Fear and Safety after the Oklahoma Tornado

Source: Wikipedia

I’ve lived my entire life in places that are prone to severe storms. Both the city where I live now and the town where I grew up, are in areas that have very high levels of killer tornados. To be perfectly honest I’m pretty blasé about the whole thing. Storms come, stuff gets damaged, you drive over and marvel at the house without a scratch right next to the house that was destroyed, eventually the power comes back on, the mess gets cleaned up, and then life goes on.

But life doesn’t go on for some people.

Yesterday’s storm reminded me once again just how powerful the winds can be…how powerless we all are in the face of a destructive storm.

I haven’t turned on the news. I’m not usually a fearful person, and if I see those images over and over I might start giving in to fear. I refuse to hide in my house afraid of the next thunderstorm. Here where I live there will always be another storm.

Where you live the next “storm” may not be a tornado. It may be a blizzard, an earthquake, or a fire. No matter where you live, some kind of disaster may come.

How do you respond? The best thing to do is to prepare for the possibility and then let it go. Today I looked on Facebook and found this advice from my friend Joey Sulipeck who is a meteorologist and all-around nice guy.

Folks, please: HAVE AN EMERGENCY PLAN. It’s pretty easy: plan out several disaster scenarios…fire…natural disaster….heaven forbid, terrorist attack: where should you all meet if you’re separated during an emergency? Phone lines are usually the first to fail – so communication immediately following an event is limited.

Here are some examples:

• If there’s a fire, tell the kids to assess the danger quickly then get to a safe place like the mailbox or a neighbor’s house. Get help and stay there.
• Tornado/earthquake: pick a location just out of town. Pick a direction that you and your spouse could drive to (by major or minor roadways) and then pick a business or site there to rendezvous.
• It may sound silly, but just a little thought and discussion can help you and your family get together quickly in a time of need.

While all of this destruction is fresh in your mind have the discussion. Make a plan and make sure everyone in your household knows the plan.

The remnants of yesterday’s storm are headed my way. I’ll be having a talk with my family.