September marks FEMA’s National Preparedness Month, dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of preparing for disasters and emergencies that can strike without warning, such as severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, flooding, and snow and ice storms.
During severe weather, your first line of defense is staying informed. Make sure you can receive weather alerts when you’re indoors by:
- Setting up a weather radio in your home.
- Downloading a weather app on your mobile device and enable notifications.
- Signing up for NotifyJoCo to receive urgent alerts, including weather warnings.
Take advantage of National Preparedness Month to plan ahead:
- Develop a family emergency plan. Discuss where you would go if you need to leave your home and make sure everyone in your family knows the plan.
- Assemble a preparedness kit tailored to your family’s needs and our region. Think about what essentials you might require if resources become unavailable.
- Consider enrolling in Community Emergency Response Team training. Overland Park offers a seven-week course, with one session per week, that teaches residents how to prepare themselves and assist others in the event of a disaster.
This year’s National Preparedness Month theme focuses on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. FEMA’s 12 Ways to Prepare provides essential resources available in English, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese and Spanish. With more than 10,000 Overland Park residents speaking Asian and Pacific Islander languages, these resources help ensure that everyone in OP has access to critical safety information.
For more information on how to prepare for emergencies, visit ready.gov.