Build a kit, make a plan, and be aware are a few simple steps to keep in mind for being prepared for severe weather.

Family preparedness is Thursday’s focus for Severe Weather Awareness Week in Iowa, and Washington County Emergency Management Coordinator Marissa Reisen recommends building a few emergency supply kits to have in the event of sheltering from a tornado or evacuating your home. An emergency supply kit should have everything you need to sustain you and your family for three-five days, and Reisen encourages parents to let their children pick out a couple games or stuffed animals to enjoy. She mentions other important items to have ready in case of severe weather, “One of the big things that people don’t always think about is documentation. So all your birth certificate, your insurance documents, all that important paperwork that you have in a file cabinet somewhere, it’s a really good idea to either have a digital copy and save it to the cloud, save it to a thumb drive that you keep attached to a keychain or that you have access to that you can put it in a safe spot that’s fireproof, weatherproof. So that if your home gets damaged you still have those documents because those are the documents you’re going to need real bad if you have to recover from a disaster.”

Some other tips to plan ahead for severe weather is to identify nearby, sturdy buildings close to where you live, work, study, and play in case you need to find emergency shelter, and for homeowners to cut down or trim trees that may be in danger of falling on your home.