Tennessee’s Severe Weather Awareness Week is underway, and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, and National Weather Service (NWS) request citizens to make severe weather planning and preparedness a priority.

The week spans from February 28 until March 6, 2021 and the NWS is offering virtual training courses throughout the week.

Some basic severe weather advice includes:

• Never venture into high water, either on foot or in a vehicle.
• If you’re outside and hear thunder, go indoors immediately.
• Go to a basement or an innermost, first floor room in your home if you’re told to take shelter during a tornado warning.
• Know the location of and route to your office or building’s tornado shelter.
• Have an emergency plan ready at places where your family spends time – work, school, daycare, commuting, and outdoor events.
• Emergency plans should include where to meet, and who family members should check in with if you are separated from family members during a severe weather emergency.

TEMA’s ReadyTN mobile application, available for Apple and Android devices, provides emergency preparedness, response, and recovery information, with features including:

• Basic emergency kit checklists and emergency checklists for special populations;
• Detailed descriptions and information on the major hazards in Tennessee;
• Notices of public alerts and warnings issued in Tennessee;
• A regional list of local emergency management agency contacts by county
• Traffic updates from the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s SmartWay resource;
• Information on American Red Cross shelters that may be open near their locations in emergency situations; and,
• Immediate visual notification on TEMA’s operational status and whether a State of Emergency exists.

At a minimum, TEMA says emergency preparedness kits should include one gallon of water per-day, per-person, and per-pet, for three to five days. The kit should also have enough non-perishable food for each family member, and pets, for three to five days.

Kits should also include a flashlight, battery-powered radio, extra batteries, first aid kit, personal hygiene items, cell phone charger or solar charger, and copies of important family documents.

Visit the “prepare” section of TEMA’s website, https://www.tn.gov/tema/prepare.html, for more information on creating an emergency plan and building an emergency kit.