Severe Weather Awareness Week

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Ohio has designated March 15th through the 21st as Severe Weather Awareness Week and high winds on Friday the 13th illustrated its importance. 

Muskingum County Emergency Management and Office of Homeland Security Director Jeff Jadwin shared the role his office plays in warning the public as well as helping them deal with the aftermath.

“Severe Weather Awareness Week. So this past weekend it got off to an early start with the windstorm. So I haven’t heard what the classification has been because it was so much statewide. Whether they’re considering it straight-line winds or derecho, the National Weather Service will make that determination in the near future,” Jadwin said.

That determination will factor into how public assistance money will be determined and distributed to local governments, agencies and nonprofits to help cover public property damages. Timely and accurate submission of damage claims also play a major role in the eligibility of the federal funding. Individual assistance claims work differently.

“There’s never any real assurance that we’re going to get the individual assistance. You have to turn in again, that $409,000 in the individual assistance of uninsured claims. But if people have, you know, major damages that’s not covered, call our office, we’ll get the forms and get them filled out and help you in any way we can,” Jadwin said.

Severe weather can be costly but staying informed of weather forecasts and being prepared for the worst case scenario could save your life and that’s the purpose for recognizing Ohio’s Severe Weather Awareness Week.