Weather Ready-Spring and Summer

With Spring right around the corner, that means one thing--severe weather is coming up too. It's no secret that I try to be as prepared as possible for any and all storms that we might have.
For Spring this is what I do.

1. Watch the weather. Know when and what kind is going to hit. Will there be a possibility of tornadoes? Will it just be a good old fashioned thunderstorm? Maybe Straight line winds. AND, what time are they due to hit? Morning, Noon, Evening, or Night? This is important. It tells you what you need to be on alert for.

2. Have a Family Plan. Make sure each family member knows what to do and what to expect. Usually how it works here, is I am in charge of making sure Bayleigh makes it to the basement. Larry, well, he enjoys watching outside or out the windows. He is a grown man and he knows where we will be. I too used to LOVE watching, but now I have another person to be responsible for so I play it safe.

3. Have a weather radio--with battery back-up! We have one and it's great. I have it plugged into the basement with the backup battery just sitting in the battery compartment, not plugged in. Should we lose power then I would plug it in, but I found out the hard way that the battery will die even if it's plugged into the wall. Now, the best thing to do is to have this plugged in by your bed. The ONLY reason ours is in the basement is because the tornado sirens in our town are the next road over and there is NO sleeping through them going off. I also have alerts on my cell phone that is plugged in right next to my bed. Having the radio in the basement is just one last thing I have to tote down in the basement.
Tote things into the basement? That's right. Here's what's next!

4. Have an Emergency Bag. This is a bookbag that I keep in the closet. If the weather starts getting bad then I pull it out and set it on the floor by the basement door. If I am heading to bed, but know it's going to get bad then I set it out before going to bed. The list of items I have in my bag is this.
-A note card with our names, DOB, Emergency Contacts, Family Dr. Information.
-Flashlights for each of us
-Extra Batteries
-Tea Light Candles
-A Lighter and/or Matches
-First Aide Kit with the Basics
-Ponchos for each family member, you might need them if a tornado does hit

5. Purse, Wallets, Cell Phones, Chargers, Keys. You might not think about these things in the midst of a storm. Again, watching the weather tells me where to set these things. Before bed, if it looks to get bad, the purse and keys go on the floor outside of the basement door with the emergency bag. The cell and the charger are by my bed, but it's just a matter of grabbing it and going. If it's not storming my purse and keys are typically not together. Chargers are important, especially for smart phone users that have poor batteries on their phones. You'll need them should a tornado hit to stay in contact with family and friends. One other thing we do, we have an extra charger in our vehicles. If the power goes out then you might need to plug into the car to charge.
If I have enough of a warning, which we typically do--isn't that a blessing?! I will put my kindle along with Bayleigh's and the chargers in my purse along with her iPod and charger too.
Yes, it's just stuff, but a child doesn't understand all that's happening and it is good to have them with something to do. Should something happen and you need to go to a relatives house or hotel then it keeps the kids occupied while you're able to call the insurance companies and take care of the business end of a disaster.

A couple of other things I do to stay prepared year round are this. The things that are important to me, Bayleigh's Baby Book, Important Documents such as diplomas, and birth certificates...We store them in our gun safe. 1. It's fireproof. 2. It weighs a ton and would take a lot to blow it away. 3. It is always locked. Helps prevent loss from looters, because we can't forget that in this world we live in there are idiots that hop on the chance to steal from storm victims.
I also have all of my discs with digital photography in a basket that zips close. I store it in the bottom of a closet in the center of the house. Unfortunately for me it is too large for our gun safe. (oooh, good excuse for Larry to get a bigger safe he wants). In the bottom of that closet I also have my camera tucked into it's bag right next to the discs. The closet we use has a chimney that runs through it as well so I am hoping that is the safest place for such items. Yes, they might get wet and ruined, but that's just the safest place I have found in hopes of protecting them from that and blowing away. If I think about it and have time then I take my laptop and Bayleigh's along with the chargers and put them in their bags and shove them in that same closet space too.

Have an inventory of all your CD's, Movies, DVD's, and Blu Rays, a list of collectables and photos of them if possible, along with warranty information on items in your home. You might need to have proof for insurance of what you had. I keep these things in a binder in the gun safe.

In the basement I also keep gallons of water. It's already down there and we don't have to tote it down. Remember though, water does expire so keep an eye on that. I used to have a pack and play and blankets, but unfortunately our basement is damp and dirty and they didn't keep too well. I guess I could keep a tote down there with those things, but we got flooded in 2008 and it ruined the pack and play and those things I did have down there. There is already and candle and matches down there too, but I trust the matches in my bag that I do tote down better because our basement is so damp.

This is just a start. If you choose to, take my ideas and add to them or take away from them. This is what works for us. :)