(Greene County, TN) -The Greeneville/Greene County Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security encourages community members to increase awareness and preparedness for severe weather threats. Tennessee’s Severe Weather Awareness Week is in partnership with the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) and the National Weather Service (NWS.) The local EMA Office will be participating in Severe Weather Awareness Week (SWAW) during the week of February 15-21, 2026, and encourage our community members to learn more about our local risks and how to be prepared, ahead of these potential threats.
Each day will highlight a severe weather topic and provide important safety and preparedness information for community members.
*Sunday, February 15: What to Know Before the Storm
*Monday, February 16: Flooding and Flash Floods
*Tuesday, February 17: Lightning, the Underrated Killer
*Wednesday, February 18: Tornado Safety & Preparedness
*Thursday, February 19: Severe Thunderstorm Safety
*Friday, February 20: Tools to Receive Weather Warnings and Social Media
*Saturday, February 21: Severe Weather Impact
FROM EMA DIRECTOR; Heather Sipe: When communities are prepared ahead of a potential severe weather event, they become more resilient. The state of Tennessee experiences a range of severe weather throughout the year, so being prepared for potential emergencies and knowing how they could affect your immediate area, are more important than ever. Here in East Tennessee, we experience all types of weather, in every season. Some have resulted in disastrous impacts. Locally, we have endured severe events, such as Flooding, as recently as 2024, also in 2019, to tornadoes in 2011. The reality is, we don’t know when the next disaster may strike, and taking a few small preparedness steps, now, can help us stay safe and reduce stress when the next weather event occurs.
