TL;DR: Households served by VA Birmingham Health Care are urged to prepare now for tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and power outages with a shelter plan, evacuation zone knowledge, alerts on multiple channels, and stored food, water and medications.
As Atlantic hurricane season approached on June 1, guidance published by Emergency Preparedness | VA Birmingham Health Care laid out what families in Alabama and surrounding states should do before, during and after tornadoes and other emergencies. The page frames preparedness as action across three phases — before, during and after — with attention to shelter, supplies, pets, alerts and medical needs.
The timing mattered for household planning. According to the City of Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management article How to prepare for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season and severe storms, the Atlantic season runs June 1 through November 30, and forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projected a 55% chance of below-normal activity in the 2026 outlook. A separate seasonal preview in 2026 hurricane season guide: Here’s what to know | FOX 13 Tampa Bay cited Colorado State University researchers predicting 13 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes, described as somewhat below normal.
Why Birmingham-area households face tornado and inland hurricane risk
The VA Birmingham resource emphasizes that tornadoes can happen anytime and anywhere, bring intense winds over 200 miles per hour, and look like funnels. It notes that tornadoes can destroy buildings, flip cars and create deadly flying debris.
That same VA Birmingham guidance cautions that the Midwest and the Southeast carry greater tornado risk in the U.S., and it lists warning signs including a rotating funnel-shaped cloud, an approaching cloud of debris, or a loud roar like a freight train. For hurricanes, the VA Birmingham page warns that danger comes from storm surge, wind damage, rip currents and flooding, and that impacts can occur along any U.S. coast or in any territory in the Atlantic or Pacific oceans.
A key preparedness point for inland families is that hurricanes are not only a coastal problem. The VA Birmingham page directs residents to consider how rain, wind, water and even tornadoes could occur far inland from where a hurricane or tropical storm makes landfall. The Philadelphia emergency management article makes a parallel point that heavy rain, high wind gusts, rising waterway levels and tornadoes can happen inland, away from landfall, and that thunderstorms with high wind, lightning and heavy rainfall can damage health, homes and finances even without a named storm.
Know your shelter before a tornado warning
Households should identify and rehearse movement to safe shelter well before severe weather arrives, according to Emergency Preparedness | VA Birmingham Health Care. That source points to a safe room built using Federal Emergency Management Agency criteria or a storm shelter built to ICC 500 standards as preferred options. The next best protection described is a small, interior, windowless room or basement on the lowest level of a sturdy building.
Practice matters as much as location. The VA Birmingham page instructs families to identify that space and practice going to it, and to pay attention to weather reports because meteorologists can predict when conditions might be right for a tornado. The Philadelphia guidance similarly urges residents to create an emergency plan that includes a home shelter-in-place kit, a go bag, and a destination if evacuation becomes necessary.
If a tornado or severe weather warning is issued, the VA Birmingham instructions are direct: go to a safe room, basement, storm cellar or small interior room on the lowest level of a sturdy building immediately. Stay away from windows, doors and outside walls. Do not go under an overpass or bridge, noting that a low, flat location is safer. Watch for flying debris that can cause injury or death, use arms to protect head and neck, and make plans to go to a public shelter if staying at home is not possible.
Staying safe during and after a tornado
During a tornado, the VA Birmingham page repeats the core protective actions: move immediately to the identified safe location, monitor the Emergency Alert System, NOAA Weather Radio or local alerting systems for current emergency information and instructions, and cover head or neck with arms while placing materials such as furniture and blankets around or on top of the body.
Drivers face a specific warning. The VA Birmingham guidance states not to try to outrun a tornado in a vehicle. If in a car or outdoors and unable to reach a building, it directs people to cover head and neck with arms and cover the body with a coat or blanket if possible.
After a tornado, the guidance shifts to avoidance and careful cleanup. According to Emergency Preparedness | VA Birmingham Health Care, residents should monitor EAS, NOAA Weather Radio and local authorities for updated information, stay clear of fallen power lines or broken utility lines, and contact a healthcare provider if sick and needing medical attention while continuing to shelter in place as instructed. For cleanup, it lists thick-soled shoes, long pants and work gloves, plus appropriate face coverings or masks when cleaning mold or other debris.
Make a hurricane plan and know your evacuation zone
For hurricanes, the VA Birmingham page organizes household work into three tasks: know risk, make a plan, and know the evacuation zone. It urges every household member to know and understand the hurricane plans, including the office, kids’ day care and anywhere else frequented, and urges businesses to maintain a continuity plan to continue operating when disaster strikes.
Evacuation readiness requires route knowledge in advance. The VA Birmingham guidance says residents in an evacuation zone may have to evacuate quickly, and should learn evacuation routes, practice with household members and pets, and identify where they will stay. It directs residents to follow instructions from local emergency managers, who work closely with state, local, tribal and territorial agencies and partners and provide recommendations based on the threat and appropriate safety measures.
The FOX 13 Tampa Bay seasonal guide reinforces the evacuation-zone point with plain language: if a zone has been ordered to evacuate, get out, while noting that leaving does not necessarily mean leaving the state or even the county. The Philadelphia article adds practical property steps as a storm approaches, including ensuring a sufficient supply of medication, charging battery-powered medical devices, de-cluttering drains and gutters, securing or bringing in outside furniture, elevating valuables and appliances above basement floors with shelving or plastic totes, and moving vehicles to higher ground away from underground garages or underpasses.
Build alerts on more than one channel
No single warning method is enough. The VA Birmingham tornado section urges signing up for a community warning system, noting that the Emergency Alert System and NOAA Weather Radio also provide emergency alerts, and that residents where sirens exist should learn the warning tone.
The hurricane section expands the list. According to Emergency Preparedness | VA Birmingham Health Care, households should maintain several ways to receive alerts, including downloading the FEMA app for real-time National Weather Service alerts for up to five locations nationwide, signing up for community alerts, and understanding the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alert, which require no sign up.
The Philadelphia emergency management article lists the same national systems and adds local options, noting that alerts may come from that office, the National Weather Service or other authorized agencies using EAS and Wireless Emergency Alert, which also require no sign up. It notes Wireless Emergency Alert messages are available in English and Spanish, with Spanish delivery tied to the phone’s language setting. During an event, the VA Birmingham page directs residents to NOAA Weather Radio and local news or official social media accounts for updated emergency information and to follow instructions of state, local and tribal officials.
Floods, power loss and sheltering supplies
Flooding receives separate emphasis because it is the most common natural disaster in the United States, according to the VA Birmingham page. That source defines flooding as temporary overflow of water onto normally dry land, notes it may result from rain, snow, coastal storms, storm surges and overflows of dams and other water systems, develop slowly or quickly, cause outages, disrupt transportation, damage buildings and create landslides, and warns that flash floods can arrive with no warning.
Under a flood warning, the VA Birmingham instructions say to find safe shelter right away, never walk, swim or drive through flood waters, remember that just six inches of moving water can knock a person down and one foot of moving water can sweep a vehicle away, stay off bridges over fast-moving water, evacuate if told to do so, and otherwise move to higher ground.
Supply guidance focuses on the ability to remain at home or shelter in place. The VA Birmingham tornado section calls for gathering emergency supplies, cleaning supplies, non-perishable foods, water, medical supplies and medication, and for including pets in the family emergency plan. The FOX 13 Tampa Bay guide cites the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggestion to store one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days for drinking and sanitation, plus at least three days of non-perishable food, along with items such as a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert, flashlight, first aid kit, extra batteries, whistle, dust mask, plastic sheeting and duct tape, sanitation supplies, wrench or pliers, manual can opener, local maps, phone chargers and backup battery, prescription and non-prescription medications, glasses and contact solution, infant and pet supplies, cash, sleeping bags, clothing and sturdy shoes, bleach with dropper for water disinfection, fire extinguisher, matches in a waterproof container, hygiene items, mess kits, and paper and pencil.
Insurance and documents complete the household file. The Philadelphia article notes all homeowners and renters can purchase flood insurance regardless of location, most standard home or rental policies do not include flood insurance, and coverage can take 30 days to take effect. It urges keeping insurance policies and identification current, with copies in secure password-protected digital storage for use when applying for assistance after a disaster.