It’s Severe Weather Awareness Week and officials are urging everyone to get a disaster preparedness plan in place. What can you do to keep yourself and your family safe?

Matt Lawrence works with governments and organizations here and abroad to get solid preparedness plans in place.

First, he says families need to focus on where everyone will meet when severe weather threatens. That means in the home, at a friend or family’s home, and knowing when to evacuate.

Next, stock up supplies. He says while the government recommends one gallon of drinking water per person per day, he thinks everyone should stock double that amount. That way, there’s plenty to cook and clean up with, too. Keep enough on hand to last a few days, he says, until help has a chance to come in with more supplies.

Lawrence says to pack what he calls a "go bag" for everyone in the family. It can be as simple as a zip-lock bag with a change of clothes, prescription medicines, an extra pair of eyeglasses and some snacks.

Preparedness, he says, is a matter of personal responsibility.

He says history has already shown it — What should you expect from the federal government during a natural disaster? "Nothing."

For more on how to be prepared, generator safety, how to lock down your home before evacuating and more, click the audio link and listen to the full interview.

For more on Lawrence and his work, click here.

Jessica Machetta interviews Matt Lawrence [Download/listen MP3]

A statewide tornado drill is scheduled for 1:30 this afternoon … sirens will sound and everyone is urged to participate.

Jim Kramper is the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Center in St. Louis.

Kramper says the record year for tornadoes was in 2006, when 102 were documented. Last year was a close second — 93 tornadoes struck Missouri, killing 19 people. He says the goal of today’s drill is to get people prepared for actual severe weather, which will result in saving lives down the road.

Peak tornado months are April, May and June, but Kramper says the fact of the matter is that in the Midwest, anything can happen at anytime. 

Kramper says everyone needs to brush up on what to do when dangerous weather approaches; some commonly held myths about safety measures have been dispelled.

Click on the audio link to listen to the interview.

Jessica Machetta interviews Jim Kramper, National Weather Service [Listen/download MP3]

Power has been reconnected … finally … for everyone affected by the January 26 ice storm that devastated Southeast Missouri.

Jim McCarty with the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives says initital estimates are that the storm did $144 million dollars in damage to the grid … more than 10,000 utility poles and transmission lines were leveled.

McCarty says the mass amount of work put into the system will pay off — poles that were repaired and replaced should stand up better to future storms.

More than 3,000 contractors and linemen were brought in from Iowa, Illinois, Mississippi, Louisana and from throughout Missouri to complete the repairs.

He says the mass amount of work put into the system will pay off — poles that were repaired and replaced should stand up better to future storms.

McCarty says state agencies are now reviewing the situation to see what went right, what went wrong, and what plans can be made for the future.

FEMA’s expected to reimburse the state for damages to the infrastructure. Initial estimates are at 144 million dollars, although McCarty says he expects that number to increase dramatically.

President Obama declared 20 of the 22 counties affected a Major Disaster Area, meaning they’ll qualify for reimbursement. No word yet on whether individual assistance will be granted.

Listen to Jim McCarty discuss the situation by clicking the audio icon.

Jessica Machetta interviews Jim McCarty [Download/listen MP3]

Southern and Southeast Missouri continue to recover from the January 26 ice storm that downed thousands of power poles and trees and left hundreds of thousands without electricity.

Missourians are probably starting to wonder if this is becoming an annual event.

The ice storm of February 2008 left two dead and thousands without power.

January of ’07 left parts of the Missouri looking like a "war zone," some say, especially in Southwest Missouri, which was still struggling to recover from a November/December 2006 ice storm, the worst the state had seen in nearly 20 years.

Some say it sounded like a war zone too — trees snapping under the weight of the ice sounding like gun shots.

Jim McCarty is the spokesman for the Missouri Association of Electric Cooperatives. He says this storm covers a smaller geographic area than last year’s wreckage, but that the damage is much more intense.

And some of those at ground zero are comparing it to other natural disasters.

Linemen from Mississippi and Louisiana say the damage to the grid is much worse than what they saw after hurricanes Katrina and Rita blew through their home states.

McCarty says after gaining experience through these outages each year result in one good thing — the cooperative efforts between local, state and federal agencies is getting a little better each time.

McCarty says it’s also unusual to lose the amount of transmission lines that were downed during this storm because those poles are much taller and out of the way of trees. He says there are many areas where co-ops are having to start from scratch and rebuild completely.

More than 11 thousand electric customers remain without power.

Jessica Machetta reports [Download/listen MP3]