What You Can Do

Listen to NOAA Weather Radio and your local TV or radio weather forecast for regular updates about severe weather.

Develop a family disaster plan:

Learn what kind of severe weather can happen in your community.
Know what phone numbers you should call in an emergency.
Make sure smoke detectors and fire extinguishers work, and family members know how to use them.
Gather emergency supplies – water, food, medications, first aid supplies, portable radio and batteries, and other necessary items – that will last for three days to one week.

The safest place to be during a tornado is in the basement. If you don’t have a basement, choose a small room on the lowest floor, as close to the center of your home as possible. The room should be away from windows, such as a bathroom or closet. Talk with your family to decide on a “saferoom,” and practice a tornado drill.
If you are outside, head for lowest level of a nearby building. If there is no building to go to, protect yourself by lying flat on the ground in a low area, and cover your head with your arms and hands. Do not seek shelter under a highway overpass or bridge – these areas are not safe.

Make a family disaster plan that includes preparing the house for the storm and evacuating. Make sure you and your family have a safe place to go in the event of an evacuation and make a list of emergency phone numbers for all of your family members.
If your town is not evacuated, designate a room with no windows or doors to the outside as your “saferoom” where you can ride out a storm.
Be sure to make arrangements for your pets when making an evacuation plan – most temporary shelters will not accept pets.
If you live in a mobile home, never attempt to “ride-out” a storm in your home. These homes were not built to resistant hurricane-force winds and flooding.

Before a thunderstorm starts, turn off and unplug TVs, computers, DVD players, and microwaves. Also, don’t use a wired phone during the storm! Electricity from a lightning strike can travel through electric and phone wires.
To calculate how many miles away a lightning bolt strikes, look for the flash of lightning, count the number of seconds between the flash and its sound (thunder), and divide by five.
Remember the 30/30 rule: if you are outside, seek shelter if the time between when you see the lightning flash and hear its thunder is less than 30 seconds, and stay inside until at least 30 minutes after the storm is over.

Never play near storm drains, ditches, arroyos, and other areas that can flood.
If floodwater is approaching, climb to higher ground. If you are in your house, go to a higher floor.
Never walk or drive through a flooded area!

Make sure that your family car has a winter weather emergency kit before winter begins, including extra hats, scarves, and gloves; canned fruit or nuts; bottled water; and a blanket or sleeping bag. This will help you stay warm and healthy if you are stranded. You’ll also want to carry a brightly-colored cloth to use as a flag, a flashlight and first aid kit, as well as sand, tire chains, small tools, booster cables, and a small shovel to help if you’re stuck.
If you must be outside, remember to dress appropriately. The best way to stay warm is to trap warm air close to your body by wearing layers of loose-fitting, lightweight, and warm clothing. Water-repellant, tightly-woven, hooded jackets will help to keep the chill out, and mittens will keep fingers warmer than gloves. If you don’t need to go outside, stay in!
Flood image courtesy of FEMA.
All otherphotos courtesy of NOAA.