Mobile Emergency Preparedness Unit

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- While we are still a few months away from tornado season, it's still best to be prepared early and often.

South Bend's Fire Department showed ABC 57 their brand new safety education unit.

It shows Michiana residents what to do if a tornado hits.

It uses strobe lighting to simulate lighting and can even simulate a power outage.

We even talked with a fire official about what's important during a storm.

"So the importance then would be to make sure somebody actually in the home had a weather radio to be able to listen and find out whether or not it was safe for them to get out of wherever they were taking shelter," said Steve Cox, South Bend Fire Chief.

This educational tool can also be filled with non-hazardous smoke to illustrate the concept of getting low to avoid a fire.