Disaster Readiness for others

Why most planning is simple

Preparations for others

Preparation for them

• Motivate them to make a travel bag. This is everything they need for an overnighter or a week-long vacation (except clothes) in one small bag. Travel bags save an hour of frustrating rounding stuff up every time they want to spend the night somewhere.
• Try to get them to keep zip-kits.
  
• Make an evacuation plan that includes a list of what to bring. Tape it inside a cabinet door.
  
• Make an evacuation pack in case the disaster makes them leave home.
• What if they can't walk far or carry things? Make appropriate evacuation plans for them.
• Pick two out-of-area relatives who messages could be left with in case of separation. Pick relatives most family members would know the phone number of. Tell the family members to leave messages there in case of separation.
• How will you communicate with them if the phones are down? Provide a way if possible.
• Do they have any special needs, like medicine, mobility devices, or service animals? What if these aren't available? Make appropriate plans.
• Do they depend on life-sustaining medicine, equipment or treatment? If so, talk to the service provider about emergency plans, both shelter-in-place and evacuation.
• Some emergency management offices keep lists of people with functional needs. Make sure they know about your loved ones if appropriate.
• Dry ice can keep your freezer cold in an extended power outage. Yet it can be hard to find. Locate stores that sell it before the power goes out.

Preparation for their home

• Make sure they know how to turn off water, gas, and electricity. 
  
• Install a smoke detector and a carbon monoxide detector. Keep the batteries fresh. Most houses have smoke detectors; the ones that do not have most of the fires. Inspectors find that 1/3 of all smoke detectors have missing batteries.
• Test the smoke alarms regularly to ensure they make a loud beep when needed. Fire departments recommend doing this monthly.
  
• Make sure there are enough blankets for a cold night with no heat.
• Put a fire extinguisher rated for grease in the kitchen. Shake the fire extinguishers every 6 months to keep the powder from caking.
• If feasible, keep some flashlights and batteries in the house.
• Clean the gutters annually.
  
• Anchor water heaters, fuel oil tanks, bookcases & cabinets to the wall to prevent toppling.
• Put foam sleeves over exposed exterior pipes.
• Drop off a home disaster box for riding out disasters at home.
• If they have limited mobility, ensure a clear exit path to the door. Secure furnishings so they won't topple. Restack possessions away from the exit path.
• If they have mobility impairments, keep some heavy gloves in strategic locations. Many disasters put broken glass all over the place. The gloves can help them negotiate this hazard.
• People with mobility impairments can't get out of the house quick in a fire, so get the flammable stuff out of the house. Ask the fire department to tell you what to get rid of.
• Many modern gas-powered appliances will not work without electricity. Most have a simpler and less expensive equivalent that does. Take this into consideration when selecting an appliance for them or helping them select one for themselves.

Other preparation

• Encourage them to buy appropriate insurance.
• Maintain a list of emergency phone numbers - police, fire, and rescue agencies; power companies; insurance providers; family, friends and co-workers; etc. - and program them into their phones.
• Store the number of a person to contact in their phone book under ICE (In Case of Emergency) so authorities know who to call in an emergency. Emergency personnel know to look for this.
  
• You may be able to get locator service for your family's cell phones.
• Educate yourself about insurance issues before a crisis occurs. If you need insurance, you probably won't be in the right frame of mind to carefully research how to not be taken advantage of. One web site dedicated to this is http://www.disasterprepared.net/ (this listing is not an endorsement).
• Assume your loved ones will risk their lives for their pets, and may care for their pets better than themselves. Plan for this by providing for the pet. This means providing for them to shelter in place for a week or two, and also providing a way to evacuate the pet safely.
• If necessary, make a hat or vest that can be worn over a jacket to communicate vital information, like "legally blind", "hard of hearing" or "Excitable under stress, put me in a quiet place".
  
• Exchange important keys and lock combinations.