6 Tornado Safety Tips For Your Home

Tornado season is coming upon with summer here. Along with these tornadoes come people who have to stay safe during these tornadoes, especially those who live in highly-prone tornado areas such as “Tornado Alley” which is made up of central Texas, Oklahoma, Central Kansas and Nebraska as well as the flattened planes of South Dakota along with Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.

Many other parts of the country will get tornadoes as well, but these are the places where they are most often occurring. Moreover, there are 100,000s of families living in these areas who strive to keep their children and families safe during this severe weather that can also lead to tornadoes and possible damage, and in the worst cases, fatalities. The following are 6 great tips to help keep families safe during hurricane season:

Hide In The Innermost Rooms:

Hide in the innermost rooms away from windows and at in/on the lowest level of your home. Go to your storm cellar if you happen to have one, or a basement or ground floor, those are other safe options. Stay away from windows and anything like glass doors that may break if high winds occur. The more towards the center of your home the better the hiding place is for you and your family’s safety.

Cover Your Head:

Always be sure to cover your head from debris in the event of a tornado. Hiding your head can help you protect yourself from falling and flying debris. Crouch down till you can make the smallest ball possible and cover the vulnerable parts of your body (like your head) with your arms to protect yourself from any possible flying debris or other possibly dangerous items.

Vacate All Vulnerable Homes:

If you live in a mobile home or other unstable structure, vacate the structures during dangerous weather and stay safe in more “stable” structures”. Whether this means staying with family or friends or going to a hotel, mobile or prefab homes are more likely to be damaged during dangerous weather than other, more stable structures. Even if you have a mobile home with a foundation, these structures are still vulnerable to being blown over easier than a cinder block or brick home that has a foundation or basement deeply rooted in the ground.

Hide Under Sturdy Furniture:

In cases where tornadoes come out of nowhere during a severe storm watch or warning, you may not have time to get to an innermost room of your home. In this case, take shelter behind sturdy furniture or under something strong like an end table, coffee table, kitchen table, desk, or other structure. Even something like an entertainment center or a sturdy couch make a great place to hide if there is roo

Consider Storm Shutters:

In the rare occasion of a tornado, considering a storm shutter that can protect the glass in windows in the home from shattering can stop all other damage from occurring, such as the broken windows creating a draft that can bring the roof off of your home or those that can cause further damage. Storm shutters are expensive, but are a great way to protect your home from further damage and wind-tunnel effects from the tornado passing through.

Remember Your Pets:

It’s easy to get your family and children to hide during a tornado, but with little notice that you will receive it is also important to help protect your pets if possible. If you have cats or dogs have them hide with you. If you have small animals such as guinea pigs, rabbits, ferrets, hamsters, gerbils, etc. or even other animals like reptiles or birds. Protecting all of your animals in any way possible with the time you are given is always encouraged. Moreover, if you know you are going to have a period of bad weather and you have animals out by windows or doors, move them to the inner rooms while the storm cells pass, that way if a tornado does strike you are able to protect all members of your family from harm.

These are just a few great tips to protect your home during a tornado. For more information on protecting or maintaining your home during natural disasters and keeping your family and those you love safe (including pets), please feel free to contact us.