Note: The Ready Tonight series of articles by the Clinton County Emergency Management Agency is to help promote disaster preparedness and increase resilience for all county residents.
September is National Preparedness Month, and a great time for Clinton Countians to take steps now to ensure they are better prepared for any disaster.
Preparing for disaster requires you to know what you are preparing for — it affects your planning and your emergency kit.
Clinton County officials met in May to discuss and provide feedback on the County Hazards Vulnerability Analysis. This analysis identifies those hazards most likely to affect the county by either frequency of occurrence, magnitude, or community vulnerability.
A hazard is ranked by its hazard profile — how often it happens, duration of event, how fast it happens, and the magnitude or impact to a wide area — and its vulnerability rating — impact on business, people, and property/environment. The top 10 hazards for the county and their scores are in the graphic.
Once you know the hazards, you can being your planning by answering four key questions:
1. How will I receive emergency alerts and warnings?
2. What is my shelter plan if I cannot evacuate?
3. What is my evacuation route if I cannot shelter?
4. What is my family/household communication plan and how can it be influenced by these hazards?
They seem like simple, straightforward questions, but chances are not everyone sees them the same way. That is why it is important for families to discuss emergency planning together and ensure everyone has the same notion of what to do when disaster strikes.
Over the next few weeks, you will learn what you can do to prepare for disaster, and if you are already prepared, a few tips and tricks that you might not have thought about to increase the resilience of your family.
