Disaster Preparedness: Tornado
When a tornado hits, it's too late to begin thinking about disaster preparedness and what your family will do if a tornado disaster strikes your area. Prepare in advance for tornado disaster with emergency kits from FoodInsurance.com.
A Tornado is nature's most violent storm. Spawned from powerful thunderstorms, tornadoes can cause fatalities and devastate a neighborhood in seconds. A tornado appears as a rotating, funnel-shaped cloud that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground with whirling winds that can reach 300 miles per hour. Damage paths can be in excess of one mile wide and 50 miles long. Every state is at some risk from tornado disaster. Your family's disaster preparedness plan and on-hand emergency kits are important because rescue and emergency response time can be delayed by blocked roads and other residual risks of tornado disaster.
tornado facts:
The following are facts about tornadoes:
• A tornado may strike quickly, with little or no warning.
• Tornadoes may appear nearly transparent until dust and debris are picked up or a cloud forms in the funnel.
• The average tornado moves Southwest to Northeast, but tornadoes have been known to move in any direction.
• The average forward speed of a tornado is 30 MPH, but may vary from stationary to 70 MPH.
• Tornadoes can accompany tropical storms and hurricanes as they move onto land.
• Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water.
• Tornadoes are most frequently reported east of the Rocky Mountains during spring and summer months.
• Peak tornado disaster season in the southern states is March through May; in the northern states, it is late spring through early summer.
• Tornadoes are most likely to occur between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., but can occur at any time.
Protect you and your family from tornado disaster with emergency kits from FoodInsurance.com
Some tornadoes are clearly visible, while rain or nearby low-hanging clouds obscure others. Occasionally, tornadoes develop so rapidly that little, if any, advance warning is possible. Before a tornado hits is the time to think about disaster preparedness. With a disaster preparedness plan and emergency kits from FoodInsurance.com, your family will be prepared in the event a tornado disaster strikes your city.
Follow these basic steps to develop your family's tornado disaster preparedness plan:
- Gather information about hazards in your area. Find out how susceptible to tornadoes your area is and how you should respond. Learn your community's warning signals and evacuation plans.
- Meet with your family to create a disaster preparedness plan and make sure it includes emergency kits for the whole family. Discuss the information you've gathered. Choose a place outside your home to meet in the event of an emergency, such as a fire, and a place away from your neighborhood in case you can't return home. Choose a friend or relative who lives out-of-state as your "family check-in contact"
- Implement your tornado disaster preparedness plan:
- Post emergency telephone numbers by phones.
- Inspect your home for potential hazards such as items that can move, fall break or catch fire, and correct them.
- Install safety features such as smoke alarms and fire extinguishers and instruct others how to use them properly.
- Teach children how and when to call 911 or your local emergency medical services number.
- Keep emergency kits such as FoodInsurance.com's The Essentials kit in your home with enough supplies for each member of your family for two weeks.
- Keep a disaster preparedness response kit with items you may need in case of evacuation. Store these supplies in sturdy, easy-to-carry containers, such as backpacks or duffle bags. FoodInsurance.com makes it easy with the Emergency Plus kit!
- Keep important family documents in a waterproof container.
- Keep a smaller disaster preparedness emergency kit in the trunk of your car.
- Practice and maintain your plan:
- Ask questions to make sure your family remembers meeting places, phone numbers, and safety rules.
- Make sure everyone knows where to find your family's emergency kits.
- Test your smoke detectors monthly.
- Test and recharge your fire extinguisher(s) according to manufacturer's recommendations.
- Replace spare batteries as required.
- Conduct periodic drills to make sure you are prepared in case of an actual emergency.
With a little planning, you can ensure your family is prepared for a tornado disaster with emergency kits from FoodInsurance.com. Don't wait—put your disaster preparedness plan into effect before it's too late.