What tips can homeowners use to prepare their homes for tornadoes?

Inspecting your home before a tornado hits and improving potentially weak or damaged areas can help you reduce potential vulnerabilities. When making improvements, look into options less vulnerable to wind damage. The Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) has materials that detail some of these options, like its brochure on how to "Protect Your Home Against Tornado Damage."
Other options also include installing a custom-designed or pre-built storm shelter on your property, which can be put underground (although these may pose a flood risk in some areas) or above ground. 

There are ranges of different types of such rooms available to consumers now. The terms used to describe different shelters can indicate different standards that they are held to, as described by FEMA in their document "Safe Rooms for Tornadoes and Hurricanes: Guidance for Community and Residential Safe Rooms." If you are choosing this option, know what type of shelter you are getting, be sure that your shelter is up to the appropriate code, and see if you are eligible for funding assistance by contacting your local or state emergency management office.

In terms of important skills or information, you can make sure that you:

- Know your plan if there is a tornado watch at your home, workplace, school or other areas you frequent.
- Know how to turn off your utilities, like power, gas and water, in case there is a leak;
- Know where your important paperwork is located so you can access it as needed if there is damage;
- Know what your insurance policy does or does not cover;
- Know what you will need to do to file a claim with your insurance policy.