Know Your Winter Storm and Extreme Cold Terms

Familiarize yourself with these terms to help identify a winter storm hazard:

Freezing Rain
Rain that freezes when it hits the ground, creating a coating of ice on roads, walkways, trees, and power lines.

Sleet
Rain that turns to ice pellets before reaching the ground. Sleet also causes moisture on roads to freeze and become slippery.

Winter Storm Watch
A winter storm is possible in your area. Tune in to NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio, or television for more information.

Winter Storm Warning
A winter storm is occurring or will soon occur in your area.

Blizzard Warning
Sustained winds or frequent gusts to 35 miles per hour or greater and considerable amounts of falling or blowing snow (reducing visibility to less than a quarter mile) are expected to prevail for a period of three hours or longer.

Frost/Freeze Warning
Below freezing temperatures are expected.

ICE -- Are you Cold or Prepared?

ICE. When you see that term - what do you think? In winter you are subject to think of conditions related to cold winter weather. That is fair, but ICE can also mean -- In Case of Emergency (I.C.E).

I.C.E. is an important designation for friends, family, and loved-ones who are your primary contact during an emergency. If you are in an emergency and cannot speak or act for yourself, having an I.C.E. designation will help emergency responders and/or good samaritans know who to contact.

The ICE designation is especially easy to do on cell phones. You should simply add "ICE" to the end of the contact name. So instead of "Mom", simply write "Mom - ICE".

Even though ICE may be cold, it's a great way to stay prepared year round.

Need Holiday Gift Ideas...Here's a Few!

Along with FEMA's help we have assembled a list of gift ideas for the holidays to help keep your family and friends prepared. Emergencies can happen at any moment; these gifts can serve as a great starting point to ensure that your friends and family have an emergency communications plan, a disaster supply kit, and stay informed about emergencies in their area.

The most important thing any individual can do is take a few minutes to discuss with their family, friends and loved ones what they will do in the case of an emergency or disaster. This includes developing a simple family communications plan and identifying how you would get in touch with loved ones and where you might meet if you are separated when an emergency or disaster takes place.

Additionally, there are simple supplies that can go a long way in the case of an emergency or disaster that would make great gifts this holiday season.

A list of possible gifts that may assist in disasters includes:

• Disaster kits for homes, offices and autos (first aid kits; food, water and prescription medications for 72 hours; i.e., extra clothing, blankets, and flashlights).
• NOAA weather radios with extra batteries.
• Enrollment in a CPR or first-aid class.
• Smoke detectors.
• Fire extinguishers (for kitchen, garage, car, etc.)
• Foldable ladders for second-story escape in a fire.
• Car kits (emergency flares, shovels, ice scrapers, flashlights and fluorescent distress flags).
• Pet Disaster kits (food, water, leashes, dishes and carrying case or crate).
• Battery powered lamps

This year, consider at least one of these ideas. You just may save the life of a friend or family member. For more information and preparedness tips, please visit www.preparemetrokc.org and www.jocoem.org.

Winter Weather Update

The current winter weather condition is threatening to impact portions or all of the greater Kansas City area with snow, wind, and extremely cold temperatures over the next few days. Johnson County Emergency Management & Homeland Security will provide as much information as we can through our website, twitter, facebook, and youtube sites as well as this blog.

For additional information, visit the National Weather Service website that serves the greater Kansas City area. They currently have an interactive update about the current weather situation.

Resolved to Be Ready in 2010

This year is almost over and its time to start thinking about how to be more prepared in 2010.

Preparedness planning for emergency situations should be an evolving project for you and your family. Routine evaluation of the steps you have taken to prepare your family will help strengthen your planning, and keep your family safe. You can prepare your family for emergency situations by evaluating the different incidents that could occur, as well as appropriate emergency responses. Keep in mind, you may not be home when an emergency occurs, but your children might.

To utilize your preparedness planning:

• Make a preparedness checklist for your babysitter. Discuss how to various disaster situations, such as fire safety or severe weather.
• Help your older children become safe sitters Red Cross Babysitter Training Course and Babysitter Resources.
• Conduct a home-hazard hunt to avoid injury and damage from ordinary items in the home. Anything that can move, fall, break or cause a fire is a potential hazard.
• Consider the many preparedness tips listed at www.jocoem.org or www.preparemetrokc.org.

Johnson County Emergency Management & Homeland Security wishes you a safe, happy, and prepared holiday season.

Ten Balloons -- Help Us Find Them!

DARPA (a federal agency charged with the development of new innovative technologies) is sponsoring the DARPA Network Challenge, which is a prize competition for exploring the roles the internet and social media play in real-time communications, wide-area collaborations, and practical actions required to solve broad-scope, time-critical problems. Specifically, this Saturday (December 5th), ten large red weather balloons will be moored throughout the United States along non-disclosed roadways.



The first team to identify all ten locations will be awarded a prize of $40,000. Because Johnson County Emergency Management & Homeland Security values the importance and engagement of social media and wide-area collaboration, we have partnered with emergency management offices throughout the Country (Washington, Texas, etc.). If we win, we are going to divide the money to support various emergency preparedness efforts in those areas!

But to win...we need you! Keep your eyes peeled this weekend for any red balloons. If you see one let us know the cross streets where you saw them. We'll take care of the rest! You can post the location to any of our various social media sites, but we've also created a new Facebook page to collect all the locations!

This is an easy way to help prepare communities across America to be better prepared for emergencies and disasters! Reach out and connect!

Holiday Safety

With Thanksgiving Day, the holiday season has arrived. Johnson County Emergency Management & Homeland Security would like to encourage everyone to be safe as you celebrate with friends and family over the next few months. During this holiday season, many of us will be decorating our homes with lights and candles as we celebrate with family and friends. Unfortunately, holiday fun can bring along some potential dangers as well. According to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), there are over 2,600 people who are injured by fires over the holiday season, with over $930 million in damages.

There are numerous opportunities to improve and protect your safety. The following websites are great sources to learn more:

Holiday Safety
USFA Holiday Fire Safety
Nebraska Safety Council
Consumer Produce Safety Council

These resources are also available at the Johnson County Emergency Management Website.