Make a disaster plan & show your friends

Everyone faces the risk of disaster. Yes, even you. If tragedy struck, would you know what to do? How would you find your family? How would you communicate in an emergency? You should plan for it now so if it happens, you’re not lost!

1. First, find out what bad things could occur in your community. Do you live in a hurricane area, a flood zone, or an area where earthquakes happen? Learn about what you would do in those different disasters.
2. Your local government and local Red Cross chapter should have details on evacuation routes. Learn the emergency signals and discuss them with your family.
3. Determine the best ways to leave your home and the best ways to escape disaster in your neighborhood or town.
4. If you cannot meet loved ones inside your home, determine a meeting place in the neighborhood (such as by the neighbor's tree). You may also consider looking at evacuation plans outside of the neighborhood or community in case meeting in the vicinity in your home isn’t possible.
5. Check out disaster plans at school, daycare, work, and places where you and your family tend to spend time in the community. Try to coordinate the evacuation procedures at each place to ensure everyone will be able to reach each other, or will end up on the same side of town.
6. It's not a bad idea to have a Plan A, a Plan B, and a Plan C. Whatever your plans are, make sure everyone in the family knows about it and knows what to do in different scenarios.
7. During disasters, it may be easier to call long distance, since cell phone lines and local telephone networks may be down or overwhelmed, so be sure to have an out-of-town emergency contact.
8. After a disaster, services or aid might not arrive for days. You might even have to flee your home or you might not be able to get to your house. In such cases, it will help to have a few things handy.
9. Here's how to create a disaster kit. And remember, you should have a kit in the home, the office, at school, and/or in a vehicle.
10. Don't forget to think about how to care for pets during an emergency. Many shelters may not allow them inside because of health laws. Click here for info on how to care for your pet in an emergency.
11. This is all a lot to remember, so make sure to write down your family's plans and emergency contact numbers, and give everyone copies.

For more information about disaster plans and emergency kits, check the web sites of the Red Cross, the Department of Homeland Security, and your local government. Some of the web sites also have suggestions on purifying water in an emergency, and on alternate water sources inside and outside your home.

Sources:
Ready America
American Red Cross
Department of Homeland Security
San Francisco Office of Emergency Services and Homeland Security
Web MD

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