Are you ready? We can’t control the weather — or other disasters — but we can be prepared should disaster strike

By Marci Laehr Tenuta
Journal Times

Friday, March 14, 2008 2:51 PM CDT

VIDEO: David Maack talks about kits, ways for your family to be prepared for wild storms this spring

The spring and summer of 2007 were seasons full of rainfall. Severe storms caused flash flooding that destroyed or damaged nearly 100 homes in Racine County.

Then two months ago, freak January tornadoes ripped through Kenosha County, destroying homes and throwing debris from the west end to the east end of Racine’s neighbor to the south.

Severe weather does happen. It happens here. These recent events couldn’t be more tragic reminders.

And yet, people still make the mistake of not taking severe weather watches and warnings seriously, said David Maack, the coordinator of Racine County’s Emergency Management Office.

Maack believes the recent tornadoes were a “real wake-up call.”

“It was a near miss for us,” he said. “There are some things people just can’t prevent.”

What they can do is be prepared, Maack said.

With spring around the corner, Racine County residents should be mindful that while they are hanging up their shovels and getting ready for warmer weather, they should also be preparing for severe weather like tornadoes, thunderstorms and flooding.

Get programmed

for alerts

At the top of the list for disaster preparedness is a NOAA weather radio, Maack said. It’s one of the most important items you can have in your home when it comes to severe weather, he said. “They can be a real lifesaver.”

The relatively inexpensive radios are now programmable, so they sit quietly, unnoticed, on your kitchen counter or bedside table most of the time. When there is a severe weather warning or watch for Racine County, you’ll hear the alert. It acts as an alarm, even in the middle of the night.

Personally, Maack said he has his radio programmed for Racine, Kenosha, Walworth and Milwaukee counties so that if a tornado, flooding, thunderstorm or other severe weather is happening in one of these adjoining counties, he can flip on the TV to see if it’s headed our way.

Maack said when the tornadoes hit in Kenosha this past January, the first warning happened in Walworth County. “We saw we were in line for potentially severe weather also,” he said.

In addition, you can also program your computer and your cell phone to alert you to weather warnings and watches, Maack said.

The important thing is to build redundancy so there is no single point of failure, he said.

While the City of Racine does have outdoor sirens that warn residents of tornado watches and warnings, they can’t be heard throughout the county. And sometimes they can be difficult to hear indoors.

“They’re not the most effective warning tool,” Maack said. “They can’t always be heard.”

If someone has their TV or air conditioning on, if they are sleeping, if the house is shut up, or if they are in the basement, they probably won’t hear the outdoor sirens.

Disaster supply kit

Another key element to disaster preparedness is having a home disaster kit, according to Maack and Laurl Borst, program manager of preparedness services for the American Red Cross.

A disaster supply kit should be stored in the area where you will seek shelter during severe weather, like a basement. The kit should include flashlights, extra batteries, a portable radio, a first aid kit, a three-day supply of food and water, sanitation items — like a bucket and plastic bags — blankets and a whistle, Maack said.

If you have infants or older adults in your home, you’ll need provisions for them as well. Make sure the kit contains a three-day supply of diapers and formula, medications or at the very least, a list of medications, he said.

“There are situations where it could be three days before help arrives to everyone,” Maack said.

Borst said it’s also a good idea to store copies of important information in your disaster kit or another safe place. They might not seem necessary when your family is huddled in the basement, but will be extremely helpful if disaster does strike your home.

“Initially people react really well (to disaster situations),” Borst said. “It isn’t until a couple of days later that the reality of what happened really hits.”

It’s then that they realize they don’t have insurance paperwork, bank information, birth certificates or a planned routine for their children or themselves that maintains normalcy.

“It helps a lot if you have some of those things figured out in advance,” she said.

Make copies of important documents and put them in a safety deposit box. Make arrangements with a relative to be a backup for each other if disaster should strike either of your homes. “Talk things through beforehand,” Borst said.

Have a plan in place

Borst said in addition to the disaster supply kit, it is essential for families to have a disaster plan.

She said planning everything from where you’ll go in the home during a tornado to selecting a family meeting spot outside the house is crucial when it comes to natural disasters. It’s worth the effort, she said.

The tornadoes that went through Kenosha should be a too-close-for-comfort reminder that these things have to be done, Borst said. “We all get busy,” she said.

“We don’t think about it. But we’re in a place, right now, as a community, that we have to do them.”

She suggests not just showing children, but actually doing a dry run of a family safety plan and going into safe portions of the house, such as a basement. That way, even if you’re not home, your kids will know what to do.

If you don’t have a basement, point your family to the area of the house with the fewest amount of windows, and gather by a supporting wall, Borst said. Bathrooms are often considered a safe place.

“Grab a twin mattress and put it over the tub area,” Borst said. This can give you cover and cushion if stuff starts to fly around the house, she said.

Have a personal plan for your family as to where everyone should go in an emergency, Borst recommends.

“If family members are separated, there should be a meeting place to go if they are not able to get back to their residence. That’s where they are to connect. Make sure it’s not the mall or a highly public place where a lot of people will go. Make it a place that’s familiar to the family.”

She also suggests people carry a list of contact phone numbers with them in a purse or wallet. Don’t rely on your cell phone to store your numbers, she said. If you can’t get your phone to work in an emergency situation, the numbers won’t be available to you.

Make sure everyone has a family member, friend or other designated person outside the area, preferably outside the state, which all family members can call and connect with to say they’re OK.

Sometimes in emergency situations, phone lines in an area are limited and calls between families in the same area might not go through. However, calls to someone outside the state that can report back and forth to family members are more likely to happen.

“You can tell that person, ‘If anyone is looking for me tell them I’m OK.’ If family members can do that, it’s a huge benefit,” Borst said.

Thunderstorms and floods

Tornadoes aren’t the only severe weather that local folks need to be prepared for. According to Maack, severe thunderstorms are much more common here.

“Severe thunderstorms can cause just as much damage as tornadoes,” he said.

Between the high winds, lightning, downpours and hail, people need to heed thunderstorm warnings, he said.

Lightning kills more people than tornadoes, and the strong winds and hail can really damage property.

In a severe thunderstorm warning, people should delay travel if they can, move to shelter in their house and stay away from windows, Maack said.

Flooding has also been a problem in Racine County. State officials said earlier this week that increased snowfall this winter puts the southern part of Wisconsin at the highest risk for flooding.

Sandy Liesner, 323 Freres Ave., has lived through flooding at least five times since 1970.

“The first time I was just shocked, really,” she said. “I had small kids and I was waist high in it.”

Her husband sent her and the children to her sister’s house, while he stayed behind to do the time-consuming and messy cleanup. The Liesners lost a lot of valuables in the first flood, including a dining room table and chairs that had been Sandy’s grandmother’s. “We lost things that meant a lot to me,” she said. “You can’t replace some of that stuff.”

Since then, the family has tried to be more prepared for flooding.

They keep storage items in plastic containers up off the floor.

They’ve put appliances, such as the washer and dryer on pedestals.

And yet, they’ve still lost other valuables over the past 30-some years.

Liesner’s husband has had to throw away sports memorabilia he collected. The flooding caused irreparable damage to an organ they had. Her daughter lost a large portion of a doll collection. The water once ruined their furnace, and last year they had to throw away a large freezer.

As if the emotional loss of treasured items wasn’t enough, the nasty job of cleaning up after a flood is physically draining, Liesner said.

“You have to wait for the water to go down,” she said. “A sewage muck will be left. You have to wash everything. You have to make sure you don’t have a cut and get an infection.”

And along the way, you toss stuff that just can’t be saved.

“It takes a while,” Liesner said. “And the smell is just terrible.”

Just like with tornadoes, you can’t always prevent flooding, but Maack said there are things you can do to prevent more severe damage.

Make sure your gutters are clean and working properly, he said.

Make sure the downspouts are pointed away from the house.

Check your home’s foundation for cracks where water could seep in.

If your house has a sump pump, make sure it is working properly, that you have a back-up battery and a back-up motor, Maack suggests.

When it comes to flooding and the damage that can occur to a house and its contents, it is also a good idea to talk to your insurance company about an addendum to your policy that covers sewage back up, Maack said.

Last year when Racine County was hit by flooding, the county received some federal aid. That won’t always be the case, Maack said.

We just happened to be one of several counties with the same problem, he said. Had we suffered the flooding problem alone, we probably wouldn’t have gotten federal funds.

In addition, the aid doesn’t fully fund damage to home owners, Maack said. “It helps, but it doesn’t restore everything.”

Get prepared -- the Red Cross can help

When tornadoes ripped through Kenosha County in January, it took most if not all of the area by surprise. But the American Red Cross, which serves Kenosha, Racine and Walworth counties, was prepared.

“We had two shelters set up within hours of the tornadoes,” said Debie Truckey of the organization’s community relations department.

They did it with an army of volunteers, who filled the Red Cross office within the first hour after disaster struck.

“We owe them a lot of thanks,” Truckey said. “We helped more than 160 families and served 1,000 meals.”

The volunteers did everything from providing mental health services to handing out hot chocolate. They gave out food, cleanup kits and offered comfort — quickly.

The organization credits planning and practice drills — the same thing experts recommend for families — as making the difference.

“We try hard to think of scenarios and how we react, what role everyone plays in it,” she said. “(The real thing) is organized chaos. We can’t interfere with emergency people trying to get a hold of dancing power lines. We have this already in place.”

The same type of planning that makes the volunteer organization so successful is also what they teach to other community groups, businesses and individuals.

The Red Cross offers free presentations on a variety of topics, including action steps for emergency preparedness, preparing your business, preparing your family, creating a personal disaster plan, building a disaster supply kit and more. The group presentations are about one hour.

Individuals interested in educational classes can call the office to find out about free programs there.

For more information, call the American Red Cross office at (262) 554-9997.

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