September is National Preparedness Month. The annual recognition began in 2004 as a way to promote disaster and emergency readiness among individuals, families, and communities.
This year’s theme is "Preparedness Starts at Home.” Mindy Brennan, Delta County Emergency Management Coordinator, says this year’s theme has four key actions.
"The first is 'Know Your Risk.' And what that means is just what could happen. So is it a wildfire? Is it a flash flood, a power outage, etc."
Knowing your risk will help you identify a plan in the event of an emergency.
"The next key action second is to 'Make a family emergency plan'. And that just is a way to reduce your stress, save time and save money," Brennen said, noting that the emergency plan should note where you will go along with an established meeting point for family members, how you will contact each other if cell service is interrupted and identify various evacuation routes.
"Each evacuation route would be determined by that specific emergency," Brennen said.
Families can find tools to develop their emergency plan at READY DOT GOV. The third key action in developing an emergency plan is to 'Prepare an emergency kit or to-go-bag.'
"Think about where you could be when a disaster happens, whether that's home, that's work. That's your car. So it's it's really recommended that you have an emergency kit available in each of those those circumstances."
Every individual or family kit should be tailored to meet specific needs. Brennen recommends taking the time to evaluate what your family needs to be comfortable on a daily basis. Special attention should be paid to the needs of young children or elderly persons.
She also recommends you take pictures of valuable items in your home and make sure you have adequate insurance to cover potential losses due to an emergency.
The last key action is to 'Get involved and connected with your community' by knowing your neighbors.
"I can't stress the importance of that enough because connected communities are resilient communities. And what that means is, in terms of resilience, is your ability to recover quickly."
Ways to connect with neighbors include hosting meetings to discuss emergency plans.
"And that's really who you're going to rely on the most in in the initial outset of of an emergency, especially a first responders are inundated and can't get to you right away," Brennen said.
In Delta County, Brennen encourages community members to sign up for Delta County Alerts. She says it's important to list your home address so emergency management can identify where you reside in the county. That information is only available to Emergency Management. You can also call 970-874-2484 for assistance.
"It's just a way for you to stay connected to the local emergency management office, so that we can alert you when an emergency is happening in your geographic area," she said.
For more information on how you and your family can prepare for an emergency visit READY DOT GOV.
