Know your risk

The first step to becoming weather-ready is to understand the type of hazardous weather that can affect where you live and work, and how the weather could impact you and your family. Every state in the United States has experienced tornadoes and severe weather, so everyone is exposed to some degree of risk. Visit ready.gov/severe-weather to learn more about how to be better prepared for weather in your area, and what you can do before and after.

take action

Obtain a NOAA Weather Radio, and check to see if your cell phone is equipped to receive Wireless Emergency Alerts and sign up for localized alerts from emergency management officials. Stay informed by having multiple sources for weather alerts - NOAA Weather Radio, Weather.gov, and Wireless Emergency Alerts. Subscribe to receive alerts at http://www.weather.gov/subscribe.

Download and share the severe weather week Toolkit!

Once you have taken action share your story with your family and friends. Create a YouTube video, post your story on Facebook, or send a tweet. Studies show that many people use social media in the event of a disaster to let relatives and friends know they are safe. This is an important trend because people are most likely to take preparedness steps if they observe the preparations taken by others. Social media provides the perfect platform to demonstrate preparedness actions for others.

Looking for a Be a Force of Nature widget or severe weather banners for your website? Want to know what hashtags or sample tweets to use on Twitter? You can find this and lots of other social media tips in our Severe Weather Week Toolkit. You'll also find a press release, blog post, and op-ed template for use on your website or social networking pages. These tools  are designed to be used as part of an individual-based approach to  preparedness to build a Weather-Ready nation.

Finally, tell us what you are doing to Be a Force of Nature! Sign in to Community.FEMA.gov and Join the discussion.