Family preparedness is the focus of today during this Severe Weather Awareness Week in Iowa. If a severe storm were to pass through and cause damage, it will be easier to send text messages for communication instead of phone calls because the messages use less bandwidth.

Washington County Emergency Management Coordinator Marissa Reisen shares what people should have in their emergency kits, “The basics that you need for every kind of situation: you want water, you want perishable food, you want your weather radio, you want a flashlight, you want backup batteries for these things, you want chargers for your phone that aren’t reliant on electricity. I’m sure I talked about this last year, I love solar chargers. One thing that’s in our get to the basement kit for the kids is something to keep them entertained, because you know how hard it is to keep toddlers amused when there’s no light, when there’s no TV. Get them some coloring books and crayons, and a nice camping lantern that runs on batteries, so you have your light.” Reisen also says it can be beneficial to make sure everyone has shoes on and to put bike helmets on to help protect your head from any potential debris.

Any time there is a severe thunderstorm warning or tornado warning issued in Washington County, KCII will stop regular programming and bring you up to the minute coverage of the storm. You can hear the KCII Severe Weather Action Team Coverage on AM and FM KCII, online at KCIIRadio.com, or on our free mobile apps. The free mobile apps will also send you an alert any time the Severe Weather Action Team goes on the air. And if the power goes out, KCII stays on air with our emergency backup generators.