Severe Weather Awareness Week This Week March 23-27

The City of Dubuque is promoting Severe Weather Awareness Week, March 23-27, 2015, an annual event that reminds Iowans of the risks of severe weather hazards such as floods, tornadoes, and severe thunderstorms.

Each year, people are killed or seriously injured by severe weather, despite advance warning. Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the National Weather Service (NWS) have designated the last full week of March as an opportunity to provide Iowans a better understanding of the state’s warmer-weather hazards, the risks, and how to respond to them to save lives.

Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management encourages people to make a family communications plan in case of emergency, build an emergency supply kit, and be aware of current conditions. Aside from checking the weather forecast regularly, consider obtaining a NOAA Weather Radio and subscribing to an emergency alert communication system. The City of Dubuque offers a CodeRED Emergency Notification system, a high-speed phone communication service for emergency notifications and other important messages, including weather-related emergencies. To sign up for CodeRED notifications, visit www.cityofdubuque.org/codered. You can also subscribe to various phone or e-mail emergency alerts from the National Weather Service at www.weather.gov/subscribe.

For more information and tips on severe weather preparation, check out www.cityofdubuque.org/severeweather orwww.beready.iowa/gov.