Safe Luxury

I live in a home that does not have a basement. What can I do to keep my family safe from a Tornado?

I live in a 2 story house in Northern Virginia. What can I do to protect my family in the event of a Tornado?

Public Comments

1. Hopefully you have a bathtub on the first floor that is in a bathroom with no windows. If not then any closet will do.
2. Ground-level bathrooms, closets, pantries, etc. (without windows, if possible) are the best alternatives.
3. get into the most secure part of the house without having over your head like shelves of heavy objects or lighting that could fall down. Stay clear of windows and take a blanket and water with you to whereever you go inside the house. Sometimes bathrooms are a safe place to go because there is piping through the walls and underground that are suppose to keep in tact better during tornados.
4. go to a small room or large closet without windows.. open as many windows as you can in your house to create a draft.. that way it won't rip open your roof and it will be more of a preventative measure for walls collapsing.. the best place to be during a tornado is probably a bathroom and get on your knees and put your hands over your head and curl up as much as possible..
5. Move rapidly to the smallest interior room on the lower floor, hopefully one with no windows. Grab pillows and blankets and place yourselves in a sitting position with your heads down against the wall closest to the tornado. Cover yourselves with the pillows and blankets to minimize flying debris. A cast iron bathtub is also somewhat safer.