What you need to Know about National Preparedness Month

9/18/2019 (Permalink)

The first bubble mentions wearing boots gloves and googles during cleanup. It may also be a good idea to were a mask such as a N95.

Since 2004 the United States has observed September as National Preparedness Month in order to encourage Americans to take steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, schools, businesses and their general community.

The four weeks of September are broken up into 4 different themes for you to focus on. We will give an overview of the first 2 weeks here so you can easily digest what resources are available to help you prepare. 

Week 1 focuses on financial preparation. It is important to have savings set aside for a disaster even if you have insurance coverage for your most likely disasters because you may need to spend money out of pocket and be reimbursed later. Review your insurance policy and consult FEMA’s Document and Insure Property Guide more than likely you do not have coverage for a flood where water comes from the outside. Check Floodsmart.gov for more information about flooding and flood insurance.

Week 2 focuses making emergency plans; we suggest referring to our blog post about planning for a fire and how you can include your pets in your safety planning. The Department of Homeland Security has provided this resource to make a plan for your family or business. It is important to have a source to receive communication from the Emergency Alert System. This system has three alert categories: imminent threat, AMBER and presidential and while all alerts come to phones or through other broadcasting avenues it is a good idea to have a back-up battery powered radio. Additionally, you may download the FEMA APP in order to get valuable information including where shelters are in your area during a disaster and where evacuation points are if necessary.

Don’t forget that we are ready to help Wichita homeowners and businesses with any kind of disaster recovery. We additionally offer Emergency Ready Profiles to business to help them identify possible sources of disaster and reduce the chances of those happen.