National Prepardness Month

9/1/2016 (Permalink)

Be a leader and superhero to your community, Prepare for anything .. and share your ideas with others

Extreme weather seems to be all around us and daily we turn on the news and there is another story of disaster striking. Tornados in the middle of the country, flooding in the south, drought in the western part of the state and the extremes seems to be becoming more frequent and more predominant than ever.

Did you know there is a website called Weather Ready Nation where you can find all sorts of information on global weather, how to be prepared and prevent problems during extreme weather. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/com/weatherreadynation/

Below you can find a list of some basic information that you can use to get you started.

What can you do to prepare for a disaster and where can you find the information for your area.

What can you do?

First and most important thing to know is what every emergency is different having a plan of action for how to respond is pivotal in recovery. Some of these emergencies can take place and cause days, weeks or months of recovery time. Understanding the area that you live in and its susceptibility to specific types of disasters can go a long ways. For example when you live in the middle of the united states it is important to know about tornados, when the season is at its peak and know how to stay safe during an actual tornado. Floridians especially need to know how to remain safe during a hurricane. That is not to say that these events do not happen outside of these areas but they are more prone to them than other areas of the country.

What do you need

It is also very wise to stock pile specific items that, many times can be overlooked in an emergency. Having an up to date emergency supply kit, an emergency family plan and access to news and weather updates will be key to easing the process.

                Your emergency supply kit should contain some key essentials. Such as 3 days of food and water per person. The amount of water that you should have on hand should be one gallon per person per day for those 3 days. Radios and flashlights should always be battery operated and extra batteries should be included within the supply kit. A fully stocked first aid kit with no expired medicines should also be on hand, if you take your own personal medications it is always advisable to set 3 days worth aside within this kit to ensure you have what you need. ( Remember to rotate out the medicines over time to make sure nothing is expired).  Wet naps, dust masks, plastic bags and plastic wrap with tape can help keep things sanitary and help prevent illness from contamination. Some tools are essential have either pliers or a wrench to turn off water valves or other utilities, manual can openers and maps will also be useful to have on hand.  Cell phone are pivotal but maintaining  a charge for days on end can be a challenge look into solar options for your type of phone.  There are other essentials if you have pets it is important to take their needs into account when you are getting your emergency kit ready Please visit www.ready.gove/kit for more ideas

A Plan

You also need a plan to make sure that everyone will be able find each other should you all be away from the home at the time an issue arises. Having a central meeting point, and a means of free flowing communication to verify that everyone is safe will remove a great deal of stress from an already stressful situation. Talking about it is not enough though make sure it is written down and everyone has a copy they are able to keep with them.

Share your plan..

We all talk and communicate with others daily via various forms of social media and technology. Sharing with them your plan could encourage them to get one together for their family and just might make the difference. Show them images of your kits, where you found your information and what you are doing to try and make sure your ready.