There are two things I want to say first, however. First of all, we will absolutely be buying a storm shelter--soon. A little over $3000 is positively worth it to make sure my family is safe. If you have the means necessary, I strongly suggest you get one, especially if your home has no interior rooms like ours, and/or no rooms without windows. Secondly, these suggestions might not work for you. These are things I would do differently if I had it all to do again and will do differently if I am in a similar situation with the time to get these things done safely before the storm hits. If you do not have time to consider any of these things, by all means, get you and your family to safety first.
1) Dress for success. When the tornado ripped through the other night, my girls and I were in our pajamas. It was the day after Christmas and we were chillin' watching a movie. It was about 7:00 PM. When we went to our shelter spot, the bathtub in our master bedroom, only my husband was dressed. The rest of us weren't even wearing shoes. In retrospect, I should have had the girls and myself dressed with shoes on, just in case we found ourselves in a situation where we had to leave the house immediately. Walking through broken glass, boards with nails sticking, up, etc. would be much easier with shoes. Also, if I had been in a situation where I was having to talk to emergency teams, I would have felt much more comfortable in actual clothes. I know this would probably have been one of the last things on my mind in an actual emergency, but if I have the time to dress appropriately next time, I will.
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| This is what Lu was wearing when we took shelter, sans the slippers. See the clouds in the background? Getting dark already. |
2) Grab my wallet. Most of the time, if I am out of my house, there are two things that are with me; my phone and my wallet. I had my phone but not my wallet. If we had been in a situation where one, or all, of us had to go to the hospital, it would have been easier if I had my wallet. We ended up going to a hotel that night because we didn't have power, but if we would have had to go to one because we had no house, having my wallet would have made it easier. Besides, knowing where your ID, credit cards, health insurance card, etc. are is always better than wondering who might have them.
3) Have my pets with me. When the storm hit (not the tornado, but the storm) two of our dogs freaked out. This is pretty typical. We usually put them in their kennels so they feel safe. This is where Duke and Kassidy were Saturday night. Barkley, our third dog, was loose. If our house had been wiped out by the tornado and Kassidy and Duke had been in their kennels, they likely would not have been able to get out and seek shelter. They could have been crushed. And even though Barkley was loose, two of our outside doors came open, and for a while I had no idea where our little seven pound friend was. (Turns out, he was under our bed.) Next time, I'll make sure they are with me and loose so that if they need to try to run away they can. I'd rather have them free and lost than smooshed. Although I would definitely try to keep them sheltered as well, I would have to choose holding on to my children before my pets, and instructed my children to hold on to the bathtub instead of a dog.
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| Kassidy, the black ball of fur, was in her kennel. Barkley, the other ball of fur, was loose and missing for a few minutes. |
4) Bring "stuff" inside. We didn't have a lot of warning that a tornado was headed for our house, but we did have some warning that a storm capable of producing tornadoes was, and yet I left all of my Christmas decorations in the yard. I had plenty of time to bring them in if I'd been thinking about it. I also could have brought in several other items that we ended up loosing--like our trash cans, which could have been in the garage. If the tornado would have wiped out our house, it might not have mattered, but since it didn't, it would have been better if these things had been brought inside.
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| Perhaps some of this should have been in the garage. |
5) Call someone ahead of time who is out of the storm's range. If you live in a rural area, it might be a good idea to let someone out of the danger range know what is happening. We live on a pretty busy highway and have several neighbors, but if all of us had been incapacitated and unable to call for help, it might have taken first responders a long time to find out we needed assistance. In this particular situation, I was able to call 9-1-1 immediately, but a friend of mine also sent me a text as I was on the phone with the dispatcher. She had seen the path of the storm on the news and wanted to see if we were okay. Next time, I will let someone out of harms way know what is going on and make sure they know that if they don't hear from me intermittently, they need to check on us and possibly contact first responders. Yes, it is possible that I could just lose my signal and they could end up sending someone out to check on us when we are fine, but I think it's worth the risk to make sure someone knows to check on my family.
I think the most important thing to do is to think about what you will do in different scenarios well in advance of any immediate threat, have a plan in place, and carry through. Take every single possibility of danger as serious as possible, and don't wait to see what is going to happen--respond as if it will happen. We also need a plan for other catastrophes--like house fires and break-ins. I hate to scare my kids, but I also want to them to feel empowered in knowing we have a plan and that they know what to do in case of an emergency.
Does your family have a plan in place for a tornado? If so, what is it?
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