In the Go FEMA bag recommends packing food and water worth three days, physical maps of local areas, change of clothing and copies of significant documents. According to Checklist From the agency, they should include birth certificates, medical information, copies of rental and leasing and insurance policies, cars and registration and banking information sealed in a waterproof container or bag. Consider adding specific elements to the climate or geographical conditions (sunscreen for desert conditions or additional layers in cooler areas), as well as objects specific to home needs (PET drugs, diaper for a child, etc.).
Exercise in an emergency
“First, informing your location and what can be threatened will really aid you prepare for what can come, says Nicole Maul, a national spokesman for the Red Cross. Ready.govThe resource associated with the FEMA, currently maintains a list of threats with safety indicators for each of them, while FEMA Domestic risk indicator It allows you to see what threats the most vulnerable county is to.
Exercise of emergency scenarios can mean everything from testing a new hand -made radio, to mapping various output routes from your area in case the main roads were impassable, to coordination with friends and family about who you can touch the base with if something happens. Mariel Fonteyn, director of the American crisis reaction during non-profit, non-profit Americans, recommends writing important phone numbers on a piece of paper and preparing in advance for the script in which communication may not work as usual.
“If the networks are overwhelmed, phone calls do not pass, but the text messages ultimately,” he says. “Exchangeability of what is happening to the network, text messages outside the damaged area usually go better. If you have a family or a friend who lives in a different state, sometimes everyone sent to this person will be better than trying to send messages within the damaged area – if your family’s kind of family spread throughout the disaster, everyone knows that you all send a message to inform her that everything is fine.”
In some cases, knowledge of how to safely deal with emergency supplies and situations can be a difference between life or death. Fonteyn claims that death due to carbon monoxide poisoning is not rare after extended power breaks, because people incorrectly use generators to which they are not accustomed.
“If you have a generator, make sure you fully know how to apply it safely, and where to put it safely so as not to send fumes in the place where you stopped,” he says. Never use them inside.
Get ready for how the political climate can affect federal reactions after disasters
After the disaster, which is too huge for the state to be able to cope, the governor can ask for a declaration of a White House disaster. This declaration allows FEMA to come to the affected area to coordinate recovery. The declaration also opens a number of services for people who survived, from federal money, to aid in subsidies for payment for momentary apartments, legal assistance, home repair and relief in tax accounts, as well as assistance for states, from the reconstruction of infrastructure to restoring tools such as water and electricity.