Weather plans work best when they match the hazards your area actually faces. A household in a flood-prone neighborhood may need a different first move from one preparing for tornadoes, winter storms, or wildfire smoke. Before storm season—or the next forecast—decide where you’ll get reliable updates and where you’ll go for the hazards relevant to your community.
Choose trusted information
Turn on emergency alerts on your phone and know how to find updates from local emergency management and weather authorities. If internet or cell service is unreliable where you live, consider how you’ll receive information without them, such as through a battery-powered or hand-crank weather radio. Agree on one or two sources now, rather than trying to sort through unfamiliar posts during a warning.
Know your safer location
For a tornado warning, local guidance commonly points people toward a basement or a small interior room on the lowest floor, away from windows. Flooding calls for a different response: follow evacuation instructions and move to higher ground; never drive through floodwater. Because the right action depends on the hazard and location, check local guidance and make the relevant choice part of your plan.
Make a household check-in plan
Choose a person outside your immediate household whom everyone can contact if you’re separated, and write down that person’s number in addition to saving it in your phones. Decide where family members will meet if you can’t return home, and how you’ll account for children or others who may be at school, work, or elsewhere. Review the plan when schedules or living arrangements change.