Why It Matters

Every September, the United States observes National Preparedness Month, a time to encourage individuals, families, businesses, and communities to take actionable steps toward disaster readiness. Natural hazardssuch as hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and tornadoesalong with humanmade events like power outages or cyber attacks, can strike without warning. Being prepared reduces the impact on life, property, and the ability of emergency services to respond.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declares that preparedness is a shared responsibility. When each person understands the risks in their area and develops a personal plan, the entire community becomes more resilient.

Make a Plan

A solid emergency plan is the foundation of preparedness. Follow these steps:

• Identify Risks: Review local hazard maps and consider the types of emergencies most likely in your region.
• Choose Meeting Places: Select a safe spot at home for shelter and an offsite location where your family can regroup.
• Communication Plan: Designate an outofarea contact person and decide how youll share updates (text, social media, phone).
• Special Needs: Account for pets, infants, elderly relatives, or anyone with medical requirements.
• Practice: Conduct drills at least twice a yearpractice evacuations, shelterinplace, and the stop, drop, and roll technique for fires.

Build an Emergency Kit

Your kit should sustain each family member for at least 72 hours. Include:

• Water one gallon per person per day.
• Nonperishable food highenergy bars, canned goods, and a manual can opener.
• Firstaid supplies bandages, antiseptic wipes, prescription meds.
• Tools flashlight, extra batteries, multitool, local maps.
• Personal items copies of IDs, cash (small bills), important documents in a waterproof bag.
• Special items baby formula, pet food, hearingaid batteries.

Rotate perishable items every six months and keep the kit in a location thats easy to grabpreferably near an exit.

Community Action

Preparedness is stronger when neighbors work together. Get involved by:

• Joining or forming a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT): Volunteers receive basic disasterresponse training.
• Hosting a preparedness fair: Invite local fire departments, Red Cross, and health clinics to share information.
• Mapping vulnerable households: Assist seniors or people with disabilities in creating personalized plans.
• Sharing resources: Set up a neighborhood buddy system for checking on each other after an event.

Helpful Resources

Explore these official sites for detailed guidance, training, and alerts:

• Ready.gov The official U.S. government preparedness portal
• FEMA Emergency management and disaster response
• American Red Cross Community training and shelter information
• National Weather Service Realtime forecasts and warnings

Follow the hashtag #PreparednessMonth on social media for daily tips and success stories from around the country.