It’s spring time! Most people look forward to sunshine, warmth, rain, rainbows and flowers. But spring also brings severe storms. If you have a young one in school, it’s likely that they have practiced where to go and what to do if a severe storm or tornado strikes, but do you have a plan at home?
While severe storms may be scary, talking to your child and practicing how to react with your family will make a scary situation easier. A storm becomes severe when it produces hail one inch in diameter and/or high winds over 58 miles per hour. There are a couple of steps to be storm ready. First, know the difference between a watch and a warning. Next, make a plan on where to go and who to contact if you and your family members were to get separated. Have your child help create an emergency kit in case you need to spend a long time in a shelter or the power goes out. Finally, practice your plan to check your family’s knowledge on where to go.
Here are some things you and your child can add to your emergency kit:
- Clear Plastic container (to hold everything)
- Flash light (not only great for finding your way in the dark but also to create shadow puppets)
- Extra pair of batteries
- Water
- Emergency Food
- Weather Radio
- Form of identification
- Favorite books
- Coloring book or a notebook to write in and pens, colored pencils or crayons
- Games
- Glow sticks (to find your family if you have a large space you’re hiding in or are in a community shelter)
What else would you add?
For more information about tornadoes and tornado safety, visit Storm Aware. For storm books to share with your kids, click here.
Photo Credit: Justin1569 at en.wikipedia [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons
