Planning for Summer's Stormy Side

Planning for summer’s stormy sideBy Maida J. Coleman

For many, summer means more family cookouts, a break from school and the plunge into outdoor activities. In Missouri, warmer temperatures also mean a heightened risk for weather-related emergencies. Although we may not be able to restrain Mother Nature’s wrath, we can take steps to prepare for the stormy side of the summer season.

Missouri’s Storm Aware website, located at https://stormaware.mo.gov/, offers resources for emergency planning related to tornadoes, severe storms and flooding. This website can provide you and your family with the information you need to protect yourselves before a weather-related emergency occurs. Weather emergency preparedness helps ensure that you and your family know what to do, when to do it, where to go and are armed with the items needed to keep you safe before, during and after severe weather occurs.

Ready.gov (located at https://www. ready.gov/be-informed) also provides essential information to assist in preparing for weather related emergencies. This website also describes the various emergency alerts available and which devices are needed to receive the different types of alerts. These alerts can keep you and your family informed about emergencies that may impact your area.

The most important thing you can do to prepare for weather-related emergencies is develop a plan for weather-related emergencies before they occur. Key steps for weather related emergency planning include:

1. Utilizing resources to develop an emergency-preparedness plan. Ready. gov has a document that you can use as a guide to create your own emergency plan.

2. Ensuring that everyone in your family is familiar with the plan. You may not have much time to prepare or all of your family may not be together when the weather event occurs so it is crucial to make sure everyone knows what they are supposed to do in the event of severe weather. It is also important to have a plan for meeting up or communicating in the event that the family is separated or phone service is unavailable.

3. Gathering your emergency preparation supplies. For example, you should include water and canned or dried food, a manual can opener, prescription medications, first-aid kit, flashlights, battery powered radio, extra batteries and special supplies for infants and/or pets in your emergency kit. You should also store important documents in a fire and water proof safe.

4. Preparing your home for weather related disasters. Inspect your home for vulnerabilities (i.e. unsecured items that could become flying debris causing harm or damage) and mitigate those risks where possible.

5. Review this plan with your loved ones often and check your emergency preparedness supplies frequently to replace, dispose of, or add items as needed.

Developing an emergency plan now will allow you and your family to spend more time doing what’s really important this summer – enjoying your time with each other.

Commissioner Maida Coleman was appointed to the Missouri Public Service Commission by Governor Jay Nixon, effective Aug.10, 2015. She was unanimously confirmed by the Missouri State Senate on Jan. 21. Prior to her appointment, Commissioner Coleman was the Director of the Office of Community Engagement. From 2001 until 2009, Commissioner Coleman served first as a State Representative and then as State Senator from St. Louis, becoming the first African-American woman in state history to serve as Senate Minority Leader. Coleman has a B.A. in Journalism from Lincoln University in Jefferson City and was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis in 2008. A native of Sikeston, Missouri, Coleman lives in St. Louis.

The opinions expressed in this column are the columnist’s alone and do not reflect the opinion of the owners or staff of Community News.