Believe it or not, there are hundreds of things that could jeopardize the Ozarks.
We've faced some of them already this year, from tornadoes to dirty bombs, and even agro-terrorism.
But there’s a big effort this week to get several agencies up to speed on determining what threatens us and how to stop it.
The training is more than just a class, it's a three-day workshop put on by the Federal Department of Homeland Security.
Everyone from police officers to university officials are involved, learning how to stop the greatest risks in their own communities.
"We have a highly explosive environment, tier two facilities, highly explosive sites.”
And Shea Lane deals with them on a daily basis.
That's his job- he’s a Homeland Security Specialist for Greene County.
And when all those dangerous places are running like they should, there aren't any problems.
But Shea's got to know what to do when they aren't and there are.
“Once you figure what your threat is you want to figure what your vulnerability to that threat is so you actually go on site and do a site visit,” Shea explains.
Shea and his group, consisting of officials from other agencies and institutions as far away as Kansas State, are assessing Drury University's vulnerability to a threat.
They’ll check each room for security breaches and do an overhaul of the building’s exterior.
The team determined there are 13 different entrances to Drury's Findlay Student Center.
That could be considered a threat because anyone could get in anytime time.
Once they determine how susceptible Drury is to a threat, be it an EF4 tornado or a terrorist, these instructors help them determine how they'll respond.
The federal government teaches risk and threat assessment to 200 groups across the country every year.
“Our mission from homeland security is to prevent, protect, respond, and recover,” says instructor Monroe Manley.
Shea learned about prevention and protection at Drury, about response and recovery in the classroom, and now he'll take all four back to his own jurisdiction where odds are he'll have to use it.
“We deal with homeland security issues every day."
Also, the participants learned how to identify which places in their communities are the most essential- that way, if there is a disaster, emergency crews could address the most important places first, like police and fire stations.