Summer 2014

Tornado truths that can help you stays safe 

Tornadoes have caused severe and irreparable damage to tens of thousands of Americans and their property in recent years. On top of the physical and emotional fallout, many have also lost their lives as a direct result of a tornado.

Although you can never control the weather or the outcome of a destructive storm, there are steps you can take to help you and your family remain protected in the event of a tornado. Those steps of action begin with knowing fact from myth.

Here are a few tornado truths that could help keep you and those you love safe:

• When indoors, shut all windows and doors. Do not leave them open in an attempt to follow the mythical need to "pressurize" your home because the result would more likely be debris flying through the window and causing severe harm, or wind pressure working to lift the roof off the house from the inside.

• If you are inside your home or other structure, retreat to the lowest level (a basement is ideal) or the room closest to the middle of the home or farthest from windows and doors. Do not seek a "corner" of the structure for your retreat; instead, go to the center-most point, away from windows and anything heavy that could fall on your head.

• If you're outdoors, find the lowest spot, such as a ditch or dry river bed, and lie flat on your stomach, covering the back of your head with your hands.  Do not follow the myth of seeking shelter underneath a bridge or overpass because it could collapse on top of you or large debris and winds could come rushing underneath and potentially sweep you up into the tornado itself.

• If you are in a vehicle, abandon the vehicle and try to find shelter in a structure or outdoors in a low place where you should lay stomach-down and cover the back of your head with your hands. Most importantly, do not attempt to drive away from the storm unless it's very obviously far away and moving in the opposite direction. 

• Do not take shelter near a road or foothill and expect the tornado to miss you. Some myths say that tornadoes will reverse their directions when nearing a road or foothill, but a tornado doesn't discriminate and will keep on its path.

• Keep head gear handy. Head protection can be the number-one most important factor in remaining protected from flying debris-indoors or outdoors-so know where bike, football, batting, boxing and other helmets are in the house, and make them easily accessible.

We want to help you know the tornado truths that will help keep you and your family safe. For more tornado safety tips, visit the Storm Prediction Center's comprehensive guide at http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/safety.html.

Do you own a classic car of the future?

There's nothing quite like driving a speedy, shiny classic car that turns heads and starts conversations. In fact, the beauty and elegance of old collectibles - like the 1964 Aston Martin DB5, the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray and the 1969 Dodge Charger - can be downright captivating.

If you don't happen to own one of these timeless beauties, it may not mean you will never own a classic. In fact, there are many automobile aficionados and industry experts that predict we can expect a whole new generation of cars that will one day be bestowed the same level of prestige as, say, the 1969 Chevy Camaro.

If your curiosity is getting the better of you, here is a peek at the 10 models predicted by CNET's Car Tech editors as being the vintage cars of the future. Who knows, you just may own a classic after all.

1. Toyota Prius (1st gen): Built from 1997 to 2003, sold in the U.S. from 2001 to 2003
2. Honda Insight (first generation): Sold in the U.S. from 1999 to 2006
3. Toyota MR2 Spyder: Built from 1999 to 2007
4. Honda S2000: Built from 2000 to 2009
5. Scion xB: Offered from 2004 to 2006
6. Infiniti G35: Built from 2003 to 2006
7. BMW 335i/N54 3-series: Built from 2006 to 2010
8. Pontiac G8: Built from early 2008 to mid-2009
9. Dodge Magnum: Built 2004 to 2008
10. Chrysler 300C: Built 2005 to 2011

If any of the above-named vehicles is sitting in your garage, congratulations may be in order. And if not, it's not too late to start checking the classified and used car lots.

Regardless what you're driving or what automobile you might have stored away, we are here to make sure you have it covered! Contact us today.

Five ways to get your Car Stolen

1. Leave your car running...and unattended

2. Keep a spare set of keys inside the car

3. Put valuables in plain sight

4. Leave your car unsecured

5. Assume nobody would want to steal your car (Scrap metal is worth money, so never assume your car is safe.)