How to Protect Your Pool During Tornado Season

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Tornadoes are extreme weather events that can devastate homes and local communities. 

While they can occur at any time, they’re particularly common when the weather gets warmer, for instance, tornado season here in Texas occurs between April and June. This is the time of year when they’re most prevalent and when households should take mitigating action to minimize the risk of damage to their property.

If you have a backyard pool, it’s important you have a swimming pool protection plan in place to keep your pool safe in the event of a serious storm.

Let’s take a look at some of the things you can do to protect your pool during tornado season.

How to protect your pool during tornado season 

There are a wide range of things you can do if you know a tornado is on the way, but before we go into detail about what they are, it’s important to note that you should always prioritize your own safety first before worrying about property. Staying indoors is essential and, to be extra secure, getting as low as possible and putting as many walls between yourself and the outdoors is recommended. If you have a basement, sheltering down there is normally the safest place you can be as long as you make sure you and other family members stay away from windows in case they shatter.  

Now we’ve covered personal safety, let’s turn our attention to how you can keep your pool safe.

Tidy away loose objects 

As mentioned before, if a spontaneous storm occurs, then you probably won’t have much time to prepare. However, keeping an eye on weather forecasts during tornado season may help give you enough warning to begin your protection plan.

The first thing you should do is make sure any loose objects in your yard are tidied away. While patio furniture, pool toys, cleaning equipment, and other loose items are harmless and can be kept outside in normal conditions, they can become hazardous during a storm.

A tornado’s strong winds may lift and drop them, causing them to break or damage your property or pool’s structure. Therefore, storing them inside or in a shed is recommended.

Turn off the pool’s power 

Electrical equipment is the lifeblood of your pool, with lights, heaters, pool pumps, and more playing an essential role in keeping your pool safe and able to be enjoyed by you and your household. With this in mind, prioritizing these elements ilduring a storm can help prevent them from becoming damaged and requiring costly repairs.  

Turning off the pool’s power will keep them protected, and you may also want to consider surge protectors to keep them safe from lightning strikes. 

Don’t drain your pool

There is a temptation to drain swimming pools ahead of a tornado, but pool water can actually help protect your pool. 

This is because the water can protect the pool’s finish, walls and surface by acting as a barrier that can prevent falling debris. 

Assessing the damage 

After a storm has passed and it’s safe to venture outside again, the swimming pool storm cleanup begins.

You should take some time to assess if any damage has occurred and how severe it is. We’d always recommend calling on the services of a professional pool company to help with this as you’ll need to exercise caution when assessing a damaged yard, especially if electrical systems are involved. 

Here at Claffey Pools, we’ve spent more than 30 years helping people discover dream swimming pools in Southlake, Texas TX. As well as building custom pools to suit our customers’ unique vision, we also offer a leading pool maintenance service that can help keep your pool in the very best condition, including after a tornado or storm. For more information, get in touch with our friendly team of experts today.