Happy first day of spring! Kentucky is no stranger to unpredictable spring weather. However, you can take control of the situation when severe weather hits. You can stay one step ahead by preparing for storms, floods, and tornadoes as if you know they are coming. Remember, in the spring, they likely will.
Spring is the time of year when many things change—including the weather. Temperatures can swing back and forth between warm and frigid. Sunny days may be followed by a week of stormy weather. Sometimes, extreme weather changes can occur even within the same day. Mark Twain once said, “In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.”
Thunderstorms cause most of the severe spring weather. They can bring lightning, tornadoes, and flooding. Thunderstorms can occur whenever warm, moist air collides with cool, dry air. For much of the world, this happens in spring and summer.
Know where to get regular and emergency weather information. Lexington Emergency Management has many ways for you to stay up-to-date with changing weather conditions.
Planning for thunderstorms, lightning, tornadoes, and floods requires specific safety precautions
. You can follow many of the same steps for all extreme weather events. Keep an emergency kit on hand.
Lexington Emergency Management has reminder lists of what to keep in your emergency kit. But what’s truly important is having a kit for yourself, your partner, and your family. Let’s not forget about our friends and relatives. Help them build an emergency kit, too. Together, we can be better prepared.
Here’s where to find the list on BeReadyLexington.com
Make sure you have an emergency plan. In case your mobile phone service goes down or is slow, you should have a written list of phone numbers, important names and contacts, copies of any prescriptions you may need, and copies of other important papers such as legal documents, birth certificates, insurance policies, and passports. Here’s the planning rundown.
Prepare your family members for the possibility of severe weather. Tell them where to seek appropriate shelter as soon as they know of an approaching storm. Practice your emergency plan for every type of severe weather. Show family members where the emergency supplies are stored, and make sure they know how to turn off the water, gas, and electricity in your home.
Often, by the time we are aware of an approaching storm, we have little time to prepare for it. But we do know that when spring arrives, thunderstorms, tornadoes, and floods are real possibilities. So why not take the surprise factor out of severe weather and prepare yourself, your family, and your home? If thunderstorms, tornadoes, and floods happen, you’ll be ready for them.
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