Anyone who lives in certain parts of the country knows the signs of an approaching tornado. The wind is whipping things around and the sky turns an indescribably dark yellow-green color.

Sometimes there's hail and heavy rain that suddenly stops. The wind changes. And there's nearly always a loud, persistent roar that becomes more deafening the closer the tornado gets.

When you see signs like that, you know it's time to take shelter immediately. These days, we have more advanced warning systems that dispatch warnings to cell phones in a local area, TV stations interrupt programming, and warning sirens begin blaring.

Tornadoes can appear quickly and without any warning, so your goal should be to have a shelter with supplies already set up well before the wind starts to blow. Once you can see the twister, you won't have time for anything but getting to the shelter. It's also important to note that in the past few years, tornadoes seem to occur in groups, making them a far more widespread threat.

The following is an excerpt from my book: Be Ready for Anything

Where to shelter if you're at home

First things first. Mobile homes are absolutely not safe in a tornado, no matter how well they are secured. If you live in a mobile home, you should have a secondary underground shelter or seek shelter in a nearby building.