FEMA Continues to Monitor Midwest Severe Weather: Residents should remain vigilant as weather continues to move through the area

CHICAGO – As severe storms and flooding continue to impact several states throughout the Midwest, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Region V office continues to monitor the situation and urges all residents to remain vigilant, and take extra caution as severe weather threatens.

FEMA Region V has maintained close contact with state emergency management officials, and continues to work with federal partners, including the National Weather Service, to monitor the severe weather moving through the Midwest. The National Weather Service forecasts that the storm system that brought hazards to the Central U.S. is moving to the eastern third of the nation.  Severe weather is likely from Florida to the Northeast U.S. and mixed wintry weather is also expected for part of the Great Lakes and into northern New England.

When natural disasters, such as severe storms and flooding occur, the first responders are local emergency and public works personnel, volunteers, humanitarian organizations and the private sector who provide emergency assistance that may be needed to protect the public’s health and safety and to meet immediate needs.

FEMA encourages those in the areas affected or potentially affected by these storm systems to monitor local radio or TV stations for updated emergency information, and to follow the instructions of state, tribal and local officials.

 Residents whose homes are impacted by flooding should:

• Document damages and keep track of expenses incurred;
• Contact their insurance company to report damage/file a claim;
• With extreme caution, take actions available to limit the damage to personal items such as remove them from the basement or raise them off the floor.

If you haven’t already, now is the time to get prepared for severe weather.  Visit www.ready.gov to learn more about how to be better prepared.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards. Follow FEMA online at twitter.com/femaregion5, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema.  Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at twitter.com/craigatfema. The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

Media Contact: Cassie Ringsdorf, 312-408-4455

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