Emergency Plans

“Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance.”

If you’re like me, you heard this phrase from your parents growing up. As a kid, you probably rolled your eyes. But now as an adult, we know that planning and mitigating risk is a part of life. In terms of emergency weather situations, there is not much you can do to prevent the disaster. Your preparedness doesn’t make the hurricane take a different path! But being prepared can put you and your family in a better position in case the case of weather emergencies.

Here are some tips and resources for you to make emergency plans for your households:

Fire

• Have a fire extinguisher in your kitchen, preferably one with a multi-purpose rating to cover all kinds of fires.

• Have a smoke detector outside each bedroom door and regularly change the batteries. A good rule of thumb: change the batteries when you change your clocks in March and November.

• Make an escape plan with your family. FEMA has a step by step guide to create and practice a plan with your loved ones.

Tornado

• Identify your safe room in the house and make sure each family member knows where to go. This space should be an internal room, without windows and preferably on the first floor.

• Keep a pair of shoes for each family member in that safe room (because tornadoes like to come at night!)

• Got pets? Keep a leash or pet carrier with your shoes so you can keep a hold of your pet.

• Check out this list for other items you may want to keep in that safe room.

Flood

• Know your flood risk. Check FEMA’s flood map and obtain flood insurance, if necessary.

• Keep important paper documents (birth certificates, SSN cards) in waterproof containers and store them on a high shelf.