Severe weather hit hard yet again over the weekend, with over 100 tornadoes in 24 hours from Texas to the Midwest.

However, this line of storms was much less deadly than it could have been, and early warnings are being credited for the relatively low number of fatalities. Full days before the storms hit, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. gave stern warnings to the communities in the path of the storms. In Wichita, Kan., residents were warned, “Complete destruction of entire neighborhoods is likely. Mass devastation is highly likely, making the area unrecognizable to survivors.”

The language in the warnings was extreme in hopes of getting the attention of potentially complacent residents, and though the storms were as destructive as predicted, there were few deaths. Only 6 have been reported so far, which were due to a tornado in northwest Oklahoma early Sunday morning.

Though all the communities affected will have an uphill road of rebuilding ahead of them, preparedness likely saved many lives that could have otherwise been lost.

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Last week, Texas was hit with an outbreak of severe weather that included multiple tornados. The damage was devastating in parts of the Dallas area, including Arlington, where a tornado tore through the St. Barnabas United Methodist Church.

But as we’ve seen before, communities often come together amidst the destruction of an event like this, and the Easter holiday at St. Barnabas was no different.

Though the church suffered damage that will take months to repair, Easter brought over 300 people armed with blankets and lawn chairs to St. Barnabas. Kim Simpson, a church member for 33 years, put it aptly: “The church is not the building; it’s the people.”

The church has received plenty of assistance over the past week from members and strangers alike, both financial and in the form of food, water, and volunteers helping to clean up the church itself and nearby homes affected by the tornado.

2012 has been a pretty destructive year already, but time and time again those affected have shown how much optimism and positivity can come from the darkest of days.

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Some pretty heroic stories have come out of the severe storms of 2012 so far. Maybe the most heartwarming is the story of Stephanie Decker, the mother who saved her children’s lives by sacrificing her own body. The Deckers lost their home and Stephanie lost parts of both legs while sheltering her children from a deadly tornado, but the children survived with minimal injuries.

Stephanie’s husband, Joe, is the head baseball coach of Silver Creek High School, near Henryville, Ind. where the Deckers live. Not only has the Silver Creek baseball team been holding fundraisers for the family, but neighboring communities have stepped up to help as well, including Crawfordsville’s baseball team, which competed with Silver Creek in a baseball tournament over the weekend.

Crawfordsville coach John Froedge and Joe Decker had been in communication prepping for the tournament up until the day before the storm hit Decker’s community. After realizing what had happened to Decker’s family, Froedge, his players and their families immediately wanted to help in any way they could. “I emailed our parents as soon as I heard that it was his wife that had been tragically injured,” Froedge said. “Several of the (the parents) immediately got back to me and said, ‘What can we do to help?’”

The Crawfordsville team traveled to Silver Lake over the weekend for the tournament and to deliver the funds from their charity efforts, as well as volunteers to help with rebuilding in the community.

As baseball season ramps up, it’s great to see competing communities come together to work on what really matters off the field: helping one another.

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Sigmund Storm’s blustery attitude is known around the globe, but it seems he’s expanding his territory.

Captured by the NASA Mars Orbiter on Feb. 16, this dust devil is estimated to climb more than half a mile high and stretch about 30 yards in diameter. Looks like this isn’t Sigmund’s first trip to outer space, either—in the surrounding areas on Mars’ surface, NASA found streaks left by many previous dusty twisters.

Here’s hoping it’s going to be a long, long time until Sigmund Storm makes his way back to Earth.

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Advances in home construction have lead the Institute for Home and Business Safety to create the FORTIFIED for Safer Living Program. The program is designed for new home constructions and helps to ensure that your home is safe guarded against natural disasters that are particular to your region. By strengthening the outer envelope, the program increases your home’s resistance to storm, flood and fire damage. Check out the video and share your thoughts by commenting below or on Twitter using the hashtag #riskymonday.

#riskymonday, brought to you by Bankers Insurance Group, covers one important video highlighting the risks we face each week. Watch the video and join the discussion in the See Through Insurance blog comments, on the Bankers Insurance Group Facebook page or on Twitter using the hashtag #riskymonday.

2011 has already seen a busy tornado season with 1,415 tornadoes reported as of June 1st. The surge in tornadic activity has created a market frenzy for storm shelters. Investing in a shelter for your family could be the difference between life and death. Check out the video and share your thoughts by commenting below or on Twitter using hashtag #riskymonday.

#riskymonday, brought to you by Bankers Insurance Group, covers one important video highlighting the risks we face each week. Watch the video and join the discussion in the See Through Insurance blog comments, on the Bankers Insurance Group Facebook page or on Twitter using the hashtag#riskymonday.