Now’s the perfect time to review your plan for protection during severe weather.

Communication is a vital ingredient to your family’s survival during a natural disaster. Call a family meeting to discuss your plan for survival. Be sure to include a plan for reuniting in case you and your children or spouse are separated during the storms. The best preparations for surviving a severe outburst of weather is to formulate a plan of survival, then practice it. Make sure young children know exactly what to do and what to expect in case of severe weather. Following are some tips from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on how to prepare for Spring and Summer's unstable weather.

Thunderstorms and Lightning. While there are times when sufficient warning is available for severe thunderstorms, these storms can strike without notice. But, there are ways to protect your family and your belongings from damage in the wake of these storms.

• Check for hazards in the yard. Dead or rotting trees and branches can fall during storms and cause injury and damage.
   
• Ask an out-of-state relative or friend to serve as your family contact. After a disaster, it’s often easier to call long distance than locally. Make sure your neighbors have your contact’s name, address and phone number.
   
• Do not handle electrical equipment or telephones during a storm. Lightning can follow the wires into your home. Television sets are particularly dangerous.
   
• Avoid bathtubs, water faucets and sinks because metal pipes conduct electricity.
   
• If you are caught outdoors without access to shelter, get to an open space and crouch as low to the ground as possible.  Avoid tall structures such as towers, tall trees, fences, telephone lines, power lines, golf clubs, tractors, fishing rods, bicycles and camping equipment.
   
• If you are isolated in a level field and your hair stands on end, lightning is about to strike. Stand with your feet together, bend forward, remove all metal objects and place your hands on your knees. Do not lie flat on the ground.
   
• If you are in your car during a severe storm, do not leave your vehicle. Remember to turn on your emergency flashers if you have to stop to wait out the storm.
   
• Check for downed power lines, and call your power company immediately.

Tornadoes. Tornadoes occur with little or no warning, so advance planning is crucial to surviving these storms.

• Have two disaster plans: one for when everyone is at home and one for when you are separated.
   
• Ask an out-of-state relative or friend to serve as your family contact.  After a disaster, it’s often easier to call long distance than locally. Make sure your neighbors have your contact’s name, address and phone number.
   
• If you are in a mobile home, leave and take shelter in a building with a more stable foundation. If no shelter is available, leave the building and lie in a ditch or other low area at a safe distance away from the unit.
   
• If you are at home, go to the basement, storm cellar or lowest level. If you do not have a cellar, go to an inner hallway or small inner room without windows such as a bathroom or closet. Go to the center of the room and stay away from corners because they tend to attract debris.
   
• Avoid places with wide-span roofs such as auditoriums, cafeterias or shopping malls.
   
• Take shelter under heavy furniture such as a workbench, table or desk.
   
• If you are outdoors and there is no shelter, lie in a ditch or other low area or crouch near a strong building.
   
• If you are in a vehicle, never try to outrun a tornado. Tornadoes can easily change direction without warning. Get out of your vehicle and take shelter in a nearby building or lie in a ditch or other low area away from the vehicle.

Disaster Supplies Kit. There are six basics you should stock in your home in the event of a natural disaster: water, food, first aid supplies, clothing and bedding, tools and emergency supplies. A natural disaster could cut off basic services to your home including gas, water, electricity and telephones. Be prepared and assemble a storm kit including non-perishable foods, bottled water, paper plates and utensils and a battery-operated radio and flashlight with extra batteries. It’s also a good idea to keep important family documents such as wills, insurance policies, contracts, deeds, stocks and bonds in a waterproof portable container. Don't forget activities and toys for the kids! Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency’s website at www.fema.gov