Got a safe place?

Yeah, a safe place - you know, a place to go that's safe?

In New England we don't normally have really extreme dangerous weather.  As I probably said in a previous post, we can't say "no" tornadoes any more but they are not a common occurrence in our area.  That being said, we have hurricanes, we have high winds and, my personal non-favorite, the occasional micro-burst/straight line winds.

Now this has nothing to do with the part where you have already gotten in a supply of food and water and emergency supplies for potential power loss.  I know that is taken care of, right?

This has to do with where in your home you and your family can be as safe as possible in a dangerous storm.

Let's take my experience for example:

Severe thunderstorm watch and then warning on an extremely hot August afternoon.  I'm glued to the weather channel and really relieved to see that most of the storms are going to pass inland of me and out to sea to the north.  As a matter of fact the only nearby storm was in Newfields and heading almost straight west!  I'm golden!

And then the wind really starts to pick up - the evergreen trees on my lot line are really whipping around - the tops are actually spinning!  But I'm good cause all the storms are inland, right?

Thus begins my first and I sincerely hope last experience with a micro-burst - it came through the woods at the end of my road like the proverbial hot knife through butter,  It ripped the 75 foot oak tree on the edge on my lawn right out of the ground and dropped it neatly on top of my greenhouse.  And while wrapping around the end of the house it took off my power lines as a bonus and buried my car.

Small car or big tree - take your choice - there is a house in there too!

And where am I while all this is going on?  Sitting in the living room like a freaking great dummy watching it all happen!  What should I have been doing? Tucking the dog under my arm and heading for the cellar for sure!

So by my usual circuitous route I begin to arrive at my point.

You need a plan.

You need to have a place in your house that is as safe as possible in a really bad wind/storm event.

We are more fortunate in New England than in some parts of the country because here houses normally have cellars (or basements - whatever you choose to call it) that by definition are pretty much below ground.  That doesn't seem to be the case in many other areas.  I don't know why the early settlers started us off that way but it does seem to be the norm.

I'm not suggesting a bomb shelter (I grew up in the 50s and know all about them!) but there is probably a place in your cellar that is more protected (certainly) than on the first or second floors of your home.  Now might be a good time to decide where that place is and to set it up as a place to go if the winds are really bad.

I have a great honkin work bench against the end wall in my cellar - the only downside to it is it's actually in the part of the cellar that isn't totally underground.  But the shelf under it is plenty big enough for me and there is a kennel next to it for the dog.  There's a radio and blankets and, hey, on the way past the bike I might even grab a helmet.

All I'm saying is that the next time (if there is a next time) I hope I have the sense to be there rather than sitting in the living room telling the dog that everything was going to be okay.  If that tree had been dropped 6 or 8 feet further towards the house?  I would have been under it.

This has to be one of the easiest plans you'll ever make!