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Multiples
LucyRicardo3
member
As a MoM, what would you do in a storm? (Sorry, very long post)
LucyRicardo3
member
in Multiples
Earlier this week the area I live in had really bad weather, and a tornado touched down less than an hour west of us.
It was a crazy experience but I wanted to share to see if anyone else had other suggestions for those with little ones at home.
I am a SAHM and I had already picked up my 4 yr old from preschool that day. I knew the weather was looking really bad, but it never occurred to me that it could get "worse". I was folding laundry and got a text from my hubby "You should get in the basement. Tornado on the ground in <town> heading your way"
I panicked! How on earth was I going to get the babies down into the basement and keep them safe? The babies were napping, but their PnP's were upstairs in their closet, buried under boxes of outgrown baby stuff. And, I couldn't just take them down and put them on the basement floor and expect them to stay put and not get into something. (Our basement is a dangerous mess!!)
They won't even let me hold them in my lap at the same time while playing anymore without head butting me or slapping each other.
Then I remembered I'd taken the dbl jogger out of the van to clean it out and it was in my garage, just off the living room. I grabbed it and lugged it down the narrow stairs and set it up in a safe corner. Ran back up 2 flights of stairs, Grabbed one baby, left the other napping in her crib, and told my 4 yr old to grab some pillows off the couch and come with me- right away.
I was almost running down the stairs to get one baby and freaking out about the other one alone. I buckled her in and made a blanket nest for the 4 yr old and told her to STAY PUT. Ran back upstairs to get the other baby and called my dogs, buckled in J and put the dogs in their crates. Babies both started crying since they'd just woken up, wanting something to eat and a sippy. and I did not have even ONE flashlight or candle!! I ran back upstairs and it seemed every flashlight I could get my hands on had dead batteries (Thank you, 4 yr old) and I grabbed a yankee candle and found a lighter, a box of Ritz that happened to be sitting out on the table, gallon of milk, 2 sippys and a cup for the 4 yr old and blazed back down stairs.
THEN i realized I didn't have a radio OR my cell phone.. and where on earth was an electric outlet down there>?? I ran back upstairs again and saw my cell phone and laptop on the kitchen counter and bolted back down again when the tornado siren started going off. Then I realized I didn't have a single diaper or anything that we would need for the kids if our house got hit.and what about bike helmets???? I have never been so scared in my life and feeling like a failure to my kids that I was so unprepared for this....
Thankfully, the tornado skirted around us and dissipated before causing any more damage. The area about 15 miles south of my grandmother's house was flattened and the interstate was shut down. DH was stuck at work and my son was on weather lock down at his jr high school.
I've been in storms before and had to go the the basement, but it was before I was a mom, much less with multiple little ones, and definitely not in this house..
That night, after DH finally got home from work, he mentioned we had a weather radio. (WHAT?!) I had no idea- and it was still boxed up from our recent move; and since we are renting for a few months, I haven't unpacked much except for what we need.
Since that day, I made the point of getting an emergency storm kit together and put in easy adult reach in the basement, near a cleared out corner. flashlights with extra batteries, that crazy weather radio, 2 gallons distilled water, 4-5 diapers, dixie cups, plastic utensils, emergency candle with lighter, and some chef boyardee's with manual can opener, plus a couple of old stadium blankets.
For now (until I can come up with a better idea), I set up an extra high chair and my 4 yr old's old umbrella stroller in that area in case I need a secure spot to buckle up LO's & keep them out of more trouble if we have to go down and stay awhile.
I really want to encourage everyone to do prepare now, while you can with a clear head, and help keep your family safe.
~~Sorry this was so long ~~
This discussion has been closed.
Re: As a MoM, what would you do in a storm? (Sorry, very long post)
Lost our first little peanut on 1/17/2012 at 9 weeks and 5 days. We miss you little blessing, but we know you were too perfect for this world.
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You did a great job & good for you for puttign all that stuff together after! Remember that when the warning sirens start, you usually have a little time, they're not typically right on top of you when they sound them. That being said, I was home w/ my twins who were 2 1/2 at the time and both were asleep during nap time & the sirens started going off. I just moved to a tornado prone area and was like WTH is that... then it dawned on me & I did the frantic panic thing too LOL! Our basement wasn't finished but thankfully we had some carpet remnants down there. I laid them out, dragged down some pillows & blankets, my cell phone, water & snacks (I was new to this & had no idea how long we'd be sitting there LOL). Then I went up & carried each kid down individually. DD woke right up & was actually quite thrilled to go down & ride her tricycle around (I figured the helmet wasn't a bad thing LOL). DS was sick at the time unfortunately so I grabbed a bunch of books, got him comfy on the carpet & pillows and read to him.
I told myself after that that I was going to prep a tornado basket- something I could keep down there w/ water, snacks, a few books, maybe some stickers or other toys, a blanket or two etc.... and then I could just grab kids and my phone & go down. Buttttttt I never did. LOL. I think in retrospect I didn't realize that I would have a few minutes to get stuff together. Plus the phone is super helpful (or really I could just bring my laptop down) to read the weather reports & stuff to see if anything is even nearby. We are in the process of finishing the basement so that will help us going forward. I did find out that this one particular corner/room is the safest spot so that's where I'll take them in the future if needed.
I think what you did is awesome though, we should all probably do that depending on the various risks where we live.
Sounds like a really scary ordeal, especially considering how fast a tornado can blow through.
We went through Hurricane Sandy last fall with just one child, and it was a lesson learned for us to be better prepared when the twins come. We were lucky, while it sucked to be without power for a week and a half while pregnant, with cold weather rolling in, at least we did not have major flooding, or have something sudden happen like a tree crashing into the house. It's rare in NJ to not at least have a prediction a couple days out that severe weather may be coming so we have a little time to prepare.
We're usually prepared to leave if needed on short notice - car is gassed up, an emergency bag packed ahead of time w/ clothes, flashlights/batteries and candles relatively handy. We usually have some shelf stable food handy if we know bad weather is coming - the means to make PBJs, canned tuna, dried fruit, crackers, water, juice boxes of milk/soy milk. We usually will buy bread and sturdy fruit a couple days before if we know a storm is coming, and fill all our pots w/ water. With the babies, we'll be looking at getting a generator so that we will hopefully be prepared if we have another power outage like we did during Sandy and able to keep the fridge and a space heater or two running. We'll be keeping the PnPs, and double stroller handy in general, and of course adding the babies' clothes and diapers into the emergency bag. DH has also been talking about increasing our shelf stable food supply and packed in something portable like paint buckets so that we can get through at least a few full days w/ all 5 of us.