The Federal Emergency Management Agency says that . In light of out of NBC affiliate WTVA in Tupelo, Mississippi, we can safely say that chief meteorologist Matt Laubhan doesn’t fall into this category.
As a tornado screeched through Tupelo on April 28, Laubhan—standing in front of a green screen full of —evenly delivered news of the disaster and encouraged his audience to seek shelter. However, after the green screen malfunctioned and the video feed cut out, Laubhan took charge and ordered his coworkers to abandon ship and seek protection in the station’s basement.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ABqzsfVp6s4
Unfortunately, we don’t all have Laubhans on hand to funnel us to safety during crises. In consideration of this, FEMA is drawing attention to its educational programs by .
FEMA has gotten more than 5 million Americans to sign up for the , for people to join the and , since . The PrepareAthon! touches down in communities nationwide today in a culminating .
Communities have pledged —wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods—using FEMA’s plentiful preparedness resources. While FEMA hosts the occasional preparedness training sessions, these campaigns attempt to increase people’s self-reliance during disasters. From the PrepareAthon! website:
provides instructions for educational discussions, simple drills, and exercises for a range of disasters that will help people: understand which disasters could happen in their community; know what to do to be safe and mitigate damage; take action to increase their preparedness; and participate in community resilience planning.
Together, these various FEMA initiatives help people recognize and prepare for disasters. With so many similar yet disconnected campaigns, the PrepareAthon! offers an essential rallying point between them.
If you’re the type who gets your panties in a twister at the first sign of danger, consider , , or at least.
Tornadoes, which can reach over damage paths a mile wide and 50 miles long, have ravaged the Southeastover the past few days.The United States experienced , resulting in 55 deaths, but .