Storm Safety: Tips for Protecting Your Family and Home

Are you prepared for when severe weather hits?

Extreme weather events from severe thunderstorms to tornadoes to hurricanes are becoming more common and more severe across the country today, including in western Massachusetts, due to climate change.

“While risks are not as great in Massachusetts as in some areas of the country, you still need to develop a plan in advance to protect you and others in your family from the ill-effects of dangerous lightning, high winds, flooding and other destruction that accompany tornadoes and hurricanes,” said Hugh O’Callaghan, director, Emergency Management at Baystate Health.

Prepare for Tornadoes

Most tornadoes occur in a region called Tornado Alley, covering the Grant Plains of the central United States - an ideal environment for the formation of supercell thunderstorms which can cause violent tornadoes. However, tornadoes have been reported in every state, although much less frequently. Massachusetts averages about two tornadoes a year and because they are weak and short-lived usually fatalities and widespread destruction are rare.

If you are under a tornado warning, you need to go immediately to a sturdy building if you can do so safely. Otherwise, if you have a safe room (a room built inside your home according to FEMA guidance that can provide near-absolute protection for you and your family from injury or death caused by extreme winds), storm cellar or shelter (a type of underground bunker designed to protect you from violent weather, especially tornadoes), or basement. If there is no basement, get into a small, interior room on the lowest level.

Other FEMA tornado safety tips include:

• Staying away from windows, doors, and outside walls.
• If you are in a car or outdoors and cannot get to a building, cover your head and neck with your arms and cover your body with a coat or blanket if possible.
• Do not take shelter under an overpass or bridge. You are safer in a low, flat location.
• If you are in a car, do not try to outrun a tornado.
• Watch out for flying debris that can cause injury or death.

Prepare for Hurricanes

Although it is rare for hurricanes to make landfall in New England—Hurricane Bob was the last to make landfall in Massachusetts over 30 years ago—it is still a good idea to be prepared even though hurricanes can be forecast many days in advance. Just in case, to protect yourself from a hurricane, follow these tips from FEMA:

• Evacuate immediately if told to do so. If not, take shelter from high winds in a designated building or storm shelter, or if you decide to ride out the storm at home, move to an interior room on the lowest level of the house. And, if you experience flooding, go to the highest level of the building.
• Do not drive during a hurricane.
• Gather enough food, water and emergency supplies to last you several days and make sure you have enough medication including over-the-counter and prescription medications. Don’t forget the needs of pets and check on the elderly to help them prepare or evacuate.
• Keep important documents in a dry, safe place such as a fireproof and waterproof box, and create password-protected digital copies.
• ·      Protect your property. Install hurricane shutters or reinforce windows. Declutter drains and gutters. Secure outdoor items

Prepare for Severe Thunderstorms

While thunderstorms are common, predictions have grown recently for severe thunderstorms in western Massachusetts.

Thunderstorms create lightning—a leading cause of injury and death from weather-related hazards—and also include powerful winds, hail, and can spawn tornadoes and create flash flooding. As the popular phrase goes: “When thunder roars, go indoors.”

Tips from FEMA to stay safe during thunderstorms include:

• Avoid running water while indoors or using landline phones. Electricity can travel through plumbing and phone lines.
• Unplug appliances and other electrical devices.
• If boating or swimming, go to land and find a strong, grounded shelter or vehicle immediately.
• If necessary, take shelter in a car with a metal top and sides. Do not touch anything metal.
• Do not travel on flooded roadways and obey the warning: “Turn around, don’t drown.” Just six inches of fast-moving water can knock you down and one foot of moving water can sweep your vehicle away.

Powerful storms often knock down tree limbs and power lines, causing electricity to go out.

“Never touch a downed power line. Stay away from it and report it to the power company, and if the wire is sparking or touching a building, call 911,” O’Callaghan said.

Downed power lines can also mean no electricity to your home. Many families use a portable generator for backup power. O’Callaghan warns that portable generators have fire and burn dangers and can cause carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. CO is a colorless, odorless gas. The exhaust from generators contains high levels of carbon monoxide and breathing too much of it is deadly. Follow this advice for safer use:

• Make sure that your home has working carbon monoxide detectors.
• Read the portable generator’s manual and follow the directions.
• Place the generator outside, well away from doors, windows and vents.
• Generators need ventilation. Never place a working generator in the garage.
• Choose an area that is dry. Contact with water can cause electrocution.
• Never smoke while fueling the generator.
• Add fuel to the generator before you operate it. Turn it off before refueling.
• Connect the generator with a heavy-duty extension cord designed for outside use. Never use cords that are fraying or broken.

Prolonged electrical outages after a major storm can put your home in darkness. Lit candles are too dangerous for emergency lighting. Many things in your home can ignite if they come too close to a candle’s flame. Plan ahead: buy flashlights and stock up on batteries. If you must use a candle when the power is out:

• Put the candle in a sturdy holder and on a flat surface.
• Make sure that the candle is at least 12 inches away from anything that can burn.
• Keep children and pets away from the candle.
• Blow the candle out if you leave the room, get sleepy or go to bed.

Check On Elderly Neighbors and Family

O’Callaghan noted that older adults may need help in severe weather.

“Be sure to check in on older neighbors. Make sure that eyeglasses, prescription medicine, canes and walkers are kept close at hand, especially at night. In an emergency, older adults may need help getting to safety. Stationary oxygen generators require energy to operate. Have a battery-powered oxygen generator, and make sure that the battery is fully charged before the storm, he adds.

Create a Severe Weather Emergency Plan

A good emergency plan includes a supply of prepared foods that don’t have to be cooked, O’Callaghan noted.

“If you do use camp stoves and barbecue grills, they must be used outdoors only. Otherwise, they can cause CO poisoning,” he said.

Also, remember these general tips whatever the threatening weather: monitor weather reports; sign up to receive emergency alerts and notifications; develop an emergency communications plan to contact relatives, friends and neighbors; and be prepared by having an evacuation plan in place that you practice with family so that you are familiar with what to do when severe weather hits.