The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department release the following statement regarding National Severe Weather Preparedness Week:
The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department Bureau of Emergency Management and Wisconsin Emergency Management are proud to promote National Severe Weather Preparedness Week March 3-9, 2013. During this week we are asking everyone to “Be a Force of Nature†and prepare for severe weather threats in our area. Sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Severe Weather Preparedness Week is a nationwide effort to increase awareness of severe weather and to motivate individuals, families, businesses, and communities to take actions that will prepare them in the event of severe weather. Each year, individuals are killed or seriously injured by tornadoes and other types of severe weather, despite advance warning. In 2012, there were more than 450 weather-related fatalities and nearly 2,600 injuries. Severe weather knows no boundaries and affects every individual. “The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department is committed to ensuring the safety of our community and every person plays an important role. By taking a few steps now people can be better prepared and help in saving lives,†said Sheriff David Beth.
Know Your Risk: The first step to becoming weather-ready is to understand the type of hazardous weather that can affect where you live and work, and how the weather could impact you and your family. Wisconsin experiences snow storms, tornadoes, flooding and other severe weather, so everyone is exposed to some degree of risk. Check the weather forecast regularly and visit ready.gov/severe-weather and ReadyWisconsin.wi.gov to learn more about how to be better prepared to protect your family during emergencies.
Pledge and Take Action: Be a Force of Nature by taking the Pledge to Prepare at ready.gov/ severe-weather. When you pledge to prepare, you will take the first step to making sure that you and your family are prepared for severe weather. This includes filling out your family communications plan, putting an emergency kit together, keeping important papers and valuables in a safe place, and getting involved. Obtain a NOAA Weather Radio, check to see if your cell phone is equipped to receive Wireless Emergency Alerts, and sign up for localized alerts from emergency management officials. Stay informed by having multiple sources for weather alerts – NOAA Weather Radio, Weather.gov, and Wireless Emergency Alerts. Subscribe to receive alerts at http://www.weather.gov/subscribe.
Be an Example: Once you have taken action share your story with your family and friends. Create a YouTube video, post your story on Facebook, comment on a blog, or send a tweet. Studies show that many people use social media in the event of a disaster to let relatives and friends know they are safe. This is an important trend because people are most likely to take preparedness steps if they observe the preparations taken by others. Social media provides the perfect platform to demonstrate preparedness actions for others. More information about how you can “Be a Force of Nature†can be found at ReadyWisconsin.wi.gov. Information on the different types of severe weather is available at www.weather.gov, ready.gov/severe-weather‘, and the Spanish-language web site www.listo.gov. For daily safety tips, follow Wisconsin Emergency Management on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ReadyWisconsin) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/ReadyWisconsin).
