FEMA’s Office of Disability Integration and Coordination

 

May 10, 2013

 

2013 Hurricane Preparedness Week to Kick Off May 26

 

FEMA offers free online toolkit and its Pledge to Prepare to help spread the word and take action

 

Officially, the 2013 hurricane season begins June 1 and extends through November 30.  In anticipation, FEMA will be launching Hurricane Preparedness Week on May 26 continuing through June 1.

 

Hurricane Preparedness Week provides an opportunity for us to join together in a collective outreach and empower our stakeholders to take the time now to increase our level of readiness to confront all emergencies as hurricane season approaches. You can promote action on this important issue by encouraging those around you to take the Pledge to Prepare.  The Pledge identifies the critical elements of readiness by educating those in hurricane prone areas to know their risk, take appropriate actions to prepare, and inspire others to do the same.  An informed and motivated public will greatly add to our ability to respond and recover from the potential devastating effects a tropical storm or hurricane can bring as well as directly saving lives and minimizing property damage.

 

Severe weather can occur at anytime, anywhere. The time to formulate how you will respond is now. It is important to know about the hazards and risks associated with the upcoming season and take the necessary actions to protect your loved ones, homes and businesses.

 

What is the Pledge to Prepare Campaign?

 

By taking the Pledge you and your stakeholders commit to the following steps towards making our families more prepared for the impact of all hazards, not just hurricanes and tropical storms. 

• Know Your Risk:  Be Informed; Hurricane hazards come in many forms: storm surge, high winds, tornadoes, and flooding.
• Make A Plan: develop a family emergency plan that includes how to communicate if power or telecommunications are disrupted.  
• Build a Kit: create or update your family’s emergency supply kit, remember to save important papers electronically in a safe place, and,  

• Get Involved:  volunteer in your community for CERT (Citizen Emergency Response Teams) by visiting www.ready.gov/citizencorp.  You can also join the 30,000 members of the National Preparedness Coalition at www.community.fema.gov and share what you have done to prepare with communities and preparedness professionals across the country.

 

To assist you, we have developed free online tools that can be personalize to help you spread the message of hurricane preparedness located on www.ready.gov/hurricanes under the Resources tab.  This contains Press Release, Blog Post, and Op-Ed templates, along with a Social Media Library with an array of content that can be utilized to educate and inform as a part of your overall outreach. 

 

Preparedness is an individual responsibility, but we cannot do it alone.  It is only by working together through the whole community approach across government, businesses, faith-based and community organizations that we can achieve our goal of strengthening our capability to prepare, protect, respond to, recover, and mitigate all hazards.