Whether you live in the middle of Tornado Alley or you’re in an area that hasn’t seen a tornado in years, it’s important to be as prepared as possible against the effects of these devastating weather events. To help keep you and your family safe and help prevent significant damage to your home, you can take steps to reinforce your home, giving you a better chance of riding out the storm successfully.

Thicker Windows

When a tornado strikes, something as innocent as a fence board can become a dangerous projectile with the potential to cause serious injury or death. One easy entry point for this debris is through windows located around your home. To help protect your home against tornadoes, then, it’s a good idea to utilize reinforced windows the next time your windows need to be replaced. You can also invest in storm shutters that can be quickly closed when a tornado is imminent.

Concrete Walls

Using concrete in the construction of your home may seem unorthodox, but it’s certainly practical when it comes to protecting your home against tornadoes. Though you likely won’t be able to construct your entire home from concrete, utilizing materials that are reinforced with concrete and using pre-cast concrete forms whenever possible will help give your home maximum strength and tornado endurance. An added upside is that concrete is more resistant to fire, which could help lower the rates you pay for homeowners insurance policies.

Attach to the Foundation

Especially if your home is built on a slab, a powerful tornado carries with it the potential to simply remove your entire home from its foundation, leaving you and your family without any sort of protection. With the help of an experienced contractor, you can ensure that your home’s frame is properly bolted to the foundation using long and strong steel bolts. There are also devices available that run between the foundation and the top plate of your home, creating downward pressure that helps keep your home in place.

Assess Trees

While trees provide valuable shade and aesthetic beauty, they can become liabilities when a tornado strikes. Since most tornadoes will simply topple trees rather than pulling them from the ground and relocating them, it’s important to assess whether any trees on your property are close enough to your home to cause damage if they fall over. Of course, the risk of damage to your home must be balanced with the benefits you gain from having trees on your property. The best way to help protect your home, then, is to simply make sure that all your trees are healthy and free from any dead or diseased limbs that would be more likely to break off and cause damage in a tornado.

While you can go to great lengths to fortify your home against a tornado, your safest bet is to install an underground storm shelter. These units can withstand much higher wind speeds because they are insulated on nearly all sides by tons and tons of earth. If you can make the investment, a storm shelter can go a long way toward providing the peace of mind that you seek.

Guest Post By:
Anica Oaks
Freelance writer and web enthusiast