Preparing for disaster easy as 1-2-3

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Note: The Ready Tonight series of articles by the Clinton County Emergency Management Agency to help promote disaster preparedness and increase resilience for all county residents.

How do you get disaster ready if you are a disaster waiting to happen? Three easy steps, starting with your next family meal.

Step 1: Know your hazards. Begin with a family discussion on the types of hazards you could encounter at home, work, or school. To help get the conversation started, visit https://www.ready.gov/be-informed .

Step 2: Make a plan. Talk about what you could do for each of the situations you listed in Step 1. Where would you meet, where could you go, who could serve as your out of state communicator to keep the rest of your family aware of what is going on. It is important to find a person outside your area to communicate with others when you might not have reliable means to send/receive messages. During a disaster, emails and text messages may be the most reliable methods to get a short message out to your contact.

Step 3: Build a kit. This kit will be what you use if you are at home when disaster or an emergency strikes. When trying to figure how much supplies you should stock for an emergency is 1 -days per person (the absolute minimum should be no less than three-days). Remember to store your supplies in your shelter location, otherwise if kept in your garage, they could end up in someone else’s backyard a few blocks away. To see different types of items you would need for your kit, visit https://www.ready.gov/build-a-kit.

These three steps are the insurance policy you take out for yourself and your family to help you before help can arrive. During a major disaster, it could be hours or longer before help can get to you. Take a note from the Scouts and Be Prepared for whatever life throws at you.

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