5 Tips to Prepare for Severe Weather
Some of my earliest memories, besides siblings being born or 9/11, are weather related. The 2000 Fort Worth F-3 Tornado, which touched down while I was at soccer practice (and they ended up cancelling despite the fact we were almost thirty miles away), or the first time I was in a tornado warning without Mom and Dad. I was at my aunt’s house in San Marcos (about forty minutes from where I live now) and had a terrible meltdown, scared I was going to die from the tornado.
Even as a teenager, the fear persisted. I remember being in middle school and during quiet work time, asking to go to the library, so I could use the computer and read more about the overnight tornado threat. Or not getting sleep because Ineeded to be the one awake to make sure if there was a tornado, that we all were able to make it downstairs safely. It’s just now dawning on me that maybe storm fears were the beginning of my insomnia issues.
It was really in becoming an adult that I was able to tackle both my anxiety in general and specifically to storms. I’m a big believer in the more information I have, the easier it is to handle my anxieties. Which is how I became the “person you didn’t ask for on severe weather”.
There are several things that are important to prepare for when it comes to severe weather, and while I can’t possibly tackle all of them in one post, I want to share five tips to prepare for severe weather.
5 Tips to Prepare for Severe Weather
1. Know your location
I’m a little bit biased here because before my love of weather blossomed, I was a geography nerd. Still am to a degree, but nothing will top my appearance in the 3rd grade Geography Bee. It’s so important to know where you are. What city you live in and especially what county. When the National Weather Service issues any kind of warning, they will mention the county (for instance, a warning in my area might be issued for Travis or Williamson County, or even both). It’s a simply Google Search (if you have location settings “on” for your device to find out). Side note, knowing your county is important for another favorite topic of mine – politics and voting.
2. Have your safety plan
I’ve lived in apartments for most of the last decade, and up until my current apartment, I was always on the top floor. My last apartment was in the middle of the complex, too, so it always felt like thunderstorms were much louder and shook my apartment walls. While a key point of staying safe is to stay inside, there is one point where you don’t want to be on the top floor – during a tornado warning.
Back in 2022, Austin had one of its worst severe weather outbreaks in a long time, there were quite a few tornados that touched down, including one just three miles from my house. Thankfully, I was fine, but I knew that I was not going to stick around in my third floor apartment for a tornado warning. So I planned ahead. At my apartment complex at the time, the gym made the most sense as a safe place. When picking your safe place, you want a first floor area, preferably on the inside of the building with no windows. While the gym itself didn’t meet those requirements, across the hallway was a bathroom that did. So going to the gym made a great excuse to be closer to a safe location.
3. Be charged
With technology in 2023, it’s pretty rare that forecasters don’t know about a severe weather event ahead of time. Because they know ahead of time, something as simple as checking your local newscast or your local National Weather Service office, can give you the heads up if something is about to happen. With that being said, if you know you’re going to have a bad weather day, take the time to make sure your devices (especially your cell phone) are charged. Even if you lose power in your area, if cell signal is still up, you can get weather updates, like tornado or severe thunderstorm warnings, to your phone. While warnings happen when there is immediate danger to someone, you need to be ready to receive those warnings in advance. In addition to being charged up, it’s good to have a place where you can easily access documents or medication in the event you do lose your home. I think I packed all my meds last year in a backpack, just in case. While most goods in a home can be replaced, getting a refill on your medications early is a pain.
4. Know who your National Weather Service is
The NWS is the forecasting office of the government responsible for putting out forecasts, even your regular seven day ones. When there is severe weather, your local NWS will work with the Storm Prediction Center (in Norman, Oklahoma) to determine what counties might be included in a watch. A watch is when the ingredients for severe weather are all coming together, but haven’t created storms. Warnings are issued when storms meet certain criteria, like having 58 mph winds or greater or hail 1 inch in diameter or greater for a severe thunderstorm warning. A tornado warning comes when there are reports of a tornado on the ground, or when there is tight rotation showing up on radar. Your local NWS office works with the Storm Prediction Center to issue watches and the NWS office is responsible for issuing warnings in your area, too. You can locate your National Weather Service office here (you will need to know your county, though!).
5. Don’t forget to breathe, you’re prepared now.
And this is as much a requirement for myself as it is anyone else, because even with all the planning and knowledge I’ve taught myself over the years, the moment that Tornado Warning pops up on my phone, my heart rate does go up. However, the reason I have these steps in place and actively pay attention to the weather is to make sure that when that little bit of anxiety creeps in, I don’t have to over think the next steps. I have those already set up and I am ready to go.
I don’t expect everyone to be as “weather aware” as I am, but with technology and access to information on the internet (like this post), there aren’t many reasons to at know how to check and plan ahead. With spring severe weather in full swing right now, there’s no time like now to go ahead and prepare for severe weather.