September is National Preparedness Month #NatlPrep

It is safe to say that the East Coast has been getting their share of extreme weather the past few years. No longer are disastrous weather situations relegated to the Midwest, west coast or south. No! As Mother Nature ups her game, we've been thrown quite a few doozies, what with the sub-freezing temperatures of last winter as well as Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy from a few years past.

It's time to PREPARE, because we never know when the next disaster is coming.

Luckily, September is National Preparedness Month. So what better way to celebrate than to make a Family Emergency Plan? Did you know: according to FEMA, 50% of Americans have not discussed or developed an emergency plan for family members about where to go and what to do in the event of a local disaster? This means 50% of Americans will not fare well should they be blindsided in an emergency.

A Family Emergency Plan is the strategy you make about how to communicate with friends and family in the face of a disaster. You want to be able to answer the questions: How will you get in touch with each other? Where will you meet? It's important to make a plan now so that you will know what to do, how to find each other, and how to communicate in an emergency.

If you want some guidance on how to begin creating a Family Emergency Plan, check out Ready.gov for great resources. It also helps to know what you are up against. The Prepare page on Ready.gov has information about the hazards you may face from natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornados, wildfires and winter storms as well as tips about how to prepare.

How will YOU get prepared this month?

Get Ready for Hurricane Arthur with Ready.Gov

We are just a month in to Hurricane Season, and we're already on our way to hitting our first big hurricane, Arthur, this coming weekend. While here in the Philly area we are fortunate to not see hurricanes often, we've had our fair share of hits the past couple of years.  Between Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy, we felt the force of these powerful natural disasters: driving rain, 75+ mile-an-hour winds, hail, thunder, lightening and the threat of tornados.

The New York and New Jersey coasts were wrecked after Sandy, many still working to rebuild several years later. I think many of us on the east coast had fallen into a false sense of security that we just don't get these kind of weather phenomena. So we were blindsided by the devastation, with many as far as the western Philly suburbs dealing with week-long power outages and damage.

The best way to handle a hurricane is to BE PREPARED. Ready.Gov is a wealth of knowledge and resources about how to be ready for the next natural disaster. Here are a few tips they give on getting prepared:

Sign up for Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEPS)

Wireless Emergency Alerts are automatic texts sent to you in an emergency. Alerts received at the right
time can help keep you safe during an emergency. With WEA, warnings can be sent to your mobile device when you may be in harm's way, without need to download an app or subscribe to a service.

Build an Emergency Kit

When power outages are widespread, it is important to have food, water supplies on hand. The Build a Kit page on Ready.Gov encourages you to have enough supplies to last at least 72 hours. Head to this page for a recommended supplies list.

Make a Family Communication Plan

What happens if a disaster strikes and your family is not in the same place together? Having a Family Communication Plan will help you know how to respond in any situation. Identifying contacts, creating contact cards and teaching all family members how to call and text are essential in the case of an emergency situation.


It is also highly recommended to have the How To Prepare For a Hurricane Guide from FEMA on hand.


How will YOU prepare before the the next disaster strikes?

For more information, check out Ready.Gov today!