September is National Preparedness Month: an observance “to raise awareness about the importance of preparing for disasters and emergencies that could happen at any time.” ¹

There are many ways to take action and prepare before a disaster occurs. But FEMA specifically recommends these 12 ways to prepare yourself, your family, and your community to be ready for disasters and emergencies.

Sign up for Alerts and Warnings

“Receiving timely information about weather conditions or other emergency events can make all the difference in knowing when to take action to be safe. Local police and fire departments, emergency managers, the National Weather Service (NWS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and private industry are working together to make sure you can receive alerts and warnings quickly through several different technologies no matter where you are–at home, at school, at work, or in the community.” ²

• CassClayAlerts for Cass/Clay County residents
• How to signup for local alerts (Popular Science)

Make a Plan

“Make a plan today. Your family may not be together if a disaster strikes, so it is important to know which types of disasters could affect your area. Know how you’ll contact one another and reconnect if separated. Establish a family meeting place that’s familiar and easy to find.” ³

Save for a Rainy Day

“Consider saving money in an emergency savings account that could be used in any crisis. Keep a small amount of cash at home in a safe place. It is important to have small bills on hand because ATMs and credit cards may not work during a disaster when you need to purchase necessary supplies, fuel or food.” ⁴

Practice Emergency Drills

“Make a written home fire escape plan and practice at different times of the day or night getting out in under 2 minutes. Make sure you have smoke alarms on every level of your home and in each bedroom. Test them twice a year. Learn the best practices for home fire safety and fire safety with children.” ⁵ Visit the ready.gov Practice Your Home Fire Escape Plan page for more information, including a practice plan.

Test Family Communication Plan

“Communication networks, such as mobile phones and computers, could be unreliable during disasters, and electricity could be disrupted. Planning in advance will help ensure that all the members of your household—including children and people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs, as well as outside caregivers—know how to reach each other and where to meet up in an emergency.” ⁶ Use the Ready.gov family emergency communication planning document to complete this step.

Safeguard Documents

“When disaster strikes, your immediate concern will be your safety and the safety of those you care about. Once the immediate danger passes, however, having your financial and medical records and important contact information will be crucial to help you start the recovery process quickly. Taking time now to safeguard these critical documents will give you peace of mind, ensure you have access to essential medical and prescription information, and help you avoid additional stress during the difficult days following a disaster” ⁷ Use the FEMA critical documents checklist to help you through this process.

Plan with Neighbors

“Talk to your neighbors about how you can work together during an emergency. Find out if anyone has specialized equipment like a power generator or expertise such as medical knowledge that might help in a crisis. Decide who will check on elderly or disabled neighbors. Make back-up plans for children in case you can’t get home in an emergency. Sharing plans and communicating in advance is a good strategy.” ⁸

Make Your Home Safer

“Ready.gov has resources to help keep you safe from disasters like hurricanes, floods and other natural and man-made hazards. But are you prepared for everyday injuries that can happen at home? Every year, millions of people seek medical attention after they’re injured at home, so it’s important to know what to do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe.” ⁹ Visit the Ready.gov Home Safety page to learn about starting your preparedness at home.

Know Evacuation Routes

“Many states have designated evacuation zones and predetermined evacuation routes. Learn your state and local plans by visiting your state and county emergency management websites”. ¹⁰ Visit the Ready.gov evacuation page for information about what to do before, during, and after an evacuation.

Assemble or Update Supplies

“After an emergency, you may need to survive on your own for several days. Being prepared means having your own food, water and other supplies to last for several days. A disaster supplies kit is a collection of basic items your household may need in the event of an emergency. After assembling your kit remember to maintain it so it’s ready when needed: replace expired items as needed, re-think your needs every year and update your kit as your family’s needs change.” ¹¹ Use the checklist on the Ready.gov Build A Kit page to help you prepare your kit.

Get Involved in Your Community

“Get involved in your community by taking action with FEMA’s citizen responder programming to help your community become prepared.” ¹² Visit the Ready.gov Get Involved page to learn how.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Aready.gov+get+involved+in+your+community&t=ftsa&ia=web

Document and Insure Property

“Take the time now to think about the priceless personal items you would want to protect from damage or take with you if you had to suddenly evacuate your home. The first step is to take an inventory of your household documents, contacts, and valuables. [Use the FEMA checklist to get started]. Then download the Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK) at www.ready.gov/financialpreparedness for more complete checklists and guidance on collecting and safeguarding this important information.” ¹³

Resources

• FEMA 12 Ways To Prepare postcard
• Prepare With Pedro Disaster Preparedness Activity Book
• Ready.gov Life Saving Skills Toolkit
• Ready.gov Website

On March 22, 2023, ARRL News reported on the inclusion of Amateur Radio in the FEMA Guide for National Emergency Preparedness

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has released a final version (March 2023) of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Functional Guidance. The guidance, which provides a framework for communications resources within incident management, officially includes support from amateur radio operators. The expanded Communications Unit (COMU) structure now includes the Auxiliary Communicator (AUXC) role, which covers personnel from services that provide communications support to emergency management, public safety, and other government agencies. THIS INCLUDES AMATEUR RADIO.

NIMS guides government, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to work together to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters and other emergencies. “This is a major step in the recognition of the need and usefulness of amateur radio and other communications services in our national preparedness,” said Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, Director of Emergency Management for ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio®.

“It also gives official guidance to pave the way for future training and education of volunteers in ARRL’s Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®),” Johnston added.

The NIMS ICT guide (PDF) is available at https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_ict-functional-guidance.pdf. ¹

From ARRL News …

Channels 1 and 2 on 60 meters will be available starting on August 30 for interoperability between US government and US amateur radio stations involved in Hurricane Ida emergency communications. This situation will remain in place until the storm has passed and the need for these channels no longer exists, or on September 6, whichever comes first.

These frequencies will be used: Channel 1 Primary voice traffic 5332 kHz channel center, 5330.5 kHz USB voice; and Channel 2 Digital traffic 5348 kHz channel center, 5346.5 kHz USB with 1.5 kHz offset to center of digital waveform. Stations on 60 meters are asked to yield to operational traffic related to Hurricane Ida. ¹

Craig Fugate, KK4INZ, was the FEMA Administrator over the course of the Obama presidency and was a vocal proponent of the public service communications provided by Amateur Radio Operators. The February 21, 2017, episode of Ham Radio Now was dedicated to an interview of KK4INZ; during this interview he discusses what Amateur Radio Operators need to do in the future to remain a valuable public service asset during emergencies.

The 1st week of #NatlPrep month is about getting all generations prepared--ages 2-102 should be ready for disasters! pic.twitter.com/gbjaZ7gdui

— Readygov (@Readygov) September 4, 2016

National Preparedness Month starts this week 9/1🗓! Follow #NatlPrep all month. More info: https://t.co/znn0nZdl8i pic.twitter.com/SZenK0o8lT

— Readygov (@Readygov) August 28, 2016