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Entry bubble Are You Prepared for a Major Emergency?

By: Stephanie | September 04, 2009 | Category: General

pedestrians with red background “There’s smoke coming from the Pentagon!” one of my coworkers shouted. I ran to his office window where we worked at the top of the Old Post Office Building in downtown Washington, DC, to witness black ribbons flowing from the Department of Defense building. This, after just watching the Internet’s news about the attack on the World Trade Centers that morning, September 11, 2001.

We were allowed to leave work—but I was at a loss as to how to get home since I had heard that the subway was closed. I had just moved from DC to a suburb in Maryland, and didn’t know an alternate way to get home. I ended up stuck on a gridlocked bus for four hours because I didn’t have another plan.

Are you prepared for a natural disaster, potential terrorist attack, or other major crisis? September is the sixth annual National Preparedness Month, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The companion website, Ready.gov, gives you tips on what to include in a basic emergency supply kit, and suggests ways to contact and regroup with family members in an emergency. It also offers information on a variety of emergency situations, such as influenza pandemics, wildfires, chemical threats, and winter storms, and recommends preparations for businesses as well.

Interactive features help you personalize a family emergency plan, and links take you to sign up for free emergency alerts from your local government. You also can follow Ready.gov on Twitter, or take the Readiness Quotient quiz.

USA.gov offers information on preparing for emergencies for specific groups, including people with disabilities, kids, and pets, and links to federal information on disasters and emergencies.

Since 9/11, I’ve maintained an emergency supply kit and made it a point to learn a variety of ways to get home. Do you have an emergency kit and plan?

| Post a Comment | View Comments [8] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: department_of_homeland_security   dhs   disaster   emergency   national_preparedness_month   plan   ready   stephanie   terrorism  

 

Entry bubble The Start of Hurricane Season

By: Joanne | June 09, 2009 | Category: Home and Family

hurricane cloudIt’s a warm, beautiful, blue-sky day and the last thing on your mind is preparing for a catastrophic hurricane. Please allow me to put on my “grim voice of reality” hat and remind you that June is the official start of hurricane season.

Even though I live well inland, hurricanes have brought serious flooding to communities where I’ve lived, and in the recent past we can all recall catastrophic damage to various coastal communities in the US. There are about 35 million people in the United States that are most threatened by Atlantic hurricanes. That’s a lot of you.

The National Hurricane Center is predicting a normal hurricane season, which means that there’s a good chance we’ll have 4-7 hurricanes and some of them will be major storms. It’s only a matter of time until we’re hit by our first storm, which will be named Ana.

What should you do? Prepare!

Put together your emergency supply kit, prepare your family emergency plan, and don’t forget to plan for your pets, because they’re family too.

Know how to receive important updates (like evacuations) from your state and local emergency preparedness offices, and pay attention to weather updates from the National Weather Service available on the radio, by e-mail, RSS feed, and on your mobile device.

| View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: disaster   hurricane   joanne   storm   tropical  

 

Entry bubble Hurricane Ike Survivors: Find Family & Friends

By: Joanne | September 16, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

Did you evacuate to get out of the path of Hurricane Ike? Do you need to find friends or family who were displaced by Ike? If you answered yes to either of these questions, read on.

There are websites you can register with to help you connect with your loved ones to let them know that you’re safe and well after the storm. I’m going to give you links to a few registries – if you were displaced by the storm or if you’re looking for someone, I suggest you visit them all.

  • FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, operates the National Emergency Family Registry and Locator System. 
  • The Red Cross operates the Safe and Well List. The Safe and Well List even lets you to post a message (from a list of standard messages) so you can give your loved ones a little more information. For those without internet access, call 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767) to register.
  • Next of Kin National Registry is a free tool for daily emergencies and national disasters. The system gives emergency response agencies the information they need to contact your loved ones if you’re ever missing, hurt badly or worse.
  • If you’re a tourist or other foreign national affected by a disaster in the U.S., contact your consulate.

And do remember that there are many ways that you can help the people impacted by Hurricane Ike by volunteering or donating. There are volunteer opportunities for kids, seniors, teens and groups and many reputable organizations you can support through donations to bring relief to hurricane survivors.

No matter what charity you chose to support, always be on the watch for identity theft and other scams and fraud schemes  that try to take advantage of your good will and desire to help those in need.

| View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: disaster   flood   hurricane   ike   joanne   locator   shelter   storm   survivor  

 

Entry bubble Hurricanes & National Emergency Preparedness

By: Jake | September 01, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

I really hope you are having a happy Labor Day Weekend!

Unfortunately, many of you are riding out Hurricane Gustav or preparing for Tropical Storm Hanna. You can track the storms and check out government emergency information at USA.gov and Ready.gov. If there is any information you need that you don't see, please let me know in the comments and I'll try to find it for you.Hurricane Cloud

Those of you not in the storms' paths should think about how you might prepare for emergencies in your hometown. President Bush declared September National Preparedness Month in order to create a culture of emergency preparedness in the U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security's Ready Campaign sponsors the event and encourages all Americans to take four steps to prepare.

What have you already done to prepare for emergencies like the hurricane and other storms?

| View Comments [1] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: disaster   hurricane   hurricane_gustavo   jake   tropical_storm_gustavo   tropical_storm_hanna  

 

Entry bubble Be Prepared for Hurricanes

By: Joanne | July 15, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

hurricane cloudLast week I wanted to talk about the sun, but this week I’ve got rain on my mind. Get out your umbrellas folks, because it’s hurricane season again. The tropical storms and hurricanes are already churning away out there in the ocean and sooner or later they’re going to hit land. Most of us think that hurricanes aren’t a threat, but the good people of New Orleans know how truly devastating these storms can be. Even if you live well inland, you need to be prepared for severe weather, because bad weather can strike anywhere.

The dangers of a hurricane or tropical storm come in a number of forms: storm surge, high winds, tornadoes, and flooding. If the big one heads your way this summer, it's important for your family and business to have a plan that covers all of these hazards.

The steps are really pretty simple:

| View Comments [1] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: disaster   emergency   hurricane   joanne   severe   storm   weather  

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