FEMA
What Are You Doing To Prepare?
National Preparedness Month (each September), was established by Ready.gov and FEMA to help businesses and families prepare for a disaster. The information we provided these past weeks on this blog and on the Hartman Inventory Systems News Page was was offered to all Coalition Members to share with our readers.
We are pleased to have participated once again this year. We hope this campaign has encouraged you to prepare for a disaster! It is imperative to know what to do when a disaster happens; being prepared can save lives.
To close out the month, we are offering this opportunity for you to quiz yourself to see just how prepared you are. If you don’t know the answer to some of the questions, visit Ready.gov or your local Office of Emergency Management for tips and resources that can help make sure you, your family, and your community are Ready.
- Does your local government have an emergency or disaster plan for your community? If so, do you know what it is?
- Do you know how to find the emergency broadcasting channel on the radio?
- Does your city/county have an emergency alert system? Is so, are you signed up to get alerts?
- Do you know your local evacuation routes? How would you get out of town from work? How about from home?
- Does your city/county have a Citizen Corps Council? (If you don’t know, visit www.citizencorps.com)
- In the last year, have you prepared or updated your Emergency Supply Kit with emergency supplies like water, food and medicine that is kept in a designated place in your home? Visit Ready.gov for an Emergency Supply Kit checklist.
- In the last year, have you prepared a small kit with emergency supplies that you keep at home, in your car or where you work to take with you if you had to leave quickly?
- In the last year, have you made a specific plan for how you and your family would communicate in an emergency situation if you were separated?
- Are you prepared to help your neighbor? In most emergencies, the best way to get help quickly is by working with your neighbors. Do you know anyone in your neighborhood who might need a little extra help preparing for or responding to an emergency?
- Have you established a specific meeting place for your family to reunite in the event you and your family cannot return home or are evacuated?
- In the last year, have you practiced or drilled on what to do in an emergency at home?
- In the last year, have you volunteered to help prepare for or respond to a major emergency?
- Have you taken first aid training such as CPR in the past five years?
Of course, lives are the most important consideration when preparing for a disaster. But being prepared to provide a thorough insurance claim after a loss is important to help with your financial recovery as well. When you have an inventory of your home or business belongings, you’ll be one of the first to file your claims, which means you’ll be able to receive your settlement quicker than if you file months later and the offices are backlogged with claims to settle. The photos and written report we provide will also help prove ownership. This is especially important for high-end items. Be ready for all types of disasters – to save lives and to preserve your financial future!
Emergency Preparedness Quiz For Kids
Last week we provided family- and children-focused preparedness information. Here is a quiz, provided by the Ready Kids section of Ready.gov, to see if your children (designed for ages 8-12) are prepared. Answers are at the bottom of the quiz.
1. What is NOT one of the four steps you can take to help your family be prepared for emergencies?
A. Eat your vegetables
B. Get a kit
C. Make a plan
D. Be Informed
E. Get Involved
2. What should a Family Communications Plan include?
A. Information about how we would get in touch with each other during an emergency
B. Where we would meet
C. How we would remain in contact
D. All of the above
3. How much water should you have in your Ready Kit?
A. One small water bottle for each person
B. One gallon for the whole family
C. One gallon of water per person per day
D. One gallon of water for the family per day
4. Which of the following is NOT an important part of a Kid’s Emergency Supply Kit?
A. Flashlight
B. Batteries
C. Water
D. Video Games
5. How quickly can a fire spread through a house?
A. 10 minutes
B. As little as five minutes
C. 30 minutes
D. 45 minutes
6. In an emergency, what number should you dial to contact the police and fire department?
A. 911
B. 111
C. 711
D. 311
7. In an emergency, what should you have available to hear news and official reports about what is occurring?
A. A hand-crank/battery-powered radio
B. A CD player
C. A board game
D. DVD player
The Answers: 1.A, 2.D, 3.C, 4.D, 5.B, 6.A, 7.A
Talk To Your Kids About Emergency Preparedness
The Ready Kids website focuses on weather-related emergencies and helps parents educate children, ages 8-12, about emergencies and how they can help their families prepare. The Ready Campaign encourages parents to visit the website with their children. In addition, the Ready Campaign has developed Ready Kids in-school materials for teachers, which are available at Ready.gov or by calling 1-800-BE-READY, 1-888-SE-LISTO, and TTY 1-800-462-7585.
The Ready Campaign consulted a number of organizations experienced in education and children’s health, including the American Psychological Association, American Red Cross, U.S. Department of Education, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop Ready Kids. Together, these experts agree that it is appropriate to reach children, parents, and teachers to discuss potential emergencies and how to be prepared.
What Should Be Included In an Emergency Kit
If a disaster happened today – natural or man-made – would you be ready?
The Ready Campaign recommends including the following items in your emergency supply kit:
• One gallon of water per person per day for three days – remember to include enough for your pets, too
• At least a three-day supply of non-perishable food. Select foods that require no refrigeration, preparation, or cooking and little or no water, and choose foods your family will eat: ready-to-eat canned meats, peanut butter, protein or fruit bars, dry cereal or granola. Also pack a manual can opener and eating utensils.
• Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• First aid kit
• Whistle to signal for help
• Dust mask, to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
• Local maps
Ready also encourages everyone to think about their access and functional needs and the needs of family members:
• Prescription medications, list of medications, dosages and schedules
• Glasses
• Infant formula and diapers
• Hearing aid batteries
• Pet food, extra water for your pet, leash and collar
• Important family documents such as copies of insurance policies, identification and bank account records in a waterproof, portable container
• Books, games, puzzles or other activities for children
For a complete list of items, we encourage people to visit Ready.gov to download a free emergency supply checklist or call 1-800-BE-READY, 1-888-SE-LISTO, and TTY 1-800-462-7585.
Emergencies Affect All Of Us, Including Our Pets
If you are like millions of animal owners nationwide, your pet is an important member of your household. When planning your family for disaster, don’t overlook the needs of your cherished family pets. In order to be safe and survive an emergency you must take steps to prepare today.
September is National Preparedness Month (NPM), while you make a plan to prepare your family also consider your family pet. This year, NPM is focusing on helping Americans remember the disasters from our past, while preparing for the disasters of our future. Get an emergency supply kit, make a family emergency plan including your pets, and make sure you are ready to help those who may need extra help.
Pet owners can receive free preparedness tips on how to best prepare for emergencies at Ready.gov, or by calling 1-800-BE-READY, 1-888-SE-LISTO, and TTY 1-800-462-7585. Learn what to put in a pet Emergency Supply Kit, how to develop a pet care buddy system, and how to make plans in advance for neighbors’ pets if they need to evacuate. In addition, instructional videos on family and pet preparedness are available at: Ready.gov/videos. This September, remember to prepare you entire family, including your pets.
- By Darryl J. Madden, Director, Ready Campaign
It Doesn’t Cost A Lot To Be Prepared
It is no secret that many families and individuals are looking to cut back on spending. But with the frequency of disasters, both natural and manmade, can you afford not to be prepared? Preparedness doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
September is National Preparedness Month, and we are asking you to help your family and friends prepare for whatever may come. Here are a few tips* on how you can protect those that matter to you without spending a fortune.
Make a Plan. Work with you family and neighbors to make an emergency plan for the types of disasters that affect your area. Make sure everyone in your family understands where to go and what to do in case of an emergency. You can download Family Emergency Plan templates at Ready.gov.
Update Contact Information. Having accurate records for family, friends and neighbors will help you stay in contact and possibly help those in need. Make sure updated contact information is posted in visible places throughout your house and workplace.
Check Your Policy. Review your insurance policy annually and make any necessary changes – renters, too! When a disaster strikes, you want to know that your coverage will get you back on your feet.
Make a Ready List. You may not need all of the items in ready-made preparedness kits. Choose the essentials that fit your needs and budget. Don’t forget to keep supplies at work and in your car. Sample Ready Lists can be found at Ready.gov, use these as inspiration.
Plan Your Purchases. You can save money by thinking ahead. Don’t buy preparedness items just before a storm when they’re expensive and supplies will be in high demand. Buy items at the end of the season when you can get good deals. Shop Sales. Shop at sales and used goods stores. Buy preparedness items throughout the year, instead of all at once, and you won’t notice the cost as much. Make Sure it Keeps. Store water in safe containers. You don’t need to buy expensive bottled water, just make sure your water containers are disinfected and airtight
Request a Gift. We all get things we don’t need. Suggest preparedness supplies as gifts from your friends and family. It just might save your life.
Trade a Night Out. Trade one night out to fund your 72-hour kit. Taking a family of four to the movies can cost upwards of $80. Just one night staying in could fund your Ready kit.
*The best tip: start now. Take small steps toward preparedness and before you know it, you will be Ready!
- By Darryl J. Madden, Director, Ready Campaign
September: A Time To Remember; A Time To Prepare
As a Ready.Gov Coalition Member, we will be sharing disaster preparedness/recovery information on this blog, our newsletter, the Hartman Inventory Systems Blog and on Facebook and Twitter (@CindyHartman, @MikeHartman, @HartmanInvSystm). More and more people are realizing the need for – and making sure they have – an inventory of their belongings. We felt being a coalition member would be another way to provide important information for all of our readers.
This September will mark the ten year anniversary of 9/11 and we ask you to take time to remember those lost as well as time to make sure you are prepared for future emergencies. September is National Preparedness Month (NPM), which was founded after 9/11 to increase preparedness in the U.S. It is a time to prepare yourself and those in your care for an unexpected emergency.
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.
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 three steps:
1. Get a Kit: Keep enough emergency supplies on hand for you and those in your care – water, non-perishable food, first aid, prescriptions, flashlight, battery-powered radio – for a checklist of supplies visit Ready.gov.
2. 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.
3. Be Informed: Free information is available to assist you from federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial resources. You can find preparedness information by: Accessing Ready.gov to learn what to do before, during, and after an emergency Contacting 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 Contacting your local firehouse and asking for a tour and information about preparedness
Police, fire and rescue may not always be able to reach you quickly, such as if trees and power lines are down or if they’re overwhelmed by demand from an emergency. 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.
As FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate reminds us, “Individuals and families are the most important members of the nation’s emergency management team. Being prepared can save precious time if there is a need to respond to an emergency.” For more information on NPM and for help getting prepared, visit Ready.gov or call 1-800-BE-READY, 1-888-SE-LISTO, and TTY 1-800-462-7585 for free information.
By Darryl J. Madden, Director, Ready Campaign
A Ready.gov Coalition Member
As a member of the Ready.gov Coalition, we will be including FEMA-provided information on our blog and also the Hartman Inventory Systems blog periodically to help provide pertinent information for disaster preparedness. Since a mission of our company is educating our readers of the need to have a personal property inventory, this ties in quite well with all other aspects of preparedness and recovery.
August 24, 2011
No.: HQ-11-134
FEMA News Desk: 202-646-3272
As Hurricane Irene Approaches, FEMA Urges East Coast Resident to Be Prepared
Residents Should Follow the Instructions of Local Officials and Visit Ready.gov or Listo.gov to Prepare for Hurricanes and Severe Weather
WASHINGTON – As Hurricane Irene moves toward the East Coast of the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is urging all residents in East Coast states to take steps now to prepare their families and businesses for hurricanes and severe weather. Visit www.Ready.gov or www.Listo.gov for helpful tips on preparing for hurricanes, flash flooding and other disasters.
According to the National Weather Service, Hurricane Irene is now a category three hurricane and will move across the southeastern and central Bahamas today and over the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday. For more forecast information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Hurricane Center, click here.
“FEMA, along with the entire federal family, continues to closely monitor Hurricane Irene,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “We remain in close contact and coordination with all of our state and territorial partners in the Caribbean and along the East Coast that have already or could possibly experience impacts from this storm. Hurricane Irene’s future path is still uncertain, and I encourage everyone to visit Ready.gov and take steps now to keep their family safe and secure. The most important thing for people to do right now is to listen to and follow the instructions of their local officials. If you are told to evacuate, evacuate.”
FEMA continues its support response efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and on August 22, President Obama signed an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico, making federal funding available to supplement commonwealth and local response efforts in the area. In Puerto Rico, federal personnel are joining commonwealth and local officials today to conduct joint preliminary damage assessments, as weather permits. These damage assessments are the first step in helping a governor determine whether the scope of the damages are beyond what the commonwealth is capable of handling, and if additional federal assistance is needed.
Additionally, this past weekend, FEMA proactively deployed regional Incident Management Assistance Teams to the Caribbean to coordinate with territory and local officials to identify needs and shortfalls impacting potential disaster response and recovery. While Hurricane Irene moves away from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, FEMA encourages those in the area to continue to monitor weather conditions and listen to the direction of commonwealth and territorial officials.
As Hurricane Irene approaches the East Coast, FEMA, through its regional offices in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Atlanta, continues to monitor the storm closely and is in close contact with their respective state emergency management agencies.
In advance preparation for the storm, FEMA has deployed National Incident Management Assistance Teams to staging areas in Georgia and Virginia, in anticipation of further deployment to potential impact areas along the east coast of the U.S. Additionally, at all times, FEMA maintains commodities, including millions of liters of water, millions of meals and hundreds of thousands of blankets, strategically located at distribution centers throughout the United States and its territories. In Atlanta, for instance, FEMA has more than two million liters of water, more than 1.3 million meals, and more than 16,000 cots and 56,000 blankets. These resources may be moved to Incident Support Bases, which are distribution centers located closer to the impacted areas, as needed and requested by state partners.
These commodities are meant to supplement state resources if needed, but it is critical that individuals and families that are able build their own emergency supply kits, so that in the event of a disaster, state and local resources can be focused on our most vulnerable citizens.
FEMA is coordinating across the federal government to ensure territorial and state officials have the support they need as they respond to or prepare for Irene. New actions as of today include, but are not limited to:
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has started deploying members of the 249th Engineering Battalion (Prime Power) to Puerto Rico to assist with restoring power to the island.
• The Federal Communications Center (FCC) has deployed two Roll Call Spectrum Scanning teams to the FEMA regional offices in Atlanta and Boston. These teams conduct post scans after landfall to determine which critical communications systems might have been impacted.
• Health and Human Services (HHS) is prepared to provide public health and medical support to states along the east coast in response to Hurricane Irene. The HHS is also coordinating with public health and emergency management agencies in U.S. territories and states along the projected hurricane path to make information available on how people can protect their health as they prepare for and respond to hurricanes and other natural disasters.
• The U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) has activated a Defense Coordinating Officer to the FEMA Regional Response Coordination Center in Atlanta in preparation for support to civil authorities as Hurricane Irene approaches the East Coast of the United States.
• The Department of Defense has designated Fort Bragg, North C Incident Support Base to support FEMA operations to respond to Hurricane Irene.
Click here for the previous update on these activities.
FEMA encourages everyone, regardless of whether they live in a hurricane-prone area, to take steps to ensure their families, homes and businesses are prepared for a possible emergency. As a reminder, the month of September is designated as National Preparedness Month (NPM), an opportunity to encourage Americans to be prepared for disasters or emergencies in their homes, businesses, and communities. Individuals and families can learn about events and activities, and groups can register to become a NPM Coalition Member by visiting http://community.fema.gov. NPM is sponsored by the Ready Campaign in partnership with Citizen Corps and The Ad Council.
FEMA’s support of disaster response activities in Puerto Rico, and its proactive support for East Coast storm preparations, does not diminish its focus from critical federal disaster response and recovery operations that continue, across the nation, including flooding in the Midwest and the ongoing recovery from the southeastern tornadoes. Every disaster is a reminder that they can happen anytime, anywhere. Now is the time to prepare–visit www.Ready.gov or www.Listo.gov for tips on creating your family emergency plan and putting together an emergency supply kit.
Follow FEMA online at http://blog.fema.gov, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema. Also, follow FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema.
The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
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