DISASTER SMART

Your complete preparedness resource center. Actionable guides and printable checklists designed to protect your family, home, and community — before disaster strikes.

 

Why we made this

Most disaster prep talks to parents. Checklists, kits, evacuation routes — all necessary, all a little cold, and all missing the person who actually needs to act in the moment it matters most: the kid standing in the hallway when the sirens start.

Kids don’t remember checklists under stress. They remember stories. They remember the conversation they had with mom or dad at the kitchen table, coloring in a picture of their own street, talking through “where do we go if…”

Disaster Smart: Tornado turns that conversation into something a 9-year-old will actually want to sit down and do. It’s a coloring and activity book — but it’s really a bridge. A reason for a family to sit knee-to-knee and build something together: a Disaster Readiness Blueprint that lives in a kid’s memory, not just a binder.

Because the goal was never just information. The goal is that when the moment comes — and for a family like the Phillipses, it came in twenty seconds — everyone already knows the plan, has practiced the plan, and trusts the plan.

 

 

 

TWENTY SECONDS

That’s how long Andrew Phillips had between spotting the funnel cloud outside his Mississippi home and getting his wife and two small children — a toddler and a six-month-old — into their safe room. It was Easter Sunday. Minutes later, their entire house was gone. The closet-sized safe room, built from concrete block, was the only thing left standing.

They walked out without a scratch.

Phillips didn’t have twenty minutes to explain a plan to his kids that day. He had twenty seconds. What saved his family wasn’t luck — it was that everyone already knew exactly where to go and what to do, because they’d talked about it before the sky ever turned green.

That’s the whole idea behind Disaster Smart.

(Source: Andrew Phillips and family, Moss, Mississippi — Easter 2020 tornado)

What is your 20-second plan? A basement,  Bathroom,  Closet or Safe Room 

 

 

 

What happens when families do this together

  • A child who’s colored her own street learns to recognize her own safe place, not just a diagram in a textbook.
  • A conversation about “what if” becomes a habit instead of a scary one-time lecture.
  • Kids build real confidence — the kind that comes from knowing what to do, not from being told to be calm.
  • Parents get a natural, low-pressure way to open a hard topic without frightening anyone.
  • The whole household — including grandparents, siblings, even pets — gets folded into one shared plan instead of everyone guessing in the moment.

 

This isn’t screen time. It’s kitchen-table time.

And it doubles as real STEM learning — weather observation, pattern recognition, critical thinking — wrapped inside something that feels like play.

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Build your family’s plan, one page — and one conversation — at a time

Disaster Smart: Tornado is a disaster preparedness activity book for kids ages 9 and up and part of the 8-book Disaster Smart series.

Color real buildings and prompt tornado safety questions with parents and caregivers, developing the start of a family Disaster Readiness Blueprint. These encouraging conversations about emergency plans, safe places, and preparedness build character and leadership.

This screen-free workbook also supports STEM learning through weather awareness, observation, critical thinking, and problem-solving activities.

Perfect for homes, homeschools, classrooms, libraries, and youth programs, it helps children build confidence, make informed decisions, and prepare for severe weather before it strikes.

Inside, kids will:

  • Learn tornado safety and preparedness skills
  • Practice observation and critical-thinking abilities
  • Start important family emergency planning conversations and create a Disaster Readiness Blueprint
  • Build confidence through hands-on activities
  • Enjoy a fun, screen-free learning experience

Click HERE

to purchase your

DISASTER SMART: Tornadoes

Coloring and Activity Book TODAY!

For Our Sponsors: Put a Plan in a Child’s Hands

You can’t stop the storm. You can make sure a child knows what to do when it comes.

Twenty seconds. That’s how long Andrew Phillips had to get his wife and two small children into their safe room before a tornado erased their Mississippi home from the map. They survived because they already had a plan — one they’d talked through together, long before the sky turned green.

Not every family gets that head start. Not every child has had the conversation.

That’s the gap Disaster Smart: Tornado exists to close — and it’s the gap your sponsorship closes, one classroom at a time.

 

 

BECOME A SPONSOR!

Disaster Smart Coloring Book page for kids disaster preparedness
Full sponsorship menu graphic for Disaster Smart: Tornadoes program showcasing different tiers of classroom giving levels from individuals to corporate sponsors

 

 

What your sponsorship actually does

When you sponsor Disaster Smart books for St. Louis Public Schools, you’re not funding a coloring book.

You’re funding the conversation a family has at their kitchen table that night — the one where a nine-year-old asks “but where would we go?” and a parent, prompted by a page their kid colored in class that day, actually answers.

You’re funding the version of that Easter Sunday in Moss, Mississippi where the plan was already made.

The version where parents had already decided, on an ordinary day, exactly where their family would go. The version where three generations already knew which door to run to.

Every sponsored copy is a chance for one more family to have that plan before they need it instead of during the twenty seconds when it’s too late to make one.

Why it matters in St. Louis

The May 16, 2025 Tornado left North St. Louis completely devastated. 

Missouri sits in the heart of Tornado Alley’s eastern edge, and St. Louis families live with that risk every spring — often without a rehearsed plan, because “we’ll figure it out if it happens” feels like enough right up until it isn’t.

A screen-free, teacher-friendly activity book that turns preparedness into something kids want to do closes a real safety gap for local schools and a child will never forget.

Sponsorship is simple

Every tier — from an individual classroom gift to a full corporate sponsorship — puts real books in real kids’ hands and funds real family conversations.

There’s no minimum commitment too small to matter: one sponsored classroom set is one classroom of families who now have a plan they didn’t have before.

Because the families in these stories didn’t survive by chance. They survived because someone, at some point, made sure they had a plan. Your sponsorship is how the next family gets theirs.

 

 

 

Click HERE

to Sponsor a Classroom

DISASTER SMART: Tornadoes

Coloring and Activity Book TODAY!

 

Printable Checklist Bundles

Free Checklists to Help You Prepare with Confidence

Inside this free bundle, you’ll get practical disaster preparedness checklists designed to help you plan ahead, protect your family, and respond wisely in emergencies.

Family Readiness
Checklist

Essential Household Preparedness
4 Included Checklists

Free DOWNLOAD

Senior Citizens Readiness
Checklist

Inclusive Preparedness for All
4 Included Checklists

Free DOWNLOAD

Business Readiness
Checklist

Essential Household Preparedness
4 Included Checklists

Free DOWNLOAD

Printable Checklist Bundles

Free Checklists to Help You Prepare with Confidence

Inside this free bundle, you’ll get practical disaster preparedness checklists designed to help you plan ahead, protect your family, and respond wisely in emergencies.

Family Readiness
Checklist

Essential Household Preparedness
4 Included Checklists

Family Checklist & Guide

Emergency kit assembly, evacuation plan, kit storage locations, and maintenance schedule for the whole household.

Food Checklist

3-day food and water supply list, cooking equipment guide, food safety rules, and water rationing instructions.

Medicine Checklist

Full first aid supplies list, prescription management plan, external medications, and emergency health protocols.

Household Supplies Checklist

Sanitary items, cleanup supplies, lighting, safety tools, communication equipment, and important document guide.

Free DOWNLOAD

Senior Citizens Readiness
Checklist

Inclusive Preparedness for All
4 Included Checklists

Senior Citizens Checklist

Basic emergency kit for elderly, mobility equipment, hygiene supplies, medical management, and special clothing/bedding needs.

Persons with Disabilities Checklist

Access and functional needs planning, assistive device protocols, communication aids, service animal care, and caregiver guidance.

Pets Checklist

3-day pet food and water supply, vet document copies, safety protocols during disaster, and shelter-in-place guidance for animals.

Terminology Preparedness Guide

Hurricane, tornado, flood, EAS system, storm surge, and 20+ official terms explained so you understand every warning that comes your way.

Free DOWNLOAD

Business Readiness
Checklist

Essential Household Preparedness
4 Included Checklists

Family Checklist & Guide

Emergency kit assembly, evacuation plan, kit storage locations, and maintenance schedule for the whole household.

Food Checklist

3-day food and water supply list, cooking equipment guide, food safety rules, and water rationing instructions.

Medicine Checklist

Full first aid supplies list, prescription management plan, external medications, and emergency health protocols.

Household Supplies Checklist

Sanitary items, cleanup supplies, lighting, safety tools, communication equipment, and important document guide.

Free DOWNLOAD

DISASTER SMART: HURRICANES

Coming Soon

Get Free Disaster Checklist Bundles Instantly

Prepare smarter today with free downloadable disaster checklist bundles delivered instantly to your inbox. Sign up now and you’ll also be first to know when the Disaster Smart Tornado Book launches.