Prepare yourself and your family for a disaster by making an emergency plan.

Important Things to Consider

Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so it is important to plan in advance: how you will contact one another; how you will get back together; and what you will do in different situations.

Contacts

It may be easier to make a long-distance phone call than to call across town, so try to have an out-of-town contact so you can communicate better among separate family members. Be sure every member of your family knows the phone number and has coins or a prepaid phone card to call the emergency contact. You may have trouble getting through, or the telephone system may be down altogether, but be patient.

Escape Routes

Determine two escape routes from each room in your home

Meeting Places

Pick three places to meet: in case of a sudden emergency, like a fire. Decide a location in your neighborhood and lastly, a regional meeting place in case you can't return home.

Children

Teach children how and when to call 911 and other emergency numbers including fire, police, ambulance, etc. Post these numbers near phones in your home.

Fire Safety

Install smoke detectors on each level of your home, especially near bedrooms and make sure everyone knows where the fire extinguisher is and how to use it.