Did you live somewhere where you don't get thunderstorms? Is there such a place? I can't imagine. I *love* thunderstorms. I love to sit on the porch and watch them roll in. You can smell the rain in the air.
OK. Generally a severe thunderstorm means heavy rain, a lot of wind and lightening, possibly hail. Do you have weatherbug on your computer? It's a free download and a really cool program. I've had it for years. It keeps the temp in your taskbar and if there is a severe weather alert, it chirps at you. You just click on it and you can read the entire alert that is specific to each scenario.
I make sure I have everything plugged into a power strip so I don't unplug anything, but if you're worried just unplug your bigger ticket items such as the tv, computer, microwave. Probably, though, your microwave is in the kitchen and all of those outlets should be on a GFI, so nothing really to worry about. Some people - namely, my mom - won't talk on the phone during a storm, but I do. But then I laugh in the face of danger. *snort* There's really nothing else to do except not to go outside with a lightening rod.
If you have continual rolling thunder and lightning then the storm is pretty much right on top of you. At least that's always been what I thought.
I know a good hour before a storm is coming because the dog starts to pace and pant and goes in and out from under the desk. Once the storm hits, GFGcat goes behind and under my antique ice box. The other 2 cats aren't phased.
