Script for March 2018 Podcast ItÕs Severe Weather Time in the Midwest Taping: March 28, 2018 Broadcast: March 29, 2018 Intro music: Host: Hi, IÕm Mike Cappannari and this is the FEMA Podcast. Today we are going to be talking about preparing for Severe Weather. Throughout large portions of the country, many State Emergency Management Agencies view the month of March as the ideal time to be talking about preparedness actions related to severe weather. If you live in the Midwest, you know severe weather is part of our lives. Tornadoes, floods, and lightening are part of our regular vocabulary. But do we really know what to do to prepare for these events? Drop in audio of a tornado warning and sirenÉ. When you hear these sound do you know what to do? Do you know how to prepare before something happens? Or even what to do after? We know severe weather can happen during any season and impact any part of our country. But Spring is a time of transition; when late-season snowstorms can impact areas, the threat of strong winds and tornados become more likely, rivers overflow their banks and there are heavy downpours that can lead to flash-flooding which weÕve seen a lot of over the last couple of years throughout the country. We are encouraging everyone to get the word out and help the Whole Community, everyone, prepare for severe weather. Today we are going to be talking to the State PIO (or, Public Information Officers) from Nebraska, Ms. Jodie Fawl; and the State of Iowa, Ms. Stefanie Bond. And, not coincidentally, this week is Severe Weather Awareness Week for both those states both Nebraska and Iowa. Ladies, thanks for joining us this morning. Jodie and Stefanie: Thanks Mike. Mike: So Jodie, just wanted to start with you here, what are some of the topics that you all have been focusing on this week? Any creative activities that you all have been thinking about to get folks to hopefully start thinking a little more about how to prepare? Maybe taking some action. Jodie: Well Nebraska does a severe weather poster contest every year that includes 4th graders from across the state and this year we have our biggest turnout, we have 900 posters which mean there are 900 4th graders out there that can educate their parents about some of the things that their family needs to do to be safe during the Spring and Summer months. Our first place poster went to Clayton Butler from Hemingford out West in Box Butte County. His poster featured a guy named Blue Lightening a super hero and he thinks about safety as well as a comic strip about Opposite Cooper, a guy who doesnÕt care about safety and keeps getting struck by lightening because he doesnÕt follow safe practices during lightening storms. Blue Lightening says Safety is Super DonÕt Be Like Cooper. We just had so many good posters. Mike: That is really cool. IÕve got a third grader myself that I often think well not think know has a better imagination than me. So leave it to fourth graders to come up with a type of idea. Jodie: I talked to Clayton a little bit and hoping heÕll draw some other comic strips to promote for other kids next year, IÕm excited about the possibilities of that. One of my favorites featured some photographers and artists one said Stop Taking Pictures of Tornadoes and Get Inside. As a photographer that was a fourth place finisher Kinsey Lobby of Loumis and it was just so true because typically in Nebraska and I suppose in Iowa too we go to the back porch and watch the storms as they approach and thatÕs really not the best practice when there is a tornado approaching you need to get to your safe place basement or shelter. So the poster contest is one way we promote it across the state. Another way a lot of the local emergency managers in all the counties schedule storm spotter training and those classes are designed to educate participants to severe weather clues and familiarize them with how to use that information and just be situationally aware of the weather system. And then actually not this week but on April 7 IÕm going to be at the Annual Central Plains Severe Weather Symposium which we typically call Weather Fest and I know that there are other locations across the state to get people interested in weather and talk about what their plans are and what they will do in the event of severe weather in their community. Mike: Great thanks for going over all of that Jodi. I canÕt recall off hand but I think in the past there has been some type of studies that demonstrate when children talk to their parents about preparedness for emergencies severe weather that the parents and families are more likely to actually sit down together and talk about having a family emergency plan, the importance of an emergency supply kit. I think its great that you all are doing that poster contest and getting the children to talk to their families about these topics. Jodie: I will say that for the NEMA staff that gets to judge those posters its really one of our favorite times of the year to see what these kids like you said theyÕre clever at that age, what they come up with and how they want to tell people to be safe. Mike: Yes, absolute. Well thanks Jodie. LetÕs turn to Stefanie now in Iowa , I know youÕve been working hard to help Iowa prepare their citizens. What are some of the things that you all have been working on this week? Stefanie: Well we donÕt have anything as fun as a poster contest but we do work with 5th graders in the state with the FEMA Step Program, the student tools for Emergency Planning. That has been going over really well. We also have our own super hero we call him Preparedness Man. He is featured in a lot of our materials that we send out. We like to do a lot on social media putting out memes throughout the week. And we had a press conference this last Monday where the governor announced she was proclaiming this Severe Weather Awareness Week. And we also announced that we have a new tool that is linked on our website so whenever there are storms the citizens can go and report any kind of damage or any kind of weather that happens in their area so after the fact the emergency managers are trying to figure out where to go look for damage they have a record of that and we can kind of follow up with everyone that puts their information into that app. Mike: Got it. Thanks Stephanie. Talking about social media you mentioned some of the memes that you all are using this week getting prepared for severe weather. I think youÕll both agree after having worked with you for a number of years now that social media really has become the fastest and most efficient way of getting severe weather related preparedness information out to the public. So I think using that as a vehicle this week, especially makes a lot of sense. Do either of you at this point Nebraska and Iowa cause I donÕt know off hand. What is the best way for folks to follow you all on social media if they like to. Stephanie: Well we are on Facebook and Twitter in Iowa we also have a YouTube account where we put some videos up. So I think most of our traffic comes through Facebook and Twitter. Mike: Okay. Jodie: In Nebraska, itÕs pretty much the same way. We have Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Probably Facebook and Twitter is where we put most of our information. We even have a Flicker account so we can put pictures up and share them with people. Mainly Facebook and Twitter. Mike: I think thatÕs staying informed and notified is extremely important no matter where you are in the country. Every area has different hazards and impacted by different events. But making sure youÕre staying informed whether thatÕs on social media there are a number of weather related apps that you can download. IÕll put a plug in for the FEMA app which you can download itÕs a great way for you to stay informed. Jodie, let me get back to you now. I want to talk a little bit about planning for pets and pet preparedness because as many of us know they are members of the family. So any suggestions from you for how to incorporate them, pets into preparedness planning? Jodie: I appreciate you bringing this topic up because as you know I have a dog, Jancy that I love and she needs to go to the basement with me whenever there is a tornado so sheÕs like my daughter but I hope my daughter doesnÕt hear this (laughter) my other daughter but we just have to remember that during a disaster whatÕs good for you is also good for your pet. So as you make your preparedness kit include enough food and water, clothes and blankets, a battery operated radio, flashlight, all those things that we need you need to also include items for your pets. You want to make sure you have dog food, cat food, gerbil food, whatever pet that youÕre going to bring down to your safe room. And if you have to evacuate none of us want to leave our pet behind but you may not be able to take them into a shelter. Make a plan that includes where will you take a pet if a tornado goes through your town Do you have relatives close by, friends that you can make an agreement with that if something happens to them or to you that you take care of their pets. And make sure we say a gallon of water per person per day is a good amount to keep for three days worth if you have to stay at home. You want to have bottled water for your pets too. Get your pets microchipped if you havenÕt already done that in case they are outside and you are looking for them. And if youÕre unable to return to your house, you may have to board you pet so think a head just like we do for ourselves what will you do to take care of your pets during the recovery time after a disaster. Stephanie: I think my pets emergency kit is way better than mine. Much more up to date than mine is. Jodie: I agree with you. She is very important to me so I definitely have stuff ready for her. Mike: ThatÕs a good reminder for us to periodically check on our emergency supply kit. I know our emergency supply kit at our house we probably had for about the last time it was updated was about three years ago so itÕs probably time for me to check that and update it. One thing we need to mention especially as we talk about a situation where there is power outages or prolonged power outages and youÕre in your safe room wherever that might be in your house. The most interior low lying area away from windows while youÕre in that space if you have because this is particularly salient for me because I have an eight year old a five year old and a two year old. Ways to kill time with them, if youÕre going to be in that area and there is no power maybe youÕll have your flashlights, just have some things to pass the time, coloring books, activities, puzzles little things like that that you can include in your supply kit that donÕt take up that much space but ever find yourself in that situation where there is no power and as a parent just say will help make the time go by much easier if you have something to keep them busy. Just thinking about some other items in those emergency supply kits that we donÕt traditionally consider. That could help the time go by if you find yourself in that situation. Jodi: I was going to say one of the things that I thought about putting in my kit and it isnÕt there yet is important papers and documents and maybe some cash in case the electricity is out. And the other thing I read once that you should have in your kit, so when IÕve given disaster kits to people I have included a crow bar and the reason being that if your house has been devastated by a tornado above you and you have to get out that might be a tool that you could use to get your family out of the shelter if that would ever be necessary. Stephanie: Include a whistle too in case if you are buried and want somebody to hear you, you donÕt want your voice to go hoarse yelling is that youÕve got a whistle to blow that they can hear you. Jodie: thatÕs a good idea. Mike: Absolutely just make sure that the young kids donÕt have access to that whistle when their in that (laughter) Jodie: My dog will be barking so loud anyway (more laughter) Mike: Right, right, you have a built in whistle there. Stephanie: Maybe put it in a bottle of vitamins and they wonÕt want it. (laughter) Mike. So on the topic of power, let me turn to you for a minute Stephanie. Generators I know people use generators during disasters. We saw this most recent hurricane season generators being used in large quantities. So I was just wondering if you could talk about generator use for a second and any tips you might have for folks and what to do if there is no power. Stefanie: Well if youÕre in an area where the power does go out , having a generator is a good pre-caution but they have to be used responsibly. So if you use a generator, you want to make you donÕt have that inside of your home or garage. You need to have enough ventilation for that generator. And donÕt connect your generator to your homeÕs electrical system. IÕm thinking most recently if youÕre in a home and youÕve got your generator in your home, it puts out carbon monoxide which is deadly and you canÕt smell that. My mind is going to a recent story where an Iowa family went to Mexico on holiday and they were overcome by toxic fumes and they were all killed. And you know IÕm sure they didnÕt smell that. And thatÕs the kind of thing you need to worry about, you need to make sure that youÕre using those things but youÕre using them safely. Mike: Very good and important information to relay. Thanks Stephanie. That story of the Iowa family, I think most people are aware of and that was an absolute tragedy and defiantly hit home about using generators safely. Even though that wasnÕt generator caused it is the same type of effect where you canÕt smell or know that there is anything wrong. Stephanie: Right and having a carbon monoxide alarm is always a good idea in addition to your smoke alarms. And some of them are even combination smoke and carbon monoxide I think now too. And make sure you have one that is battery operated. So if there is a disaster you still have that capability for it to work. Mike: Yes absolutely and for more information on what we were just discussing and what Stephanie went through in terms of safe use of generators, carbon monoxide detectors the United States Fire Administration (USFA) within FEMA has a ton of great information so if you checking out their website United States Fire Administration you can find a lot of good information on how to properly and safely use a generator information on carbon monoxide detectors and how to go about getting those. Good information and important information. Alright this has all been good general information which weÕve gone through talking about ways to stay informed and notified ahead of severe weather. What to do if you find yourself going through severe weather whether thatÕs a tornado or really strong winds that you have to take shelter and go to that safe room. I want to go into a little more specific things that weÕre dealing with in the Spring here in the Midwest. So the state of Iowa is certainly no stranger when it comes to flooding. In fact this marks the 10 year anniversary of the 2008 Iowa floods which essentially affected the entire state, I think pretty much every county in the state or close to it was part of the federal disaster declaration and to this day itÕs been one of the costliest disasters from a public assistance standpoint FEMA public assistance standpoint, which essentially is the dollars that went to public infrastructure that was damaged that were affected. So Stephanie in Iowa what is your experience and what should folks know about floods. Stefanie: Well I think people underestimate the power of floods. And I think you see that especially when you see cars trying to drive through flood waters. And I canÕt stress this enough I mean a few inches of water, six inches of water moving can knock you down as a person and only a foot of moving water can sweep your car away. So people really underestimate what they can drive through. And also when youÕre driving through flood water you donÕt know how deep it is and you donÕt know whatÕs happening underneath, if the pavement has given way. If there is a giant hole, you donÕt know any of that. Basically, what they say is turn around donÕt drown. Because itÕs just not a good idea you see people get into these situations and somebody has to come in and try and rescue them. You are not only putting your own life in danger but youÕre putting those responders life in danger as well as they try to save you. And at night time especially you need to keep an eye or have that app on your phone that will remind you if there is a flash flood warning because in the dark itÕs much harder to see and you just need to be aware of whatÕs going on around you so you donÕt have one of those situations where youÕre the statistic that someone is talking about on the news the next day. Mike: Yeah, it seems like Stephanie in recent years weÕre getting bigger and badder vehicles if you will, the latest SUV and maybe there is a feeling of invincibility you know water in front of a person or even driving around a sign that close roads well kind of that feeling, well IÕve got this big vehicle I can handle it I can take it and then like you say it doesnÕt take much water you donÕt know how deep it is, its deceptive and all of a sudden you become a rescue operation and somebody else is putting their lives at stake. Stephanie: Right and I think this last year during the hurricane in Texas there was a family trying to escape the flood waters and everyone but one person in the van were killed you know itÕs just one of those things, you donÕt think itÕs going to happen to you itÕs one of those things, you need to be careful. Know where you are going to go, know where your evacuation routes are and really keep tabs on the news and whatÕs going on around you at all times because itÕs just one of those things that yeah people do think they are invincible Mike. Especially, you know I have friends with larger trucks and SUVs and they say oh ÒI can drive through thatÓ like its not a big deal. It is a big deal. There will be that one time that they think theyÕre going to get through it and they wonÕt. Mike: Yeah, and that sentence you said a little while ago. That folks just donÕt think itÕs going to happen to them. I think that can be applied to various severe weather, whether itÕs flooding, tornado, earthquake whatever it might be. That complacency what weÕre trying to combat like this in Iowa and Nebraska really across the country as we talk about severe weather awareness just trying to get folks thinking about you never know so it makes sense to prepare ahead of time so thanks for going through that and as I wrap up our conversation here IÕm just going to turn to Jodie and ask is there anything else that Nebraska is working on for Emergency Management or anything else you want to mention. Jodie: I think Iowa did this today also. We had a tornado practice drill across the state and many people participated. Here at NEMA our state emergency operations center is the tornado shelter for the entire storm force headquarters so we had all the military people in our state emergency operations center. We did the general ask for accountability from everybody to make sure that each department had all their people that were working today in the building in the tornado shelter. And that was a good practice it kind of reminds me we all need to think and prepare ahead of time for these events and know what our plans are. Also, I just wanted to mention that one of the best ways that we can prepare for emergencies is by working together as an emergency management agency we work with FEMA, we work with Iowa and other states on issues that affect us. Like for instance each time there is a weather service conference call about upcoming severe weather local emergency managers across Nebraska and I think there are six offices of weather services that over Nebraska. So we would be on the calls and be prepared so we know the most recent ones have been snow but in Spring season we would know where the potential for severe thunderstorms or tornados or flooding will be thanks to the weather service. So I always urge people to know who your local weather service office is. And follow them, just be situationally aware about the things that are going on. Have a trusted source of information whether itÕs the local media or weather service, knowing where hazards are is always important. We donÕt get very many earthquakes in Nebraska and thatÕs not a Spring necessarily issue but just know that it could happen here is important to people. And the last thing I wanted to say outdoor warning sirens just want to make sure everybody knew they are outdoor warning sirens they arenÕt necessarily designed for you to hear inside of your home. Of course I can hear them in my house but thatÕs why when the weather looks bad its important to just be ready, be situationally aware and keep track on your own what the weather is going to do in your community. Mike: Yes, thanks Jodie. I think in those situations like you were saying earlier if it looks ominous outside thatÕs a good time to pay particular attention to the weather related app you might have on your phone, those trusted sources whether thatÕs state data management National Weather Service just making sure you are staying informed and that youÕre staying aware. Thanks Jodie. Stephanie anything else you wanted to mention? Stephanie: Well absolutely, everything that Jodie said is something that we think about here as well and we have five national weather service offices that serve our state. They are a very important partner we actually have pages on both of our websites linked to the National Weather Service so if someone didnÕt know which office serves their county they can go to our website or the Ready Iowa site which is BeReady. Iowa.gov. They can go to that site and find out which office serves their county. As far as the outdoor weather warning sirens we hear that complaint every year well I didnÕt hear the sirens. Where were you? Well I was in my house. Well they arenÕt designed for people who are inside. The situational awareness is extremely important. And you need to make sure you are aware at all times. I mean the weather service is a huge partner of ours if you can put any type of app on your phone that will alert you or make sure your wireless emergency alerts are enabled on your phone so that it is easy to get that information. You will get that on mobile phones. Just make sure that youÕve got all of that stuff available to you and that youÕre paying attention because you know the weather in Iowa and IÕm sure the weather in Nebraska it can change ona dime. And Mike you mentioned we had seven inches of snow in Iowa last week and now weÕre talking about possible tornados this week with severe weather week. It can happen in an instant where it just turns. You just need to keep aware of the situation and make sure that your family is also aware of the situation. Mike: Thanks Stephanie and I think the weather in Iowa just over these last couple of days and the remaining week is a perfect example of how quickly it can turn. I want to thank both Jodie and Stephanie thanks to our guests today for all the great information and We hope by hearing these tips that you donÕt let this dangerous season catch you unaware. Remember to get ready for spring Know Your Risk, Take Action and Be an Example. I mentioned earlier but again I encourage you to download the FEMA app to locate and get directions to open shelters across the state, and receive weather alerts from the National Weather Service for up to five different locations anywhere in the United States. So for instance my mother in law is down in north central Arkansas and is just very busy and has a lot going on and IÕve got her county plugged in as one of my five locations and we actually had an incident last year, this is Franklin County Arkansas where there was a tornado warning issued. It was about 10:30 at night I catched it on my phone and I mentioned it to my wife hey, might be a good idea to give your mom a call. And she did and sure enough while she was on the phone with her they started the sirens. Think about family members and loved ones another location as well you can put up to five locations any where in the US in that app. The app is available in the Apple Store and Google. And finally, for more information about being prepared before an event, what to do during an event and other information, visit ready.gov is a great site, a great resource tons of information, a lot of what you heard both Jodie and Stephanie talk about templates for filling out family communications plans, emergency supply kits, a lot of great information there. Thanks again to Jodie and Stephanie and weÕve linked this episode on the Fema Facebook page and invite you to join the conversation in the comments. Ending music.