American Red Cross Urges People To Prepare For Severe Weather

From tornadoes to flooding, strong winds, and hail, severe weather can cause a lot of damage to people's homes.

That's why now is a good time to get things ready. The Red Cross, in particular, is urging people to make plans now.

“We try to help people get as prepared as possible before disasters so they can have the best outcome after disaster,” said Matt Trotter with the American Red Cross. “When we arrive, it's to meet urgent needs because a home has been destroyed, people don't have anything; they need shelter, they need food, they need someone to comfort them.

The American Red Cross urges people to make preparations now for more severe weather.

“And then staying informed, it's a matter of knowing what hazards you face, like here we have tornadoes, hail, high wind, and then have an idea of how you keep track of that, perhaps with local news, apps, social media, things like that,” said Trotter.

Severe storms that damage homes can leave people without important medications and documents, so the Red Cross urges people to take stock of what they'll need and where they might go if they need to evacuate.

And the Red Cross reminds people to check around their homes to secure the outside beforehand.

“Making sure that trees around your home aren't creating additional hazards and take a look around the outside of your house for things that high wind can blow in and cause damage to your house or cause injury.”

The Red Cross has good resources online about disaster kits and how to be prepared to take shelter.