HAS to use the potty until I'm in there. He have another bathroom...why can't they ever go in there?...I want supper...but, I don't want to cook it. Lol.
Rant over. *sigh* feels better. Lol
P.s. I love my hubby! <3 He works hard so I can stay at home & tame the tornadoes we call our kiddos.



~April

Storms...they're on the way...again.

Friday night/Saturday morning we had a line of storms go through. They ended up just being some crazy lightning and rain.
Fast forward to tonight/tomorrow morning...storms that are a lot worse are being predicted. The worst we've seen since April 27th of last year. They are saying it shouldn't be *that* bad, but it isn't expected to be pretty by any means. Where we live is in the area of highest threat. J-O-Y. (not)...
We have flashlight and other things at the ready incase we need to hunker down in our interior hallway. And if the storms coming out of Mississippi are pretty bad and are already producing the swirly-vortexes-of-death, then we will be heading (early) to my brother's house about 5 minutes away. He has a storm shelter. Yay!

Dr. Greg Forbes Tor:Con Index can be found here.
NOAA website here.

Saying a prayer that everyone will be safe tonight and tomorrow morning.
~April