This year, please take the time to learn how to prepare for severe weather during National Severe Weather Preparedness Week, March 2-8, 2014, sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Champaign County Emergency Management Agency.

 

Being prepared to act quickly could be a matter of survival. This is especially evident during the threat of severe weather. The deadliest and most destructive tornado of 2013, an EFS-5 on May 20 in Moore, Oklahoma and caused more than $2 billion in property damage and killed dozens. Even though the Oklahoma tornado outbreak was forecast days in advance, and warning lead times for the tornado outbreak averaged nearly 20 minutes, there were still many people in the impacted areas who stated they were unprepared.

 

While spring tends to produce more tornadoes, they can happen in ANY month.   On Nov. 17, a late season tornado outbreak that struck seven Midwestern states became the most active tornado day of 2013 with a total of 74 tornadoes. In our area, the Village of Gifford, Illinois was impacted by one of those 74 tornadoes.

Here is what we can do to prepare:
Knowing your risk, taking action and being an example by sharing your knowledge and actions with your social network are just a few steps you can take to be better prepared and save your life and others.

Know Your Risk: Hurricanes, tornadoes, storms - every state in the United States experiences severe weather. Visit weather.gov to get the latest on weather threats.

Take Action:
Take the next step in severe weather preparedness by creating a family communications plan, putting an emergency kit together, keeping important papers and valuables in a safe place, and learning about Wireless Emergency Alerts.

Learn more at
www.weather.gov and www.ready.gov/severe-weather or the Spanish-language web site www.listo.gov. Follow the National Weather Service @nws, FEMA @readygov, and Champaign Co EMA @ChampCoEMA.