MAHONING COUNTY, Ohio - After severe weather rolled through parts of Ohio, now is a good time to make sure you are prepared before the inevitable. 

Locating a safe spot in your home is a top priority before a storm hits. Along with that, putting together an emergency preparedness kit should also be a priority. Items to include are flashlights, batteries, radios and first aid supplies. 

Outside of your kit, one of the biggest purchases to prepare for severe weather is a generator. 

“In-store we have like 5 different brands that we carry,” Aloe Weetman, a full time associate at Home Depot in Boardman said. “We have fully electric and gas powered generators.”

When picking out a generator, if you will be just running your refrigerator, you can pick a smaller one but if you want to power your home or charge your electric car you'll have to pick one with more wattage. 

Depending on how much you have hooked up, a generator could supply power for an entire day. 

“The smaller ones you're looking at like $800,” Weetman said. “For the bigger ones, the one that can supply power to mostly your whole house, you're looking closer to like $2000.”

Another tool that’s important during severe weather is your phone. 

“If you're huddle in a safe area for a tornado warning you could you know still get that information through the news channel apps,” Brian Rutledge, the Deputy Director Columbiana County Emergency Management Agency said. 

“We think the StormTracker 21 app is by far the best weather app you can download for our specific area,” Eric Wilhelm, 21 News’ Chief Meteorologist said. “You can track storms on the interactive radar and push notifications can alert you instantly whenever any tornado warning, severe thunderstorm warning or flash flood warning is issued.”

To download the StormTracker 21 app click here.

Columbiana County also has their own emergency alert system. Rutledge said most counties including Columbiana are moving away from the tornado sirens because of the high maintenance costs. Whenever the National Weather service issues an alert, those subscribed to the county's notification will get an alert. 

Residents in Columbiana County can subscribe to the emergency text notifications on the EMA website here.