Big Weather speaks with NC Emergency Management about how people should prepare for severe weather
ABC11 Chief Meteorologist Don "Big Weather" Schwenneker sat down with North Carolina Emergency Management Director William Ray to talk about severe weather.
The pair talked about what it takes to keep North Carolinians safe, how state officials stay prepared, what families can do before storms strike and much more.
ABC11 special report 'First Alert to Severe Weather' to air Saturday
You can watch their conversation in the above video player or read some of Ray's comments below:
"I think a lot of people, I think, have a picture in in their minds of what emergency management is. And that's part of it. But I feel incredibly privileged to work with the folks here in North Carolina emergency management every day. And they do really incredible work keeping this state safe and making sure that that we're prepared to respond to whatever incident we have"
"I think one of the things that makes the state successful is really that partnership and the relationship that we have every day with our local jurisdictions. And so whether it's an event that we can see coming and have a significant lead time on, or whether it's one that's know notice we have the ability to kind of quickly analyze what's the impact is or going to be try to match up resources, whether it's from the state or whether it's from a regional partner or a local partner. And to get them quickly into that jurisdiction.
No matter what type of severe weather is headed in, Director Ray says there are three things every North Carolinian should do.
"You need to have an emergency plan with your family and friends. You need to know where you will be able to go if for some reason you can't stay in your home for some time. Try to figure out where you will head if a tornado touches down or if your neighborhood loses power for days on end."
"You need to have prepared a personal emergency preparedness kit. You need to have those critical supplies or documents or things that you're going to need to take with you. You need to have those ready to go should you have to leave without a whole lot of lead time.
That kit can also include medications, cash, and anything other things you may need for an extended stay away from home. Here's what Big Weather has in his emergency kit.
"Make sure you have a way to get verified, reliable information, whether it's a know a weather radio whether it's the the local media or national media that that you're using to get verified, actionable information. You stay up and understand and the impact that you could potentially see in your jurisdiction again to make sure you make the best decision for you and your family."
An easy way to make sure you're getting that info is to have the ABC11 app downloaded on your phone. Even if you lose power you can still watch us over your cellular service on that app.
Whatever emergency is headed in, Ray said his team and their local partners on the ground in the communities that are getting hit will be ready.
"These are the folks that are out there for hurricane in the waters, in the air, doing incredible work, getting North Carolinians to safety. So in our hazardous materials response and our search and rescue, it really some incredible professionals that that that we get to work with."
