The best protection against any disaster or weather event is being prepared and an essential part of being prepared is having a plan. Knowing what to do can protect you and your family when disaster strikes. Begin working on your family disaster plan by assessing your risks. For example, is your area prone to flooding, hurricanes and associated storm surges, do you live in area that has a frequent number of tornadoes, heavy blizzards and ice storms. Do you have your own well for water or do you rely on local municipalities to supply you with water. Once you know what natural or even manmade disasters may strike then you are able to begin gathering supplies and forming a plan of action.
In most cases, you will have warnings before disaster strikes but there are exceptions where you will not have any warnings at all. Disasters can strike in the middle of the night or day and without a plan in place, your family can suffer. Having members confused and not ready to evacuate because they did not know that the first step when disaster strikes at night is to get fully dressed is not an ideal situation. Planning saves precious time and helps keep panic at bay, because knowing what to do help people overcome their fear. Make sure everyone knows the kitchen, for example, is where everyone gathers in an emergency. You simply cannot have family members looking for one another during a disaster.
Getting everyone involved is important; if someone feels left out of the planning, that person may not realize the importance of the instructions. Some may want the reasons why they must use this exit over another. Having organizational skills is important so when you decide on a room to use as an improvised shelter you should go one-step farther and inspect the room for suitability. Can flying glass be a problem, is there a brick fireplace that can collapse on people and are the walls an outside wall.
Information is great but you have you put it to use, and mock drills are ideal for implementing ideas and knowledge. Do you have information on your community's emergency procedures, what about the schools your children attend and your place of employment do they have a pan and do you know what it is. Older children should know where all the emergency shelters in your city or town are located, so they can help get everyone there in the event some members become separated. All of this takes planning ahead of time because, you cannot decide on these things as the disaster unfolds.
Have monthly meetings and then during tornado or hurricane season have weekly meetings. Make sure everyone knows the dangers of damaged gas and electrical lines and assign someone the task of ensuring the main electrical breaker is off as well as the gas line if a disaster is looming. It is not recommended you give the task of shutting off the utilities to young children. Practice using fire extinguishers and every emergency disaster kit should have at least two ABC fire extinguishers that can smother ordinary combustibles, such as paper and wood, grease, and fuel fires, as well as, extinguish electrical fires.
You should be flexible enough to change your disaster emergency plan and accept other's ideas. They may be aware of something that at the time you are not, so always keep an open mind.
In most cases, you will have warnings before disaster strikes but there are exceptions where you will not have any warnings at all. Disasters can strike in the middle of the night or day and without a plan in place, your family can suffer. Having members confused and not ready to evacuate because they did not know that the first step when disaster strikes at night is to get fully dressed is not an ideal situation. Planning saves precious time and helps keep panic at bay, because knowing what to do help people overcome their fear. Make sure everyone knows the kitchen, for example, is where everyone gathers in an emergency. You simply cannot have family members looking for one another during a disaster.
Getting everyone involved is important; if someone feels left out of the planning, that person may not realize the importance of the instructions. Some may want the reasons why they must use this exit over another. Having organizational skills is important so when you decide on a room to use as an improvised shelter you should go one-step farther and inspect the room for suitability. Can flying glass be a problem, is there a brick fireplace that can collapse on people and are the walls an outside wall.
Information is great but you have you put it to use, and mock drills are ideal for implementing ideas and knowledge. Do you have information on your community's emergency procedures, what about the schools your children attend and your place of employment do they have a pan and do you know what it is. Older children should know where all the emergency shelters in your city or town are located, so they can help get everyone there in the event some members become separated. All of this takes planning ahead of time because, you cannot decide on these things as the disaster unfolds.
Have monthly meetings and then during tornado or hurricane season have weekly meetings. Make sure everyone knows the dangers of damaged gas and electrical lines and assign someone the task of ensuring the main electrical breaker is off as well as the gas line if a disaster is looming. It is not recommended you give the task of shutting off the utilities to young children. Practice using fire extinguishers and every emergency disaster kit should have at least two ABC fire extinguishers that can smother ordinary combustibles, such as paper and wood, grease, and fuel fires, as well as, extinguish electrical fires.
You should be flexible enough to change your disaster emergency plan and accept other's ideas. They may be aware of something that at the time you are not, so always keep an open mind.
About the Author:
Preppers should learn more about disaster preparation for families by going to The Smart Preppers Website. Take time now to prepare your family so they will be safe when a future calamity happens.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Gimme your 2 cents!