Thunderstorm Safety

4/13/2022 (Permalink)

Over the past few weeks, there have been several storms in the in Northwest Ohio, and with storms comes a risk of personal and property damage. In order to keep yourself safe during storms, there are a few steps to take.  

• Go indoors and stay there. This can be inside your home or the home of a neighbor. If you’re outdoors somewhere without many houses around, such as a park or the lake, try and seek shelter in a nearby building. Parks should have public restrooms, and these are often built to be storm proof. Should there be no other options, the best thing to do is to shelter in your car and wait out the storm.  
• Once you’re indoors, move to somewhere away from windows. Many homes have a basement, which is the safest place to wait out storms. If your house doesn’t have a basement, bathrooms are often a good choice as well. 
• Try to stay away from appliances and avoid activities such as showering or talking on a wired phone. Lightening can travel through plumbing fixtures or home wiring, so it’s best to avoid using things like washers and dryers during a storm. Additionally, if there is a lightning strike, it could cause those appliances to short and catch fire.  
• After the storm has passed, remember to be careful walking around, watch out for things such as downed power lines and possibly damaged circuit breakers. If you smell gas, contact authorities immediately.  

It might be an inconvenience to follow these steps, but the most important thing is to keep you and your family safe. If you find that a storm has caused damage, feel free to call SERVPRO of Toledo Southwest today and let the experts take care of it!