The storms that ripped through southeast Michigan over the weekend had most of us feeling a little uneasy. Late Saturday evening, I was awakened to hear: "We should probably gather everyone and head to the basement; there is a tornado warning and it's raining pretty hard outside." Everyone in our household's case is two adults, two dogs and a cat. My first thought, of course, was our pets; they have no idea how to deal with emergencies and they rely on us to do it for them.

As we were camped out in our basement, I sent out a tweet with regard to being prepared where pets are concerned. I wondered how may others in our area had a plan in action. Thankfully, as it ended up, our home here in Dexter Township didn't see a whole lot of action from Mother Nature, but others in Dundee and further south in Millbury, Ohio, weren't so lucky.

Disasters, natural or otherwise, do happen, and we have no crystal ball to know exactly how we'll be impacted if we are unfortunate enough to be in the midst of one. Being prepared can really ensure the safety of your whole family - including your pets - in the event of an awful situation, like a tornado.

In our home, we have the leashes for the dogs and the kitty carrier and flashlights handy, as well as other necessities. Pets can be especially uneasy in cases like this and our energy needs to be focused on keeping things calm, so scrambling to find any important items if the need arises isn't really something that we want to deal with.

The ASPCA and the Ready.gov website offer great resources on what to do to in case you cannot care for your pets yourself, and things to think about when considering what to include on your pet emergency preparedness kit/list. The items noted are fundamental, and in most cases are inexpensive or free.

Lorrie Shaw is a pet blogger, a regular contributor to AnnArbor.com and owner of Professional Pet Sitting. She has extensive experience with animals including dogs, amphibians, exotic birds and cats. Contact her via e-mail.