#18,872
Over the past 19 years I've devoted a good deal of this blog during the month of September - which was declared National Preparedness Month by FEMA in 2004 - to individual and community preparedness.
Along the way I've utilized a number of FEMA, NOAA, and Ready.gov resources, such as NOAA's Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters and FEMA's annual survey of household preparedness (see last updates in 2024 & 2023 below).
The NOAA website now carries the banner `In alignment with evolving priorities, statutory mandates, and staffing changes, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) will no longer be updating the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters product.'And the Open FEMA website now ironically displays the following message when trying to access current and past preparedness surveys.
Additionally, the community.fema.gov website - which has long offered preparedness tools and resources to partners, students, and practitioners - appears to be no longer accessible.
With the future of FEMA uncertain - and no clear idea on how individual states and communities will take up the slack going forward - it becomes imperative that individuals, families, businesses, and communities prepare for disasters.
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FEMA’s Ready Campaign has observed National Preparedness Month since 2004 to encourage Americans to prepare for emergencies. The month is a great time to take small steps to make a big difference in being prepared.Preparedness Starts at Home, the 2025 theme, focuses on getting back to the essentials of preparedness. In addition to sharing the tips, messages and graphics you can find on Ready.gov, there are four key actions you can take to prepare for any disaster you may face:Know your risk
- Know what could happen where you and your family live. This helps you figure out what you need to do to stay safe. You can explore various disasters and emergencies on Ready.gov.
Make a family emergency plan
- Making a plan early helps you reduce stress and save time and money. Follow four easy steps and create a free Family Emergency Plan quickly and easily with our fillable form.
- Disasters are costly but preparing for them doesn’t have to be. Taking time to prepare now can help save you thousands of dollars and give you peace of mind when the next disaster or emergency occurs. Visit Ready.gov’s low and no-cost tip page to see how you can be better prepared without spending a lot of money.
Build an emergency supply kitGet involved in your community by taking action to prepare for emergencies
- Having enough food, water and medicine can help you stay safe and comfortable until help arrives. Having what you need can also prevent injury and damage to your home.
- Build a go-bag with all the essentials you might need, so you don’t need to scramble in an evacuation situation. Find a list of supplies at Build A Kit.
- Emergencies can happen fast, and emergency responders aren’t always nearby. You may be able to save a life by taking simple actions immediately. You can learn these steps when you take a first aid class through many organizations in your community..
- Join a Community Emergency Response Team program and get trained on basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations.
- Take a free online independent study course through FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute or a CPR course through the American Red Cross to learn more about how to help your community become more prepared.
While some level of local, regional, and even federal emergency assistance will still be available following major disasters, how long it takes to get to you is an open question.
So . . . if a disaster struck your region today, and the power went out, stores closed their doors, and water stopped flowing from your kitchen tap for the next 7 to 14 days . . . do you already have:- A battery operated NWS Emergency Radio to find out what was going on, and to get vital instructions from emergency officials
- A decent first-aid kit, so that you can treat injuries
- Enough non-perishable food and water on hand to feed and hydrate your family (including pets) for the duration
- A way to provide light when the grid is down.
- A way to cook safely without electricity
- A way to purify or filter water
- A way to stay cool (fans) or warm when the power is out.
- A small supply of cash to use in case credit/debit machines are not working
- An emergency plan, including meeting places, emergency out-of-state contact numbers, a disaster buddy, and in case you must evacuate, a bug-out bag
- Spare supply of essential prescription medicines that you or your family may need
- A way to entertain yourself, or your kids, during a prolonged blackout
Disasters often boil down to unscheduled camping - for days, or sometimes weeks - in your home, in a community shelter, or possibly in your backyard. If you think of preparedness that way, it becomes far less daunting.
Where you live can make a huge difference in the type of threats you are apt to face (although some, like extended power outages, are almost universal). A good place to start is with the interactive FEMA National Risk Index For Natural Disasters, which breaks down local threats at the county level.
Over the next couple of weeks I'll be running several new or updated blogs on preparing for specific threats, but the most important thing to remember is; the time to prepare is now . . . before the next disaster strikes.