While Florida generally is a warm and wonderful place to live, it’s not immune to disasters from Mother Nature or mankind. Emergencies can happen no matter where you live, and you and your household should be ready to react. It’s easy to create an emergency preparedness plan for every home. We all should have one, right? Both for peace of mind and to make rebounding from any emergency situation a bit easier. Read on for the easy basics of compiling your own plan.
Decide How to Respond
Since hurricanes are Florida’s best-known emergency risk, we’ll use that as an example. The first step in formulating an emergency plan is to have a family or household discussion. For example, hurricanes usually occur during summer and early autumn. Discuss your family’s typical activities and schedules during that time of year, plus how those activities and schedules could affect how your response to storm warnings and evacuation orders.
Know your evacuation destination. How you’ll communicate with friends and extended family members. What to do if you can’t return home immediately following the storm.
Decide How to Work Together
Everyone can pitch in, from building a disaster kit to putting up the hurricane shutters. In fact, all members of the household can contribute. Children ensure pets aren’t forgotten in the preparation hubbub. Older children can compile a list of items for the disaster kit — non-perishable food, an ample supply of necessary medicines and cash, etc. — then check items off as those are assembled and placed in a waterproof plastic container.
Regardless of how your household divides up disaster preparation responsibilities, or how you collectively decide to respond to the first storm alerts, make sure everyone knows the plan, and their particular assignments.
Practice Makes Perfect
If you’ve never installed hurricane shutters, don’t wait until evacuation orders to learn the installation process. Same goes with assembling important personal and family papers that should evacuate with you. Don’t ponder what to take with a hurricane landfall 24 hours away.
Practice how long it takes to install hurricane shutters. Practice how long it takes to assemble everything that everyone in the household will take with them during an evacuation. How long it takes to store lawn furniture. Cover the pool. Put potted plants in the garage. Then, you’ll know the drill.
In the market for a new Florida home? Choosing one that’s hurricane-ready is a smart start to your emergency preparedness plan. As Florida’s Custom Home Builder, ICI Homes is ready with the latest hurricane-hardy materials and techniques. Click here to begin.
