How can you prepare for a tornado?

The best preparation for a tornado is to designate a safe place in or around your home as a tornado shelter. Tornado shelters are safest if they are underground. A storm cellar or basement away from windows offers the best protection. If neither of these are available, plan to find shelter under heavy furniture or mattresses near an inside wall of your house on the ground floor. Get under solid furniture or cover yourselves with mattresses pulled off the bed.

Other things you can do include:

  • Know the location of the designated shelter where you work or go to school.
  • Make an inventory of your household furnishings and other possessions.
  • Plan to evacuate your manufactured (mobile) home.
  • Plan tornado drills with your family so everyone knows what to do.
  • Supplement the written inventory with photographs or video. Keep inventories and pictures in a safe deposit box or some other safe place away from the premises.

Show All Answers

1. How can you prepare for a tornado?
2. What should you do when a tornado warning is issued?
3. What should you do after a tornado?