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Tailor Your Emergency Prep Plan to Your Needs
As you prepare, tailor your plans and supplies to your specific daily living needs and responsibilities. Most or all individuals have both specific personal needs as well as resources to assist others. You and your household and others you help or rely on for assistance should work together. As part of tailoring your plans, consider working with others to create [...]
Emergency Shelter Plans
Choosing to take shelter is necessary in many emergencies. Taking appropriate shelter is critical in times of disaster. Sheltering is appropriate when conditions require that you seek protection in your home, place of employment or other location when disaster strikes. Sheltering outside the hazard area could include staying with friends and relatives, seeking commercial lodging or staying in a mass [...]
Emergency Evacuation Plans For You and Your Family
Prepare now in the event of an evacuation. Evacuations are more common than many people realize. Fires and floods cause evacuations most frequently across the U.S. and almost every year, people along coastlines evacuate as hurricanes approach. In addition, hundreds of times a year, transportation and industrial accidents release harmful substances, forcing many people to leave their homes. In some [...]
Community & Other Emergency Plans
Ask local officials about your community’s disaster plans. Ask local officials the following questions about your community’s disaster/emergency plans. What hazards are most likely? How will I get alerts and warnings? What is the advice and plans for sheltering and evacuation for the hazards that may impact the community? Are there emergency contact numbers I should have for different situations? [...]
Workplace Emergency Plans
Like individuals and families, schools, daycare providers, workplaces, neighborhoods and apartment buildings should all have site-specific emergency plans. Ask about plans at the places where your family spends the most time: work, school and other places you frequent. If none exist, consider volunteering to help develop one. You will be better prepared to safely reunite your family and loved ones [...]
School Emergency Plans
Like individuals and families, schools, daycare providers, workplaces, neighborhoods and apartment buildings should all have site-specific emergency plans. Ask about plans at the places where your family spends the most time: work, school and other places you frequent. If none exist, consider volunteering to help develop one. You will be better prepared to safely reunite your family and loved ones [...]
Make An Emergency Communication Plan
This page explains why you should make and Emergency Communication Plan. It also provides tips and templates on how to make a plan. Why Make An Emergency Communication Plan? Your family may not be together if a disaster strikes, so it is important to think about the following situations and plan just in case. Consider the following questions when making [...]
How To Prepare For Floods
This page explains what actions to take when you receive a flood watch or warning alert from the National Weather Service for your local area and what to do before, during, and after a flood. Turn Around, Don’t Drown! ® Avoid walking or driving through flood waters. Just 6 inches of moving water can knock you down, and 2 feet [...]
How To Prepare For Extreme Heat
This page explains what actions you can take when the weather is extremely hot and how to understand heat alerts from the National Weather Service that you could receive in your local area. Heat kills by pushing the human body beyond its limits. In extreme heat and high humidity, evaporation is slowed and the body must work extra hard to [...]
How To Prepare For Earthquakes
Earthquakes are sudden rolling or shaking events caused by movement under the earth’s surface. Earthquakes happen along cracks in the earth's surface, called fault lines, and can be felt over large areas, although they usually last less than one minute. Earthquakes cannot be predicted — although scientists are working on it! All 50 states and 5 U.S. territories are at [...]
How To Prepare For A Drought
Nearly every part of our country experiences periods of reduced rainfall. If we plan for drought, then we can enjoy the benefits of normal or rainy years and not get caught unprepared in dry years. Strategies for drought preparedness focus mainly on water conservation. Make these practices a part of your daily life and help preserve this essential resource. [...]
How To Prepare For Chemical Threats
Chemical agents are poisonous vapors, aerosols, liquids and solids that have toxic effects on people, animals or plants. They can be released by bombs or sprayed from aircraft, boats and vehicles. They can be used as a liquid to create a hazard to people and the environment. Some chemical agents may be odorless and tasteless. They can have an immediate [...]
How To Prepare For A Cyber Attack
Often times, we may not realize that our actions online might put us, our families, and even our country at risk. Learning about the dangers online and taking action to protect ourselves is the first step in making the Internet a safer place for everyone. Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility and we each have a role to play. Cybersecurity involves [...]
How To Prepare For Biological Threats
Biological agents are organisms or toxins that can kill or incapacitate people, livestock and crops. A biological attack is the deliberate release of germs or other biological substances that can make you sick. The three basic groups of biological agents that would likely be used as weapons are bacteria, viruses and toxins. Most biological agents are difficult to grow and [...]
How To Prepare For Explosions
Terrorists have frequently used explosive devices as one of their most common weapons. Terrorists do not have to look far to find out how to make explosive devices; the information is readily available in books and other information sources. Explosive devices can be highly portable, using vehicles and humans as a means of transport. They are easily detonated from remote [...]