Planning Ahead for Disasters

Planning ahead and preparing for a disaster can really help to reduce the impact that a natural disaster has on your home, your family, your business, and your life as a whole! If you plan before the storm clouds begin to gather overhead or the rivers start rising you will have a much better chance of minimizing the potential damages and saving the lives of your family.

Disaster preparedness plans vary a little depending on the types of disaster which are most likely in your area, although some of the basics are very much the same.

To help keep your family safe during a disaster, consider purchasing the following items:

Disaster Preparedness – Planning Ahead

• Basic Disaster Supplies Kit: You’re going to want to have a basic disaster supply kit that has the basics for food, water, first aid supplies, and more.
  • • Food and Water (non-perishable food and plenty of drinking water)
    • Important documents (insurance information, identification, birth certificates, social security cards, deeds)
    • Cash (ATMs don’t always function after a disaster)
    • Disaster Kit (blankets, flashlights, medication, weather radio, clothing)
    • First Aid Kit
• Flood Disaster Preparedness: Many low-lying areas are flood prone, especially during a hurricane or tropical storm.
  • • Disaster Supplies Kit
    • Turn off utilities, but be sure not to touch electrical equipment if you are standing in water or wet.
    • Avoid trying to drive through flooded areas.
    • Remember that floodwaters may be contaminated with dangerous pathogens so avoid contact with floodwaters.
• Tornado Disaster Preparedness: Tornadoes are some of the most violent and destructive natural disasters out there.
  • • Shelter in the lowest area of your home like a cellar or basement. If that’s not possible, shelter in an inside room which has no windows and strong interior walls.
    • If you are in a mobile home, you need to leave immediately and head for the closest sturdy building. Mobile homes are NOT safe during even the weakest tornadoes.
    • Hide beneath something sturdy — a table, workbench, desk — just something to protect you from falling objects.
    • Protect your head and neck with your arms. Use a heavy blanket for extra protection for yourself and your family.
    • Never attempt to out-drive a tornado. Tornadoes can change direction very quickly and lift your vehicle, throwing it high into the air! Leave your car and take shelter in a sturdy building or lie flat in the lowest area around.
• Family Disaster Preparedness: In order to make sure your family stays safe, you have to speak with them and come up with an evacuation plan, a shelter-in-place plan, and any other necessary plan for the disasters that might strike your area.
  • • Talk to your family and create a family plan about what to do if a disaster strikes. Ensure that the children know where to go in case of a disaster.
    • List emergency telephone numbers and keep them handy for all members of the family.
    • Identify someone out-of-state who can be your point of contact in case the disaster strikes when you are separated from your family.
    • Identify a meeting place where you and your family can be re-united (if possible) if a disaster strikes and you have to leave your home or otherwise get separated.