POLK COUNTY, Iowa — Severe weather season can be uncertain, but there are many ways to be prepared and equipped for severe weather.
Polk County Emergency Management told Local 5 the most important thing is to be aware of your surroundings and stay alert.
"Being aware is the key right there," said Brett McIntyre, program assistant at Polk County Emergency Management. "It's making sure that you're in tune with what the forecast is going to be each day, trying to look ahead, plan ahead a couple of days."
The first step is to find your safe spot, whether it is at home, work or school, and to have essentials prepared.
"Of course, at home, not only do you want to have your safe spot, we always encourage folks to have kind of an emergency kit to go there," McIntyre said. "Those basic essentials that you need if we did have damage or you were without power that you can get through at least a few hours, ideally a couple of days."
Some of the things recommended to have handy are water, sturdy shoes, food and lights.
Additionally, Polk County EMA says to have alert systems set up. They recommend local news, Alert Iowa and National Weather Service NOAA alerts.
McIntyre says an important thing to remember is, "when you do go through these plans and you try to stay aware, that you heed the warnings. I think a lot of times what gets people into trouble is they aren't necessarily the quickest to act when a warning comes out."
Finally, knowing the difference between "watches" and "warnings."
"We really want folks to remember that when we start talking about watch, everything is kind of set up, the ingredients that are there for the storm, so you need to make sure that you have the ingredients ready for your safety plan and the warning is when we kick it into action," McIntyre said.