Protecting your home and community

It’s Wednesday of National Severe Weather Preparedness Week

Ready.gov logoMake a Plan!

Don’t wait for trouble to strike! Taking a little time now to prepare for bad weather can save you, your family, your pet, or your business, a boatload of grief.

The theme for Wednesday of this year’s National Severe Weather Preparedness Week is Make a Plan.

Whether you’re a business, a family, a university, or a school, you can, and should, have an emergency plant that will protect you in the event of an emergency. You might live in tornado alley (which seems to be expanding), along the paths of frequent hurricanes, a seismically active zone, an area prone to flooding, or any other predictable natural catastrophe: a plan can save lives, limbs, and property.

If you don’t live in an area prone to natural disasters, having a plan can save lives in the event of the unthinkable: an active shooter in an elementary school, movie theater, business, college campus, or hospital.

Tinker Federal Credit Union saved all of its employees during the May 20th EF-5 Tornado in Moore Oklahoma by having an Emergency Operations (or Response) Plan in place.

The credit union not only had the plan, but had gone through a drill with its employees, who took shelter in the union’s vault.

Says Jan Davis, Branch Manager of the union,

May 20th should have been probably the scariest day of my life. Luckily, we had practiced, and a plan in place that allowed us to be very prepared for what innately happened that day. We lost the entire branch, there was nothing standing when we came out of the vault….

As part of tailoring your plans, consider working with others to create networks of neighbors, relatives, friends and co-workers who will assist each other in an emergency. Discuss your needs and responsibilities and how people in the network can assist each other with communication, care of children, pets, or specific needs like the operation of durable medical equipment. Create your own personal network for specific areas where you need assistance.

Preparation is not just for grown-ups. Have your children go on a severe weather preparation adventure. They can learn how to protect themselves and how they can help their family stay safe. When children complete the game, they receive a Young Meteorologist certificate. The game is part of Plan!t Now’s Young Meteorologist Program which was created in cooperation with an NWS partner, the National Education Association.

Daily themes for National Severe Weather Preparedness Week:

Be a Force of Nature graphic from the NWS

 

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