Sep. 8—September is National Weather Preparedness Month and the American Red Cross is encouraging everyone to take precautions in case of extreme weather.
“Disasters can happen at any time, often without warning, changing lives forever in just minutes,” said JoAnn Woody, executive director of Red Cross Greater Kansas City and Northwest Missouri. “As our climate changes, it’s critical to help protect your loved ones and National Preparedness Month is the ideal time to get your household ready for emergencies.”
According to the Missouri Department of Public Safety, ice storms, tornadoes, severe storms and flooding are all common occurrences in Missouri.
However, Woody said it’s important to be ready for all cases of extreme weather.
“We (Missouri) are diverse enough with our geography and the weather patterns that, what we face on the western side and even in the northwestern side, or around the central, KC-Metro area, is gonna be different than what they face down in the boot heel,” said Woody.
Woody said reviewing plans for other types of extreme weather could be helpful for those who travel or move across the country or world.
“If someone is moving from one part of the country to another, or from another country to the U.S., they may not be familiar with the types of weather situations that they are going to be facing in their new home,” Woody said.
The Red Cross recommends making a plan to stay safe, gather important supplies and know how to stay connected. Having emergency kits in the home with food, water and other essentials is vital. This could look different for every household, but some items could be pet food and supplies, baby formula, medicine and more.
Along with supply kits, writing down contact information in the event that phones or internet is down could be key to connecting with loved ones if separated in an emergency.
Woody recommends downloading the Red Cross emergency phone app to stay up to date on weather throughout the country.
“Not only can you monitor hazards like you would with a weather-radio type thing,” Woody said. “You can monitor different locations, so let’s say I live in Kansas City, but maybe my mother-in-law lives in down in Oklahoma, I could actually monitor her weather conditions down where she lives and then I could give her a call and say, ‘Hey, heads up, I see you’re under a heat warning.'”
Woody said extreme heat and cold temperatures, which have both recently been experienced in the Midwest, fall under the extreme weather preparedness category as well.
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