Here are 10 simple things you can do to help keep yourself, your family, and your home safe and Ways to Prepare for a Disaster.
Ways to Prepare for a Disaster – Real Property Management Houston
1. Research
How do you prepare for a disaster when you don’t know when it could hit or what exactly you are preparing for? What kind of area are you in? Tornado alley? Fault Line area? Make sure that you research your area and get an idea of what to keep around the house to keep yourself and your family safe and taken care of. For example, the Houston area is an are that is known for it’s localized flooding, excessive heat and at times – Hurricanes. You can call FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and ask for information for your area or visit www.FEMA.gov.
2. Get Organized
Gather together your important documents such as birth certificates, social security cards, insurance policies and any precious items or that you might want to grab in an emergency situation.
3. Pet Ready
Don’t forget your fur-babies. Gather together some food, a small bowl for their water and make sure that they have their collar on with their id tag. With the recent floods in and around Houston, thousands of dogs and cats were left by their owners. Please call for help for your little ones, don’t leave them.
5. Set up your phone for Alerts
There are many different services you can sign up for to start receiving emergency alerts directly to your phone. The Red Cross Emergency app is one such service, monitoring over 35 different severe weather and emergency situations. In addition to emergency alerts for your own area, the Red Cross Emergency app also lets you monitor emergency alerts for your loved ones’ location. The app also contains valuable information about what to do in different types of emergency situations. You can find the Red Cross Emergency app on your smartphone’s app store.
6. Stock Up
Don’t wait until a severe weather event is imminent to stock up on food, water, and supplies. You don’t need a bomb shelter full of stuff, but having a few essentials could make all the difference in an emergency. If you don’t know where to start, check out my post about stocking up on emergency supplies.
Read More: 80 Emergency Essentials To Stock Up On
7. Plan For Cans
Stock up on cans of foods and don’t forget the can opener.
8. Make an Emergency Kit
Make sure to buy a toolbox or something similar and buy stuff such as band-aids, oinments, aspirin, scissors and things that you might need for small wounds or cuts.
9. Clean the Bathtub
When your local area is facing some type of weather issue, clean that bathtub and fill it up with water! That way in case you don’t have any water, you have a bathtub full!
10. Turn It Off
Another good practice in an emergency is to shut off your utilities, like gas, water, and electricity. If those lines are damaged during a severe weather event or another type of emergency, these utilities may end up causing more damage to your property (usually fires or flooding.) You definitely want to turn off your electricity if you’re facing possible flooding, but don’t touch the breaker if there is already floodwater in your home!