Do you know what to do in a tornado, thunderstorm, fire or flood? How about your children? What if you are not home? Do you have an emergency plan? These are some difficult questions. Now is a good time to start teaching your children how to be prepared.
The first step in developing a severe weather safety plan for your family is to determine the potential weather risks for your area. Once the potential hazards are identified, you can begin your plan. This should include:
- Where to meet. Select a place in your home and practice with the children before a storm comes. If your family is forced from your home, determine an alternate meeting place, such as a school, community center or fire station. Share this information with caregivers as well.
- Put together a safety and survival kit. You will want to include such things as water, nonperishable food, battery operated radio, flashlight, batteries, and blankets. The National Weather Service provides a detailed list of items you need.
- Make a “safe place bag” with some items that can console a worried child. Things such as a toy or two, coloring books, a favorite stuffed animal, a couple books, and a battery operated radio/CD player.
- Determine how you receive weather warnings and track the storm. Purchasing a battery operated weather radio will allow you to monitor the storm.
- Establish some form of communication. While cell phones are the most likely way to reach loved ones, you also need to consider what to do if cell phone towers are damaged and not functioning.
Research tells us children that come from secure homes and families will be more prepared to tolerate any stressors, including severe weather. Knowledge and understanding reduces fear, so empowering your children with a plan to react will help help them in a stressful time. Begin at an early age to talk to children about weather. Educate them about storms, dispel myths, and discuss reasonable safety measures. Develop a family weather plan. It will help them feel more in control and less helpless.
Written by: Kathy Green, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Clark County, green.1405@osu.edu
Reviewed by: Janet Wasko Myers, Program Assistant, Horticulture, Ohio State University Extension, Clark County, myers.31@osu.edu
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