Thunderstorm Preparedness

Preparedness is the key to keeping a home and family safe in a storm or disaster.  Although all disasters and damage to a home cannot always be prevented, preventing death and injury to oneself and family is key.  The following are  some preparedness ideas for thunderstorms from The American Red Cross.

Before Lightning Strikes...

• Keep an eye on the sky. Look for darkening skies, flashes of light, or increasing wind. Listen for the sound of thunder.
• If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to the storm to be struck by lightning.

How to Prevent Home Fires

Instead of focusing on the worst and what could happen, here's some ideas of how you can prevent a fire in the home.

• Check the batteries in your smoke detectors often.  Keep extra batteries on hand and replace them every six months.
• Check your smoke detectors.  Replace any that are ten years or older.
• Position detectors smartly.  Place at least one smoke detector on every level of your house and near areas where you and your family sleep.
• Keep detectors away from heating and cooling ducts, and at least six inches from where walls and ceilings meet.
• Keep fire extinguishers handy.  Make sure there's at least one on each floor- especially near the kitchen, garage, laundry room, and workshop.
• Maintain a safe fireplace and chimney.  Clean the fireplace regularly and have the chimney cleaned and inspected annually.
• Check the wiring.  Have a professional electrician check for faulty wiring, especially

Home Disaster Survival Resources- Fire & Water

It's 1 am, and Mary wakes up to the smell of smoke and siren of a smoke detector.  She safely gets her entire family out of the home and watches helplessly as her home goes up in flames.  Mary is left wondering "What do I do now?"

There are many circumstances like the one above, where homeowners are left wondering where to begin, and what they should do in a situation.  With this in mind, we have come up with a list of sites that are a good resource for homeowners in regards to emergency situations or just good ideas for prevention.  We hope you will refer to these sites now in hopes that you never have to deal with a disasterous event. 

Fire Damage Resources

• National Fire Protection Association  This association and site was bu