Few things, scratch that, nothing strikes more fear in my heart than tornado season in North Texas. I’ve never been in a tornado per se, but I have had close calls in Texas that usually involve me laying on the closet floor covered with a mattress while my husband stands outside and watches. After reading this blog post last year, my fear of tornadoes has escalated. Now my fear of tornado’s has to be semi masked (calm mom = calm kids) but I still spend most of the spring obsessively watching the weather.
Now I know that North Texas isn’t a hot bed for tornadoes and we live at the south end of tornado alley, but we still do have a few tornadoes every season. Since I have an obsessive healthy fear of tornadoes and have devoted hours to finding ways to make sure my family is prepared, I wanted to share my tips with you.
1. Have a plan on where to seek shelter. Our friends at the American Red Cross recommend that, “The best place to go in a tornado is always an underground shelter. Unfortunately there aren’t that many of those in Texas, so the next best place is a windowless, interior room on the lowest floor of your home. If you’re in a multi-story apartment or high-rise, an interior stairwell or underground parking garage are good places to go.” Our tornado shelter is in our hall closet and I also drag a queen size mattress to lean over us.
2. Have a tornado box. In our hall closet, I have a box with a weather radio, 3 flash lights (with batteries!!), 2 head lamps, candles, matches, an extra charger for my phone, juice boxes and snacks. The American Red Cross also recommends water bottles, a first aid kit, extra medication, and pet supplies. The Red Cross has even put together a short video to help you pack your emergency box.
3. Stay up to date with weather changes. As you all know, weather in North Texas can change in an instant (hello snow one week and shorts the next!). My favorite North Texas meteorologist is Steve McCauley, who regularly updates his Facebook page in severe weather. He and Pete Delkus tend to have the most up to date (and same) information. I also follow Texas Storm Chasers on Twitter for updates. In addition, I cannot recommend enough the WFAA Weather Call. Many warnings for tornadoes are county wide, but this subscription will call you (even in the middle of the night!) to let you know what severe weather or a tornado is headed directly for your house. It is well worth the $10 a year. The American Red Cross also has a great tornado app that alerts you to severe weather in your area, perfect for when you are traveling.
4. Know the severe weather procedures at your school. Many schools will not allow kids to leave in severe weather, because they are safer at the school than on the roads. Make sure to know the procedures of your kids specific school.
I had a chance to chat with Colin Perry, CEO of Perry Weather, and he made a good point, “The biggest misconception about tornadoes is that people think they only occur in rural areas. The fact is there is way more square miles of rural land than urban land therefore tornadoes with statistically occur more often in rural regions.” Being in Dallas does not make us safer. Colin also noted, “If a tornado warning has been issued please seek shelter immediately.” I tend to hope that severe weather alerts are just over reacting and that everything will be fine. But since getting my kids to go anywhere quickly is about as easy as herding cats, we head for the hallway as soon as a tornado warning has been issued for our specific part of town. I’d rather be playing in the windowless hallway near the closet than across the house and racing towards the closet at the last minute and possibly be to late.
It just takes a few minutes to make sure your family is prepared for severe weather in Dallas. Put together your kit (everyone wants an excuse for a trip to Target!!), make your emergency plan and download weather apps. Always better to be over prepared than surprised at the last minute.
Many thanks to The American Red Cross North Texas Region and Perry Weather for all the helpful information on being prepared for severe weather in North Texas.
