Friday, June 3, 2011

Storm Preparedness

After Wednesday's deadly tornado in too-close-for-comfort Springfield, Massachusetts, I started thinking about how to create a safe spot in the basement of my 200-plus-year-old home. While the cold, damp, spider-filled cellar is a feature of the house I usually prefer to ignore, I suspect it would quickly become our favorite room should a tornado visit the hilltowns.

Luckily, Storey has the perfect book to help me plan: Just in Case: How to Be Self-Sufficient when the Unexpected Happens, and the author, Kathy Harrison, has an informative blog here. Thanks to the book I know that I should plan on bringing (along with such obvious necessities as nonperishable snacks and bottled water) a whistle into the basement in case (heaven forbid) we need to signal for help. I wouldn't have thought of that.


I used to brag that the hills of Western Massachusetts seemed relatively safe in terms of crazy, unexpected weather events, but this week proved otherwise, and I'd rather be prepared than caught off guard. Move over spiders, I'm visiting the basement!

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