Oak Hill, WV (WOAY) Each September, the FEMA Ready campaign celebrates National Preparedness Month to encourage Americans to be prepared for emergencies. The first and easiest step towards preparedness is creating a family emergency plan.
According to Survival Stock Up, studies after Hurricane Katrina found that families with pre-existing, written emergency plans had significantly better outcomes than those who made on-the-fly decisions during evacuation.
Creating an emergency plan involves writing down the answers to a handful of questions about what everyone in the family should do in case of a disaster.
For example, establishing a local and regional meeting point can ensure everyone knows where to go when communication lines are down.
Assigning specific emergency responsibilities to each family member can also help avoid delays and conflict.
These are just a few examples. For more information about making an emergency plan, visit ready.gov.
