Photo Credit Wikipedia – Dimmitt, Tx Tornado
# 6850
Nearly two years ago, over a three day period (Apr 25th-28th) a storm system of epic proportions spawned 351 confirmed tornadoes across five southern states, killing 338 persons in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
This was the the third deadliest tornado outbreak in U.S. History. More than a dozen of these twisters reached intensities of 4 or 5 on the Enhanced Fujita [EF] scale, which can produce near total devastation.
After a near-record setting 2011 tornado season (n=1691), 2012 proved somewhat less active (n=936), although certainly not without its moments.
No one can say with any confidence how many destructive storms 2013 will bring - but when it comes to tornados - you only have to be hit by one to ruin your whole day.
Last spring, the CDC’s MMWR issued an analysis of the previous year’s massive tornado outbreak, that stressed the importance of safe rooms. Due to the length of the report, I’ve only reproduced a few excerpts.
Follow the link to read:
Tornado-Related Fatalities — Five States, Southeastern United States, April 25–28, 2011
Weekly
July 20, 2012 / 61(28);529-533
(Media Synopsis)
Individuals who work or live in a tornado-prone area should develop a tornado safety plan prior to severe weather.
During April 25–28, 2011, the third deadliest tornado disaster occurred in the southeastern U.S. despite modern advances in tornado forecasting, advanced warning times, and media coverage. CDC reviewed data from the American Red Cross, death certificates and the National Weather Service to describe the fatalities by demographic characteristics, shelter used, cause of death, and tornado severity in the affected states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee. Of the 338 deaths, approximately one-third were older adults, almost half occurred in single-family homes, and a quarter happened in mobile homes. One-half of the 27 tornadoes were rated powerful (EF-4 or EF-5) and were responsible for almost 90 percent of the deaths. The use of safe rooms is crucial to preventing tornado-related deaths.
With the spring tornado season only a month or two away, now is the time to be creating a tornado safety plan – and if possible – setting up a safe room.
FEMA has a good deal of advice on exactly how to construct a safe room – either above or below ground.
Residential Safe Rooms
Having a safe room in your home can protect your family and save the lives of those you care about.
Find answers to your Questions about Building a Safe Room, including:
What is the cost of installing a safe room?
Can I install a safe room in an existing home?
Can I build the safe room myself?
Where is the best location for the safe room?
Where can I find plans for safe room construction?
And more....
Building a Safe Room in Your House
For more details about how you can build a safe room in your home, go to the Taking Shelter From the Storm: Building a Safe Room For Your Home or Small Business (FEMA 320) page before downloading it from the FEMA Library.
Residential Funding Opportunities
Grants, funding opportunities and various initiatives are available for individuals wishing to build a residential safe room. See the resources below for additional information:
Examples and Case Studies
Learn how others have benefited from safe rooms. See the following resources on the best practices case study web page.
Having a good (and well rehearsed) family emergency plan is essential for any emergency. Even with a safe room, family members could become separated (they may be sent to different hospitals or shelters) in the post-disaster chaos.
Some may be injured and unable to provide information about their families.
So it is important to set up a plan, including meeting places and out-of-state contacts, and individual wallet information cards - before you need it. To that end READY.GOV has some advice, and tools, to help you do just that.
Plan to Protect Yourself & Your Family
(PDF - 3Mb)
Prepare yourself and your family for a disaster by making an emergency plan.
Download the Family Emergency Plan (FEP) (PDF - 750Kb), print the pages and fill them in offline.
Your emergency planning should also address the care of pets, aiding family members with access and functional needs and safely shutting off utilities.
You may also want to inquire about emergency plans at work, daycare and school. If no plans exist, consider volunteering to help create one. Read more about school and workplace plans.
Once you’ve collected this important information, gather your family members and discuss the information to put in the plan. Practice your plan at least twice a year and update it according to any issues that arise.
Together with adequate emergency supplies, a solid first aid kit, and an emergency battery operated NWS Weather Radio, these steps will go a long ways to protecting you, and your family, from a wide variety of potential disasters.
For more on all of this, a partial list of some of my preparedness blogs include:
In An Emergency, Who Has Your Back?
