WALBRIDGE, Ohio — Sonnie Bullock remembers the tornado that ripped through Lake Township in 2010, destroying the high school and killing seven people across the area.
"It's actually really a scary thought to think how quickly things can destruct," Bullock said.
Living in the Woodcreek Village Manufactured Housing Community, Bullock knows her neighborhood could be at greater risk when severe weather strikes. So does the Lake Township Fire Department.
"Mobile homes, there's not much protection," LTFD firefighter and paramedic Becky Rosebrock said. "Their foundations, strong winds could easily move the mobile homes, and if there's a possibility of tornadoes, it could come up a lot easier."
On Tuesday, the department canvassed mobile home parks to prepare people for the upcoming severe weather.
"The more educating we can do, the safer it makes our jobs," Rosebrock said. "The safer it makes everybody else as well. I don't want to see anybody get hurt. Any little steps that we can do help out is a positive."
The department encouraged people to stay connected to emergency alerts and find a safe place to stay during the storm. Bullock said there's no better time than right now to have a safety plan in place.
"Good timing, because we're all worried about what is going to happen tomorrow," Bullock said. "We don't know what's going to happen for sure, but we can always be prepared. And that's the thing, we have to be prepared, especially when you live in a mobile home."
The department encourages people to sign up for the township's CodeRED phone alert system, which can call every phone number registered in the database within a short period of time, or targeted areas as needed, in the event of an emergency.