How to be Prepared for Tornado Season

3/11/2020 (Permalink)

How To Prepare For A Tornado

Step 1: Plan

To protect your property, your family, and yourself during a tornado, it’s useful to develop a plan before the tornado hits. Make sure everyone is familiar with this plan.

As part of the plan, gather contact information and important documents in one place.

Contact information: You should record contact information for:

• Family members – personal cell phones
• Workplaces
• Schools
• Babysitters
• Utility companies
• Any other relevant contact details (such as family friends)

By recording all of these, you can contact friends, family members, and other important people at any time.

Important documents: Your plan should contain copies of:

• Birth certificates
• Social security cards
• Insurance policies
• Photos of your property, for insurance purposes

These documents will be vital if you need to evacuate the area or file an insurance claim following a tornado.

You should also create multiple evacuation plans, in case you need to leave the area and one route is not accessible.

Step 2: Build an emergency kit

The second step to preparing for a tornado is to make an emergency kit. Emergency kits are helpful in the event you lose power or other utilities, get injured, or become trapped. An emergency kit should include:

• Enough water and food for at least three days per person
• A device for communication (such as a radio)
• First aid supplies
• Spare clothes
• Flashlights
• Batteries
• Toiletries
• Maps of the local area
• Medications

How many supplies you need depends on the size of your family. Be sure to pay extra attention to any special circumstances within your family; any infants, medical conditions, or pets will require extra resources. Take all this into account when preparing your emergency kit.

Step 3: Identify shelter areas, or build a safe room

Another way to prepare for a tornado and stay safe when a tornado hits is to identify or build a safe place in your home to take shelter. Your shelter area or safe room should:

• Be on the lowest floor
• Have no windows
• Be as close to the center of the building as possible
• Contain your emergency kit

For these reasons, basements tend to make good shelter areas. If you don’t have a basement, a centrally located bathroom or closet also works.

Call SERVPRO of Greenwood, Abbeville & McCormick Counties (864)-229-6610, we are here to help with all storm damage cleanup. Stay safe this season!