Fall Severe Weather Preparedness Week in Mississippi kicked off Monday with a reminder to residents about the importance of having a preparedness plan.

Lauderdale County Emergency Management Agency Director Odie Barrett said the main point of preparedness is thinking ahead and coming up with plans to follow if severe weather happens.

“If we can plan for everything and have that order done, we know what we’ve got to do when we’ve got to do it, it puts us in a better perspective if we do have to go through a major power outage,” he said.

Heading into fall, Barrett said the main threat of severe weather will shift away from hurricanes toward tornadoes. The threat from temperatures will also shift away from heat related problems to problems from severe cold.

“We’re also getting into more of the winter weather, and that’s going to be a big thing,” he said. “We expect some more cold weather this year.”

One of the dangers from colder temperatures is loss of electricity, Barrett said. Mississippi has a lot of trees, and cold weather can build up ice on those trees and cause them to fall on power lines. As residents work to develop their fall weather plans, he said having a way to generate heat if the power goes down should be taken into consideration.

“We want to make sure everybody’s safe,” he said. “We want to make sure everybody’s staying warm. Just be prepared for all the weather that is coming through.”

With Lauderdale County heading into a freeze watch Tuesday night, Barrett said the time to make sure the heat works is now. Make sure generators can start up, he said, and check gas heating and gas fireplaces ignite properly.

“Just go ahead and be prepared for the worst now, so if something ever happens you’ll already be prepared and you won’t have to rush into trying to get everything to operate,” he said.

Fall Severe Weather Preparedness Week is also a great time to make a plan to handle severe weather if the need arises. Barrett said residents, and their families, should think about how they will, stay warm, prepare food, care for pets, get drinkable water and more.

“The biggest thing is go ahead and now ask those questions of what do I need to do if we have a power outage for four, five, six days, and get that lined out so you already know what your plan is and your whole family knows what the plan is,” he said.

Mississippi’s Fall Severe Weather Preparedness Week runs from October 17-22. For more information about making severe weather plans or to sign up for severe weather alerts, visit lemaonline.com