This is Severe Weather Awareness Week. Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director John Benson says he hopes everyone in the state takes notice.
“Our goal, obviously, is make sure that every Iowan is prepared, but also simultaneously make sure that we have resilient communities,” he says. “We want to make sure that we can resist the storms, but if something bad does happen, that we learn how to rebuild and rebuild smarter as we go forward.”
Benson says one of the first thing you should do is be sure your phone is set properly. “Make sure that it is enabled for wireless emergency alerts. If you have that, you’ve probably heard it go off when there’s a tornado warning go off and your phone makes this absolutely terrible sound,” Benson says. He says it’s designed to keep you aware of rapidly changing conditions, and says you should also pay attention to the National Weather Service and radio and TV.
Benson says put together an emergency plan in case you need to take action during a storm, or have to leave you house. He says it is important to practice the plan so you are ready. “We want you to build muscle memory, so when you’re under a time of stress, you’re not sitting there going, oh my gosh, what am I supposed to do? You already know what you are supposed to do,” Benson says.
The focus today is on lightening safety, Tuesday it’s tornado safety, and Wednesday at 10 a.m. there’s a statewide tornado drill. “I want to invite all the schools, I want to invite all of our businesses, all of our citizens. If you’re able to participate, please do because you’ll go through the watch and then you’ll go to a warning. What do you need to do to keep yourself safe?,” he says.
The topic Thursday is hail and wind safety, and then on Friday the topic is flooding. Benson says you can find out more about severe weather awareness by going to the ready.iowa.gov website.