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A full list of items needed for a good emergency kit can be found at Ready.gov. Photo provided by Ready.gov.
A full list of items needed for a good emergency kit can be found at Ready.gov. Photo provided by Ready.gov.
September is National Preparedness Month, which couldn’t come at a better time. Right before fall is the best time to prepare your house, car and family for potential disasters. According to Patrice Kurzejeski, director of St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency, there are a higher number of tornadoes in the fall than any other time of the year.
“Most people think spring. People do have to remember that the threat of tornadoes do not go away in the fall,” said Kurzejeski.
When preparing yourself for disaster, Ready.gov is a good place to start because it has information about building kits, how to reconnect with your family in a disaster, flooding information, power outages, lightning and emergency kit checklists.
Building kits for car and home
A basic emergency kit should have the following items: a weather radio, water (one gallon per person per day for several days, for drinking and sanitation), food, battery powered or hand crank radio, flashlight, first aid kit, extra batteries, whistle, dust mask, plastic sheeting and duct tape (to shelter in place), moist towelettes, garbage bags, a wrench, a manual can opener, maps and back up charged cell phone batteries.
An emergency kit for a car should include: jumper cables, flares or a reflective triangle, ice scraper, cell phone charger, blanket, map and cat litter or sand. There is a full list of maintenance items that should be checked on your car on Ready.gov.
“Have your car equipped, it’s just as important as your home,” said Kurzejeski.
How to receive custom alerts based on location
To receive alerts custom to St. Clair County, residents are urged to sign up for the Alert St. Clair System. This can be found at www.stcema.org. At the bottom of the page there will be a large button that says “alert.” Users can choose what sort of warnings they would like to receive and how they would like to receive them. Alerts can come through text messages, email or a phone call to homes.
“It never hurts to have a second app on your phone with one of our local radio stations in Birmingham,” said Kurzejeski.
Kurzejeski also said having a weather radio, apps and other ways to find out the latest weather news are all crucial to staying safe during hazardous weather.
“You want to have multiple layers to receive your notifications, because one could fail.”
Sirens have been removed in St. Clair County because they weren’t as reliable as technology. It’s important to make sure you have the proper communications in place long before there is danger.
Unique to St. Clair, flooding is a big issue due to the lake. Updates on the lake levels can be found on an app called “Smart Lakes,” which is developed by Alabama Power.
“We have hilly terrain, which we know causes a lot of issues, especially 231 North and 174 going into Ashville. That’s an area that usually ices first,” said Kurzejeski
The St. Clair EMA does update its Facebook page with weather alerts, but it should not be used as the primary notification. The Facebook page also offers locations of local storm shelters.
Fall is coming. Be prepared.
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