According to a survey last spring, almost seven out of ten Americans expressed little to no concern regarding possible emergency weather situations, and nearly half (43%) said they were unprepared for situations resulting from severe weather, such as power outages. According to the International Association of Fire Chief (IAFC), many people make the mistake of using candles instead of an emergency battery-powered kit in the event of a power outage, resulting in approximately 15,000 home fires annually.
To get this information about weather safety out to the public, AMS has joined the IAFC and Energizer in their weather preparedness initiative as part of the Change Your Clock Change Your Battery campaign. The public education program, Energizer Keep Safe. Keep Going®, which officially kicks off on the first day of spring, provides tips for building a power kit to keep critical lines of communication open.
AMS is encouraging on-air broadcasters to utilize the kits as informative props or possibly as giveaways to viewers. “Energizer sees the broadcast community as the perfect platform to spread this important message because they have the most direct conduit into homes,” says Keith Seitter, Executive Director of AMS. “Everyone turns to them when severe weather is threatening.”
Energizer will also be providing support for the Broadcast Conference in Miami this June, sponsoring travel for some of the severe weather experts and invited speakers and co-sponsoring the short course to enable more broadcasters to participate. “Their sponsorship of the Broadcast Conference is allowing the conference to offer an increased level of professional development for attendees,” comments Seitter. “This in turn benefits the meteorological community and our service to the general public. We’re expecting to have Energizer call on the AMS community for scientific expertise on storm safety and preparedness as this program continues to unfold.”