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How to Prepare Your Family and Home

from Common Severe Storms
From The National Weather Service
and
From The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Authored by Neil Kuehn

Logo provided by US Department of Commerce

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Table of Contents
Title……………………………………………………………………………….1
Table of Contents………………………………………………………………2
Table of
figures………………………………………………………………………….3
Introduction…………………………………………………………………….3
How To prepare your home and your family for a severe storm……4
Thunderstorms and Lightning…………………………………..4
Floods………………………………………………………….............5
Tornados………………………………………………………………..8
Hurricanes………………………………………………………………8
Products to help prepare your home and family for severe storms…..9
Quick Dam Grab & Go Kits………………………………………..9
Emergency kit or "Go-bag"………………………………………..9
Fire and Waterproof safe…………………………………………10
Works Cited…………………………………………………………………….11
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Table of Figures
Figure 1: Screenshot of an Emergency Alert Notification ………………….5
Figure 2: Screenshot of an online flood map from FEMA’s flood map
service center……………………………………………………………………6
Figure 3: “Sandbag barrier”…………………………………………………….7

Introduction

Severe Storms can mean big problems for homeowners and their
families. If the proper precautions are not completed, it can lead to property
damage, injury, and even possible death. Much of the risk of tragedies
caused by severe storms can be mitigated with simple preparation. Many of
the preparations that can be made will even help with multiple types of
severe storms,but mother nature can be unforgiving. Flooding is a simple
example of what can happen from a simple thunderstorm. A Flood, on
average, costs up to $7,000 worth of damage (“Flood Control Solutions,"
2022). According to Katharina Buchholz at weform.org, “weather damages
totaled approximately $2.5 trillion around the globe between 2011 and
2020.” That averages to be $208.3 billion per year.

How to prepare your home and family for a severe storm

Thunderstorms and Lightning

First to prepare the homeowner should prepare for thunderstorms and

lightning. These storms are the most common severe storms that anyone
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will encounter and usually precede many even worse storms. Because of
this, everyone should stay informed to know when thunderstorms and other
types of storms may occur. There are multiple things people can do to help
prepare themselves and stay informed about the weather. A good habit is
to check the weekly weather either online or through some other common
medium such as television. This habit will allow homeowners and their
families to know precisely when a possible severe storm may come along
and plan accordingly. Although even if everyone does their due diligence,
sudden and severe storms can pop up suddenly. To help stay informed
about these situations, you can change smartphone settings to allow them
to automatically inform you if a warning for a severe storm is issued. You
can also download weather apps that will do a similar process if your phone
doesn't support this feature.

When a thunderstorm occurs, which will be audible from the sound of

lightning, the best practice is to reach the closest safest structure. Once
inside, to stay safe, everyone should closely watch the weather and the
area around the property to ensure there isn't excessive flooding or
possible trees falling on the property.

Screenshot of an Emergency Alert Notification

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Figure 1

This screenshot shows an example of what an

emergency alert would look like on a smart phone

Screenshot taken by author

Floods

While a flood isn’t a severe storm, they usually occur alongside severe
storms, and preparing for them is part of preparing for the storms
themselves. One of the first things to do to prepare for a flood is to see if
your home is at high risk for flooding. The Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) provides flood maps to the general public.
These maps will inform you of what areas around you are at risk for
flooding.
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Screenshot of an online flood map from FEMA’s flood map service center

Figure 2

This screenshot shows what the online flood map from FEMA looks like. This

particular map is of the Clemson university.

Screenshot taken by the author but the actual map was provided by FEMA

Regardless of whether you are at high risk, any homeowner should inspect
the drainage on and around their home. Suppose the drain spouts around
the house dump too much water into the surrounding area. In that case,
they will need to be extended or connected to an underground system to
get the water away from home. The natural drainage of the area around the
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home needs to be inspected for improper drainage. It could need to be

shaped to help move water away from floodable areas. If you are in a high-
risk area for flooding, you will have to worry about water levels of creeks,
rivers, ponds, or lakes, depending on the area around your home. The best
way to prevent water damage from flooding is to create barriers around the
property. These barriers could be used as dams or walls to redirect water
flow. This can be achieved with many different products such as sandbags
but keeping the water out is essential.

“Sandbag barrier”

Figure 3:

“Sandbag barrier” taken by Shelby Splain in 2017

Image found on https://pahistoricpreservation.com/sandbag-barrier/

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Once your home is prepped for flooding, you must make a game plan for
your family. The most important thing is to get indoors. Once inside,
everyone should be okay. You will have to keep watch of the surrounding
area outside so that you can fix any problems with the barriers outside. If a
problem does occur, try to set up a secondary barrier while the flood
increases as long as it’s safe to do so.

Tornados

The process of preparing for tornadoes is similar to thunderstorms. Where

tornadoes and thunderstorms differ are the wind speeds. The wind speed
created by tornadoes is strong enough to make flying debris and even tear
apart buildings. The safest place during a tornado is inside an interior room
without windows. If you are outside, away from suitable structures, try to
find somewhere low and flat.

Hurricanes

Hurricanes are similar to Tornadoes. They have high winds, and usually,
there have been thunderstorms before. The most significant difference with
Hurricanes is that they bring lots and lots of rain. This combination of high
winds and rain usually is severe enough that many state governments
suggest evacuating. To prepare for hurricanes, most people ensure that the
area around their home is clear from falling debris and set up barriers to
protect their home from flooding. After preparing their home, most
homeowners travel to other family members' homes to wait out the storm. If
there are no family members to stay with, people will find hotels to sleep. If
evacuating is not an option, stay inside, preferably in an interior room and if
possible, check on the barriers outside.
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Products to help prepare your home and family for severe

storms

Quick Dam Grab & Go Kits

Quick Dam is a Brand of products to help create a barrier against water in

flood situations. Barriers are needed because flooding can cause major
water damage all over the house. These barriers act as dams to prevent
the water from floods reaching the home. Generally, in the past, to create
barriers, people have used sandbags. The problem with this traditional
approach is that it's hard to handle and store these bags if made in
preparation. If a homeowner were to make sandbags right before a storm,
they could run into supply issues. This is where Quick Dam can help
homeowners. Their products are not as cumbersome as sandbags
because they are lightweight and easy to store. Their products still provide
a similar level of protection because they are designed to soak up water
grow in size and add weight. This similar level of protection allows the
homeowner to set up the barrier and quickly get to safety. Quick Dam
products come in all shapes and sizes to help fit the needs of a
homeowner. Still, their Grab & Go kits give an assortment of flood bags and
barriers that all fit into a bucket similar to a 5-gallon bucket.

Emergency kit or “Go-bag”

Many people can be without power and water after a severe storm. This
can cause a lot of people to be stranded without food, water, and medical
services. This is why every homeowner should have an Emergency kit,
commonly called Go-bags. They are typically not just 1 product and they
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will have to be assembled by the homeowner/family to handle all of the

family's needs. According to stromaware.mo.gov, an emergency kit must
be easily carried and contain at least six possible different items, such as

1. Water and canned/dried food

2. Battery-powered radio
3. Flashlight
4. Extra batteries for the flashlight and the radio
5. Any current Prescription medications
6. First aid kit

To help plan and create an emergency kit, try going to emergencykits.com.

Emergencykits.com is a company that specializes in providing different
products and even basic to advanced emergency kits. Purchasing an
emergency kit from Emergecnykit.com can allow any homeowner to skip
much of the needed planning for an emergency kit and focus on
customizing the kit to their needs.

Fire and Waterproof safe

In the cases where severe storms can cause loss and damage, it is
suggested that homeowners purchase fire and waterproof safes. These
types of safes can protect sensitive documents in case of disasters. An
excellent example of this kind of safe would be a SentrySafe combination
fire/water safe with a dual key. According to SentrySafe's product page, this
safe can withstand fire up to 1700˚f for an hour and withstand up to 8
inches of water for up to 24 hours. The safe relies on a combination lock
which can be disabled with the dual key, so the safe can't be opened. The
safe can give the homeowner the comfort of knowing that their documents
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will be safe from all kinds of risks even if they have to leave them to
evacuate.
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Works Cited
“COMBINATION FIRE/WATER SAFE.” SentrySafe, 2022,
https://www.sentrysafe.com/product/SFW123DTB.

National Weather Service. “Emergency Alert Notification.” National

Weather Service, https://www.weather.gov/news/072221-svr-wea.
Accessed 9 June 2022.

“Preparing for a Tornado - Stormaware Tornado Safety.” Storm Aware,

MO.gov, 2 June 2022, https://stormaware.mo.gov/preparing-for-a-
tornado/.

Quick Dams. “Flood Control Solutions: Protect Your Property.” Quick

Dams, 1 May 2022, https://quickdams.com/.

“Screenshot of an online flood map from FEMA’s flood map service center.”
FEMA Flood Map Service Center, FEMA,
msc.fema.gov/portal/search?
AddressQuery=clemson#searchresultsanchor. Accessed 9 June 2022.

“SENTRYSAFE COMBINATION FIRE/WATER SAFE.” SentrySafe, 2022,

https://www.sentrysafe.com/product/SFW123DTB.

Splain, Shelby Weaver. “Sandbag Barrier.” Pennsylvania Historic

Preservation, 15 Nov. 2021,
https://pahistoricpreservation.com/sandbag-barrier/. Accessed 9 June
2022.

US Department of Commerce, NOAA. “About the National Weather Service

Office in Birmingham.” National Weather Service, NOAA's National
Weather Service, 25 May 2022,
https://www.weather.gov/bmx/aboutouroffice.

Written by Katharina Buchholz, Data Journalist. “Climate Change: This Is

the Impact of Extreme Weather Events on the Economy.” World
Economic Forum, 2021,
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/09/extreme-weather-events-
show-that-climate-change-comes-at-a-cost/.