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Storm Emergencies
Natural Disasters can happen to anyone at any time. When a sudden disaster strikes, you may not have time to prepare. Town officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they can't reach everyone right away. Knowing what to do is your best protection. Careful planning helps ensure you'll have what you need to get through an emergency.
Find out what types of natural disasters are most likely to happen and create a disaster plan. Meet with your family and discuss why you need to prepare for a disaster. In Westport and Weston they face hurricanes in the fall, strong winter storms, great heat and potential power failures in the summer and floods from either the sound or the rivers at any time. Plan to share responsibilities and work together as a team. Be sure to practice and maintain you plan every six months.
Inspect you home, both indoors and outdoors, at least once a year and fix potential hazards. Dead or rotting trees and branches can fall because of wind or ice and cause injury, damage to your home and power outages. Be sure to prune trees regularly to reduce this threat of destruction and injury.
Prepare emergency supplies. Keep enough supplies in your home to meet your family's needs for one week. Store the supplies in sturdy, easy to carry containers, such as duffle bags. Include the following items in your emergency supply bag.
- Flashlight
- Battery-operated radio
- Extra batteries
- Emergency food and water (one week supply per person)
- Essential prescription medicines (one week supply)
- First aid kit and manual
- Extra blankets
- Fire extinguisher
- Cash and credit card
- Extra pair of clothes and shoes (per person)
- Extra pair of eye glasses
For more information please visit the following websites.
www.redcross.org
www.fema.gov
www.dhs.gov
www.ready.gov
www.dph.state.ct.us
www.cdc.gov
If disaster strikes be calm and patient. Put you plan into action!
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