Good grief, Carol, I didn't think about you guys being on the northern end of Tornado Alley. The advice about leaving the trailer is good, but information is almost more important. You might be able to check out the local emergency plans and find out somewhere secure you can go if things get close and you don't want to spend a rainy night out in a ditch. Unfortunately, down here the conditions are ripe for tornados so much of the year, you wouldn't want to react to every warning. Do you understand the different threat levels so you know how serious the conditions are and how much attention you need to pay to the weather? You really need to know where the bad weather is and which direction it's moving. Do they have sirens near you like they do down here? Do you know which radio and TV stations are part of the emergency broadcasting system? A good battery powered radio and some flashlights are important because the bad weather can take out the power lines and you might not know you're in the line of danger. A little planning will help when things get scary.

You might also want to talk to Rob about what you're going to do if the weather comes in and you're not together. Things like calling each other if you get a tornado watch or if you decide to take shelter, where you'd go if you have to leave the trailer but can't reach each other, how you might get in touch with each if the phones aren't working (you may not be able to call each other directly with the lines down, but both of you could reach a third party), that kind of thing. The worst is when you don't know what's happening to someone you love.

Hang in there. I've been in a lot of really bad weather, even seen a couple of twisters, but they really aren't that frightening once you get used to what you need to do and realize they aren't coming everytime you get a warning.