The only bad time to discuss emergency preparedness during the year is right after a disaster has struck, so Dallas County Emergency Management Coordinator A.J. Seely advises people to plan for such events well before that time.

Seely points out that in the State of Iowa, severe weather is the most likely threat to the well-being of residents. That includes major incidents like tornados, as well as risks that people might think of as less worrisome like hail, straight-line winds, flooding, and lightning. Seely says the most important thing people can do to prepare for such emergencies is to know where they’re going. “So one of the things that we should do ahead of time to prepare for those is identify shelter locations. So (a) basement or most-interior part of your home, sometimes a bathroom. And so identifying those ahead of time gives you the ‘free time’ during an actual emergency that you don’t have to worry about coordinating where to go or figuring that out on the fly.”

Similarly, Seely says it’s smart to plan escape routes from your home in the case of fire or flood. He also recommends consulting with your insurance companies to ensure your home is covered in the event of a disaster, as homeowners are frequently caught without coverage for damage like floods. To learn more about emergency preparedness, listen to today’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program on air and at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.