Plan ahead
Once the storm hits, it is too late to be prepared, and thinking through what you will do if the inevitable happens is one way to provide yourself an alternative to freaking out when the jello hits the fan. Here are some ideas on setting priorities based on what you may need to do to protect your family.
First Aid
First, assess everyone health wise, and make any necessary decisions about healthcare. Do this even for seemingly minor injuries now, rather than later. Apply first aid, where applicable, get critical patients to emergency care.
Help Others
Once everyone is ambulatory, or under care, assess the surrounding situation. Help anyone you can to get themselves safe and medically sound.
Find Shelter
Your next concern should be finding shelter, particularly if the storm has struck at night. Staying warm and dry is essential to health, which should be your primary concern.
Secure Your Area
Once you have determined that adequate shelter is available, or makeshift shelter has been created, if necessary, security should be your next concern. Check your surrounding area for downed power lines, dangerous trees, or structures that may fall due to storm damage, and any other threat to physical safety should be dealt with first, then secure your property as best you can.
Provisions
Once health, shelter and safety are taken care of, find water and food as soon as possible. Most conditions can be survived as long as is necessary once these basic necessities of life can be taken care of.
For further information check out the Red Dirt Ready site here: http://www.ok.gov/reddirtready/PREPARE/Get_a_Kit/
