This
September: You Can Be the Hero.
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September is National
Preparedness Month (NPM). It is a time to prepare yourself and those in your
care for emergencies and disasters. If you’ve seen the news recently, you know
that emergencies can happen unexpectedly in communities just like yours, to people
like you. We’ve seen tornado outbreaks, river floods and flash floods, historic
earthquakes, tsunamis, and even water main breaks and power outages in U.S.
cities affecting millions of people for days at a time.
Police, fire and rescue may
not always be able to reach you quickly in an emergency or disaster. The most
important step you can take in helping your local responders is being able to
take care of yourself and those in your care; the more people who are prepared,
the quicker the community will recover
This September, please
prepare and plan in the event you must go for three days without electricity,
water service, access to a supermarket, or local services for several days.
Just follow these four steps:
Stay Informed: Information is
available from federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial resources. Access
Ready.gov to learn what to do before, during, and after an emergency.
Make a Plan: Discuss, agree on, and
document an emergency plan with those in your care. For sample plans, see Ready.gov. Work together with
neighbors, colleagues, and others to build community resilience.
Build a Kit: Keep enough emergency
supplies - water, nonperishable food, first aid, prescriptions, flashlight, and
battery-powered radio on hand - for you and those in your care.
Get Involved: There are many ways to
get involved especially before a disaster occurs. The whole community can
participate in programs and activities to make their families, homes and places
of worship safer from risks and threats. Community leaders agree that the formula
for ensuring a safer homeland consists of volunteers, a trained and informed
public, and increased support of emergency response agencies during disasters.
By taking a few simple
actions, you can make your family safer. Consider planning a Ready Kids event in your community to encourage families to get prepared with
their children.
Volunteer
to present preparedness information in your child’s class or in PTO/PTA
meetings.
Invite officials from your
local Office of Emergency Management, Citizen Corps Council, or first responder
teams to speak at schools or youth events.
Use
local emergency management resources to learn more about preparedness in your
community.
Contact your local
emergency management agency to get essential information on specific hazards to
your area, local plans for shelter and evacuation, ways to get information
before and during an emergency, and how to sign up for emergency alerts if they
are available
Contact
your local firehouse and ask for a tour and information about preparedness
Get involved with your
local American Red Cross Chapter or train with a Community Emergency Response
Team (CERT).
For
more information, check out:
Follow
us: @Readygov
Monthly
Preparedness text messages: Text PREPARE to
43362
(4FEMA) to receive monthly
preparedness
tips.
(msg/data rates apply)
Order
publications: call 1-800-BE-READY, 1-888-SE-LISTO, and TTY 1-800-462-7585
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