Helping a child through a fear

My son recently learned about extreme weather in his class (1st grade). He found it interesting so he took out a book on tornadoes. One of the pics in the book had a caption about a tornado destroying homes and killing like 600 people. For the last few nights he has been crying saying he can't stop thinking about it and he's afraid a tornado is going to destroy our house and kill people he loves or himself. He's been asking to fall asleep in my bed. I don't want to make this a habit. I have done the best I can with reassuring him he is safe, etc. but he says he just can't get it out of his head. I was thinking of maybe mentioning it to his teacher or school psychologist but not sure it's the best idea. He is very shy and I think he would be mortified if they spoke to him about it. Anyone ever go through something like this? Advice?

Helping a child through a fear

I'm wondering if there is a way to show him that we don't live where there are tornadoes that large, but maybe coming up with a plan in case it happens may ease his mind. I've had anxiety most of my life and not having a contingency plan in case things go wrong sends me over the edge.

Message edited 4/26/2015 9:50:28 PM.

Re: Helping a child through a fear

Thank you for the feedback!!