Note: These activities can be completed at home, but please be sure to follow the latest social-distancing and other health safety guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and your local health authorities.
If there was one extreme weather preparedness action you want your loved ones to take, what would it be? For many, that one action is to know ahead of time where their safe place is located. On April 6, 2022, please join the National Weather Service and its Weather-Ready Nation Ambassadors to take a “selfie” and post with the hashtag #SafePlaceSelfie.
"What makes the #SafePlaceSelfie campaign so powerful is it's simple message and call-to-action. If you're sitting in your home or at your desk at work looking at Twitter, ask yourself ‘what if?’ Where would you go if life-threatening weather approaches your area? Spend a few minutes going to that safe place, take a selfie, and share over social media using the #SafePlaceSelfie hashtag. This campaign keeps it simple, while making a paramount preparedness action fun and interactive. And most importantly, we can see it working.”
-Trevor Boucher, forecaster at the Las Vegas Weather Forecast Office |
Note: These activities can be completed at home, but please be sure to follow the latest social-distancing and other health safety guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and your local health authorities.
One of the most essential preparedness actions anyone can do is to identify their safe locations from various extreme weather threats. Knowing where to go ahead of time can minimize hesitation and ensure your decisions are good ones even under great duress.
To encourage everyone to take some time and identify their safe places, we ask that you post a “selfie” photo using the hashtag #SafePlaceSelfie and challenge others to do the same by tagging them in your post -- other family members, friends, colleagues at school or work, or others in your social network. Imagine a “Weather-Ready Nation” where everyone knows where to go or where not to go, and when extreme weather is forecast, makes decisions to ensure their safety.
Here are some helpful tips as you take a big step toward greater preparedness:
Step #1: Think about what hazards are relevant to your area and those locations where you spend lots of time.
Step #2: Get Creative.
Step #3: Challenge others by tagging them in your post.
Step #4: Follow the action throughout the day.
What is a SafePlaceSelfie?
A SafePlaceSelfie is a photo capture of your safe location when a specific hazard threatens your area. It does not have to be an actual “selfie” of yourself, but could be a pet, an image of just the location, or some other creative way to illustrate the point that being “Weather-Ready” involves knowing where to go to stay safe.
Can I bend the rules at all?
Yes, we encourage people to be creative and share a post that adds value to the larger conversation on social media. Maybe, for example, your post focuses on places that are NOT safe and you want to show why they are not safe.
What is the significance of 11:11am local time?
The exact time of 11:11 is often associated with “making a wish.” We chose that time because wishing or hoping is not an effective preparedness action. So instead of making a wish at 11:11, take the time to post your #SafePlaceSelfie. Please also note, if you can’t post at that time in your area, do not worry. We still want you to post at any time of day. Since we will start with Eastern Time, 11:11am will occur at each time zone every hour until Hawaiian time.
Why add the hashtag?
The best way to see other SafePlaceSelfies and to follow the discussion is to pull up the hashtag. Using the hashtag also helps us track all the participation going on, and can even help make #SafePlaceSelfie trend on social media.
Can I post more than one #SafePlaceSelfie?
Yes! We encourage everyone to think of multiple locations (work, home, school, gym, sports field) and multiple hazards (think beyond just tornadoes and severe weather, but also rip currents, tsunamis, flooding, lightning).
What if I am interested in taking more preparedness action?
NOAA and the National Weather Service partners with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on making our communities ready, responsive, and resilient to all types of hazards. There are comprehensive resources at www.weather.gov/wrn as well as www.ready.gov . These are two great places to start, but you can find safety information from many sources, including our weather industry, media, and non-profit partners.
