Prepare Now, So You Can Protect Your Family Later

From Hurricanes Florence and Michael to winter storms, the past few months in North Carolina weather have been hectic. While many people are looking forward to sun-filled days and counting down the days to spring break, severe weather season is here and now is the time to prepare. To encourage North Carolinians to prepare and practice safety plans, March 3-9 is designated as Severe Weather Preparedness Week.

Surry County Schools values your child’s safety while he/she is at school. At school, we prepare, plan and practice procedures to keep your children safe when severe weather threatens.

Schools will participate in the annual statewide tornado drill the week of March 4. Students and staff will practice safety techniques so they know where to go and what to do when severe weather strikes.

Severe weather involves a variety of weather conditions, such as lightning, tornadoes and flash flooding. These conditions can strike at any time and develop so rapidly, that advance warnings may be impossible. It is critical for students to know what to do both at school and at home, so emergency officials encourage families to use the following safety tips:

1. Discuss family emergency plans and where to go if tornadoes or severe thunderstorms threaten. (A basement is the best option. If there is no basement, go to the lowest floor of the house to an interior room with no windows, such as a hallway, pantry or closet.)

2. Put together an emergency supply kit and keep it in a location that is easy to access during an emergency.

3. Have tornado drills at home. While peak tornado season is in the spring, North Carolina has experienced tornadoes as early as January and as late as November.

4. Keep NOAA weather radios turned on when there are threats of severe weather in your area.

More information on tornadoes and overall emergency preparedness can be found online at ReadyNC. You can also download the free ReadyNC mobile app, which provides real-time weather and traffic conditions for all parts of North Carolina.

Take time now to prepare; it could make all the difference.