MOBILE, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley on Tuesday proclaimed Feb. 19-24 as Severe Weather Awareness Week. The proclamation sets in motion a week of reminders that keeping safe is our responsibility.

The goal of Severe Weather Awareness Week is to encourage residents to make their own personal preparations long before severe weather strikes.

“The key is readiness,” Bentley said. “When storms strike, it’s too late to prepare. Let’s prepare now.”

The governor discussed ongoing efforts at the state level to help local communities become better prepared. He mentioned recommendations from his Tornado Recovery Action Council, including support for additional community storm shelters.

“We need to build them and identify them to the public so people know exactly where to go,” Bentley said, adding that shelters can save lives in areas with high concentrations of people, such as apartment complexes.

He also mentioned a potential sales tax holiday on certain items related to severe-weather preparedness. Efforts are ongoing to put such recommendations in place.

Alabama Emergency Management Agency Director Art Faulkner urged everyone to always be prepared for the worst that Mother Nature can throw at us.

“If they do not have a plan of action, that can cause a loss of life,” Faulkner said.  “So I would encourage everyone to be proactive.”

Each day within Severe Weather Awareness Week will focus on a different threat. Monday of next week will focus on the threat of severe thunderstorms. Tuesday will focus on the dangers of lightning. Wednesday will highlight tornado preparedness. Thursday will focus on the threats of flooding/flash flooding. Friday will highlight the needs of NOAA Weather Radios in homes and other indoor spaces where people need warnings.

Jeff Garmon, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Mobile, said even students can take part.

“The schools will take the time to do a practice drill. They also take time to show videos on severe weather, put it in their curriculum,” Garmon said. “As we found in central Alabama (during recent tornado outbreaks), sometimes it was the kids showing the parents the right thing to do. It’s worth the time and effort we put in to do it, and to take the time to think what we would do if it happened here.”

He said he hopes that residents will take the information they learn to heart and “go to your weather source to find out what’s going on.” Those include the NWS broadcast partners and their respective websites. Or, anyone can go straight to NWS to learn more when severe weather threatens.

“We’ve got one of the best sources in the country to go to in the National Weather Service websites,” Garmon said. “Go to that and right on the front page, it will paint the polygon of where the threat is and you can see what part of the county that the warning’s out for.

“If it’s something in Bay Minette or somewhere up to the north, and you’re in those communities and the threat’s coming toward you then you’ll want to flip on the TV and have one of your broadcast partners explain it to you because they’re really good at that.”

Garmon noted that weather radios are a good first line of defense, but added they are only a snapshot of a potentially much larger picture.

The radios range in price, from the basic models that sound every warning NWS transmits to the more expensive variety, which enable the user to select the area and types of warnings they want to hear.

“If somebody’s got the money, I would encourage them to invest in the one that gives them the ability to trim it down to the warnings that you want so you’re not unplugging it and throwing it in a drawer because you may not remember on the night of the threat to go plug it up before you go to bed and you’re not aware things are getting bad until things are hitting the side of your house as the storm’s approaching you.

“Weather radios are good for that. It’s that sentinel that can wake you up in the middle of the night and say ‘hey, pay attention to this, there’s a threat.’ But it’s not complete. Weather radios should not be all you rely on. Get to know your local broadcast partners. Figure out the one that you like and get used to paying attention to what they’re telling you because all our broadcast partners that serve the area, especially Baldwin County, they’re all very good at effectively delivering the severe weather message. The broadcast meteorologist is in the business of saving lives. It’s a big responsibility on their shoulders.

“Severe weather comes in many forms. It can come in the form of a tornado. It can come in the form of high winds and hail. People get hung up on the fact that only tornados or hurricanes are going to damage their house, but you can get a severe thunderstorm that produces 70, 80, 90, 100 mile-per-hour winds that can do tornado-like damage to their home.

“Folks just need to take some time this week and get a little educated on the severe weather threat here and develop a little plan to enact when they need to. Those plans don’t have to be much.”

Garmon pointed out that plans can be as simple as deciding which room of the house (preferably smallest on the ground floor) can be used when directing people to take cover if a tornado or strong wind event occurs. It is also advisable to predetermine where to go when evacuating due to flooding.

For more information about Severe Weather Awareness Week, view the booklet linked above under Related Documents.

To view the latest information from the National Weather Service in Mobile, visit www.srh.noaa.gov/mob.