2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season Officially Starts Today

Author: danielkilburn 2021-06-01 0 Comments

Have you done anything to protect yourself, your family, children, and loved ones from the emergencies and disasters that will come crashing into your life?

This information may not appeal to everyone. And that is OK.

If you do not care to learn something that may help you, then move along. No hard feelings.

When developing your specific Family Disaster Plan, there is one question that needs immediate attention.

Am I staying, or am I leaving? Evacuate or shelter at home?

All your family disaster planning needs will revolve around this question. Will you be evacuating or staying in place?

If you are fortunate enough to have a hardened facility, your home, that you can stay in after the emergency or disaster and before emergency services are available that is the preferable way to go. Your home is a place of comfort, you have all the needed resources, food, water, and medical equipment that you may need, and you know where you are.

Keep in mind though, that even if you are initially in a safe place, something can happen that will make it no longer safe. And you will need to evacuate.

I live in a mandatory evacuation zone. If a  hurricane is bearing down on my community I need to leave because it will not be safe to stay at my home.

Because of this, my family disaster plan revolves around evacuating to a suitable location.

Am I sheltering with friends, family, or at a public shelter? I am with family.

How much water and food do I need to take with me during the evacuation. And will I pre-position additional food and water at the safe house? My 14-day supply of food, water, and supplies is easily packed in available plastic bins that are at reach. This will take up the entire back of the vehicle.

Will my medical and sanitation needs be met while I am in transit to the safe house? Meds are in the grab-and-go CLS bag that is inspected and rotated every three months.

Communications. What information do I want to know? Who do I want to communicate with? Inbound and outbound information processing. A communications plan is already in place to contact near and far people of interest.

Have a rechargeable/hand-crank NOAA radio. Cell phones with battery backs. Two-way radios, FRS, GMRS, HAM. Satellite Phones. Know your AM/FM radio News stations locally, and the ones on your evacuation route. Equipment is available.

Are there any special considerations that will need examining? Pets, people, young, and old. Think this one through, and do not create problems that do not exist.

What route or routes will be available to travel to the safe house, and how long will it take to get there? The best-case scenario is less than an hour away on a bad traffic day. The worst-case scenario is eight hours away on a good day and can take 24 hours if you leave too late. These time frames have been verified with direct action and after-action reviews from friends surveyed after hurricane Irma, who waited too long to leave.

Have a minimum of three days of water, food, sanitation supplies if you are evacuating. In three days, you should be in a location where resources are readily available because you are no longer in an affected area. If you plan on staying home, 14-days of food, water, and supplies is recommended.

Involve everyone the plan is for, in making the plan. You must develop a plan that allows the least qualified person in your group to follow it. Your loved ones need to know what to do without you being there to tell them. Yes, the plan requires your loved ones to follow the plan if you are not there.

These are just some of the basic questions you need to ask yourself when putting your basic plan together.

A couple of things to keep in mind.

1. It is best not to overthink the actions you need to take.
2. Simple plans require simple actions.

Sounds complicated? It’s not.

You can put this entire plan together within five days.

If you want to get started on your own, you can go here and get all the pretty checklist you want that will tell you what to do just like I have. It will take more than five days to put your plan together though.

Or you can step up and take the upcoming five-day workshop at www.betheherochallenge.com.

Join me where I show you exactly how to do everything that is been mentioned in this blog post. There will be no confusion. There’ll be no second-guessing yourself. And you will have a plan together to protect yourself your family and your loved ones.

Till next time

“Be safe”