COLLEGE STATION – To support National Preparedness Month efforts, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is offering tips for Texans to help ready for and recover from a disaster or emergency.
“The Federal Emergency Management Agency has designated September as National Preparedness Month and this year’s theme is ‘Be Disaster Aware, Take Action to Prepare,’” said Joyce Cavanagh, family development and resource management specialist in College Station.
Cavanagh said a major aspect of hurricane preparation is to secure important documents and prepare an emergency kit so both can be located at a moment’s notice when an emergency or disaster occurs.
“People should have an emergency kit for their home, office and each vehicle,” she said.
Cavanagh said an emergency kit should contain enough supplies to take care of immediate family members for at least three days. Some essential kit contents include bottled water, non-perishable foods, a hand-operated can opener, mouth/nose protection masks, extra clothing, first-aid kit, gloves, blankets, toiletries, battery- or hand-powered flashlight, weather radio, spare batteries, garbage bags, medications and anti-bacterial cleaners or wipes.
She said more information on preparing for an emergency, including items to be included in an emergency kit, can be found in the AgriLife Extension publications “Texans, Get Ready!” and “Preparing for the Unexpected.” The publications can be downloaded free from the Texas Extension Disaster Education Network, or Texas EDEN, website at http://texashelp.tamu.edu or Texas A&M AgriLife Bookstore website at http://agrilifebookstore.org. The publications are also available in Spanish and in e-book format for mobile devices.
Cavanagh also explained the need to prepare a “grab-and-go” box containing important documents and financial records in the event of an emergency situation.
She said a new publication from AgriLife Extension called “Personal and Family Financial Records Inventory”will provide guidance for a handy way to consolidate personal and family financial information.
“This 55-page electronic booklet has places where you can enter personal information on credit cards, loans, mortgages, checking and savings accounts and more,” she said. “There’s also a section for making a household inventory and noting where important papers are kept. This will make it clear as to who should be contacted on matters of life and health, plus it has a section that in case of death provides guidance about your personal wishes to your survivors.”
Cavanagh said the fillable pdf file costs $5 and can be downloaded from the AgriLife Bookstore website by searching for publication EFCS-005.
The Texas EDEN and AgriLife Bookstore websites have additional information on disaster preparation and recovery, most of which is free. E-book format downloads are also available for mobile devices. Information on different topics can be found by connecting with Texas EDEN on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/txeden. Twitter at http://twitter.com/txeden or Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/texashelp.
-30-