It’s September, which is National Emergency Preparedness month.
We can’t plan for everything, but we can plan for the most likely thing.
So this month, each week I am going to discuss a home emergency plan in detail with printable information you can use to accomplish each task.
This week, I want to cover each plan broadly, so you get an idea of what we will be discussing the rest of the month.
Why are making emergency plans important?
As we get started, I want you to think about where you live.
What natural disasters have happened there recently?
What natural disasters have happened there historically?
If you have lived anywhere for very long at all, you know what disasters you might come in contact with.
Let’s look at a map of the United States and how different areas were affected by disasters in 2017.
As you can see, almost every part of the country was affected by disasters in 2017, and these are only the really big ones.
There are other small fires, droughts, tornados and floods that aren’t on this map.
In our area, in the last 2 years, we have had a drought, forest fires and then record amounts of snow that closed down roads and flooded rivers. I don’t think they amounted to billion dollar disasters, but they reaked havoc here at home.
So when you think of your home, what disasters do you have in your area? How can you make these things easier to deal with by being prepared ahead of time?
Each week this month, I will add a post about each one of these plans and come back here to add the link so you can follow along. But first, an overview of what’s to come. . .
3 Home Emergency Plans Your Family Needs to Create
1. Your Evacuation Plan
If you have to leave your home in an emergency evacuation, you need to make a plan of where to go, what to take and how to meet up with other family members.
Having a discussion about these things before hand can make a big difference in the success of the evacuation.
- Where do we go?
- What should we take with us?
- What do I do with my animals?
- How will I communicate with my family?
Leaving your home without knowing what will happen to your belongings can be traumatizing for you and your family. But preparing ahead of time can help you remember the big stuff and help you make the best out of the situation.
2. Emergency Fire Plan
As many of you know, we lost our home to a house fire in 2014. You can read the blog post about it here —> When the Unthinkable Happens: Lessons from a House Fire.
We were on vacation when our home burned down, so we didn’t need our emergency fire plan.
But that isn’t the case most of the time, so an emergency fire plan is a way to prepare your family for a house fire and help them know what to do if it happens.
- We go thru your home’s exits and how to make an escape plan.
- How to choose a meeting place.
- How to prevent home fires.
- How to keep your family safe in a fire.
A house fire is something I never thought would happen to us. It was devastating to us and it took us several years to recover.
I hope you don’t ever need this plan, but if you do you will be happy you took the time to prepare ahead of time.
3. Stay At Home Plan
The last plan we will be discussing this month is the stay at home plan.
Not all emergencies require you to leave your home.
Examples of a stay at home emergency may be power outage, blizzard, tornado, severe storms and flooding.
This plan will help you when you need to stay home during an emergency without outside help for an extended period of time.
We will discuss the 6 things you need to have at home to be ready for this type of emergency.
- Food storage
- Water storage
- Heat
- Light
- Communication
- Security
We will also discuss alternative electricity sources and how to use them in the most efficient way possible.
Staying home has its own problems, so be prepared if you have to hunker down for a few days or weeks until the emergency has passed.
As we discuss these 3 home emergency plans this month, I hope it allows you to feel more safe and prepared in case of emergency.
Your preparedness and calm manner can help others in and out of your family in a time of crisis. After all, the more we are prepared the more we can help others too.
So stay tuned the rest of the month as we explore these 3 home emergency plans in much more detail, including printables to help us complete the task.
Do you have any emergency plans prepared for your family? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!
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