Get ready for hurricanes: tips for being prepared!

With hurricanes becoming more common, preparing for them is more important than ever! No matter where you are, have a plan that’s ready to use. Our Get Ready Team has a new hurricane infographic that can be used to prepare you and your loved ones. The infographic builds on our fact sheet. Be sure to check them both out to know about being ready before, during and after a hurricane!

Here are a few quick tips:

Buy Insurance

Have flood insurance before a hurricane. It’s different from homeowners’ or renters’ insurance because they usually don’t cover floods. Flood insurance covers your broken or damaged belongings like a car, home or belongings after a flood. It takes 30 days before insurance can be used on your belongings. The more likely the area is for flooding, the higher the cost will be for having flood insurance. You can find out if flood insurance is right for you by going online to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The National Flood Insurance Program and FEMA have lots of information on costs, types of insurance and helping after floods. 

Home Safety

Protect your home! Covering doors, windows and other open spaces with tape and boards will prevent flooding inside. The boards will stop the windows from shattering. Waste will also be floating around and keeping it out of your home by putting up boards will make cleaning up easier and faster.

Evacuation Plan

Have an evacuation plan ready for you and your loved ones. Practice evacuation plans as a family. Knowing the safety routes in your area before a hurricane can save lives! Learning about local warning systems is important. They can alert you about an evacuation or if you need to take cover at a nearby shelter. Officials in the area will usually send the alerts, like the Red Cross or FEMA. 

Supplies

Have a supply kit ready to grab and go! It should have:

• First aid kit

• Food

• Water

• Medication

• Important documents 

• Flashlight

• Extra batteries

• Clothing 

• Pet supplies

• Battery-operated radio

Make sure to check your supplies twice a year. Rotate out items like food and medicine before it’s expired. It’s also important to keep the kit in an easy to grab area in case of an evacuation.

Listen to Officials

Officials will have the most helpful information during an emergency. They can tell you when it’s time to leave or places to go that are safe. Listening to their directions is the best option! A great place to stay updated about a hurricane and its movements is through the National Hurricane Center online. If your power goes out, you can use a battery-powered or hand-crank radio to listen to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio. Find your local station at https://www.weather.gov/nwr/station_search. Another online information source is FEMA, which provides up-to-date information about storms and their aftermath. It also offers contact information for officials that can help you after a hurricane or other disaster.

Hurricanes can affect almost anyone so share these tips to protect you and your loved ones by being prepared! 

Get Ready Day is almost here!

 

Mark your calendars! This year, Get Ready Day is Tuesday, Sept. 19. 

What's Get Ready Day? It's a celebration and a reminder to take small steps to be a little more prepared for disasters and emergencies. Help your community, campus or workplace become prepared for emergencies or disasters by holding a Get Ready Day event!

Held each year on the third Tuesday in September, APHA's Get Ready Day is timed to coincide with National Preparedness Month. There are lots of ways to get involved:

• Sponsor a preparedness talk at your local senior center or hold a town hall.
• Set up a booth on campus, or pass out materials at your health department or workplace.
• Insert preparedness planning materials into your religious organization's bulletin, or post information on a bulletin board.
• Work with a local grocery store to promote preparedness and stockpiling to shoppers through displays or flyers.
• Offer a flu shot and/or COVID-19 vaccination clinic for your work, school or neighborhood. 

Want even easier ways to make a difference? You can share Get Ready fact sheets or infographics in print or online. 

Emergencies can be overwhelming, but preparing for them doesn't have to be. Whatever you do for Get Ready Day, spread the word and use the hashtag #GetReadyDay so we can see how you celebrate!

Get Ready for wildfire smoke: New resources to stay safe!

Canada has been experiencing some of its worst wildfires in modern history, but we’re not safe either! Whether you saw it on the news or experienced it firsthand, you may know what we’re talking about — wildfire smoke. To keep you, your family, friends and even pets safe, the Get Ready team has provided a new infographic and fact sheet. Be sure to check them both out to know what to do before, during and after wildfire smoke impacts you! 

Here are a few quick tips. 

Stay inside 

Our first tip is to stay inside! This is especially important for: 

• People with asthma 
• People with heart or lung disease 
• Children
• Pregnant women 
• Older adults 
• First responders 

Staying home with all windows and doors closed can be one of the best ways to stay safe. It’s a great way to protect your health, but not all houses are airtight enough to keep the smoke out. Maybe you notice a smoky smell inside your home, or perhaps your eyes start to sting. This could mean that your house is not providing enough protection. You may want to stay with family, friends, neighbors or at a public building. If you’re staying inside an airtight building with proper air conditioning and filtration, you can keep smoke inhalation to a minimum. Most buildings’ air conditioners are built with air filters, but the best way to make sure your indoor air is clean will differ based on the type of air conditioning unit. See the Environmental Protection Agency’s fact sheet for information about proper air filtration and the different options. 

Wear an N95 Mask 

If you must be outside for any reason or are at high risk for health problems, wear an N95 mask. They’ve been easier to find since the coronavirus pandemic, and you can often purchase them in hardware stores or drugstores. You may even have one lying around already! To fully protect your health, you’ll want the correct size where the mask fits over your nose and under your chin. Keep in mind that cloth and dust masks as well as bandanas do not filter out wildfire smoke. So go grab your N95! N95 masks do not come in suitable sizes for children. For more information about how to keep your child safe from wildfire smoke, the CDC provides some great guidance. 

Keep the air quality clean 

The last thing you want to do is make the indoor air pollution worse! Wildfire smoke doesn’t smell great, but don’t light a candle even if it smells nice! You should also avoid using gas or propane, smoking tobacco and vacuuming. Even if you’re craving a warm home-cooked meal or feel like cleaning around your house, avoid all of these activities as they can make the air quality inside worse.  

Wildfire smoke can quickly affect just about anyone, so share these tips with your friends, family, co-workers and anyone that you feel needs this information to protect their health!    

The Get Ready calendar photo contest is now open!

Photo courtesy of Olivia Marcino

It’s Get Ready calendar contest time! Every year, we put together a calendar of cute pictures and preparedness tips and share it with all APHA members. We also share it online. But we can’t do it alone! We need your help!

We’re looking for your most fashionable animal photos for this year’s theme, “Get Ready Runway.” We want to see bold bandanas, dapper bowties, fun hats, crazy costumes, anything that shows off your pet’s best sense of style! Winning photos will be featured in our 2024 Get Ready Calendar that’s sent to APHA members! Snap a runway worthy picture and send it our way!

Check out our full rules and FAQs at APHAGetReady.org.

But hurry! Submissions close Wednesday, Aug. 2. 

Emergency food stockpiling!

Happy National Public Health Week! This year, the Get Ready Campaign has put together an infographic to help you build your emergency food stockpile! These stockpiles are crucial during times of disaster. Large disasters in the past have completely cut off entire communities from access to their local grocery stores or restaurants, so making an emergency food stockpile now can save you and your loved ones’ lives. Below is a list of what we think are affordable and tasty options you might want to consider!

Canned food

One of the most universal items when it comes to emergency stockpiling is canned food. Canned food can last for years when stored at room-temperature. Another perk of this option is its variety. You can buy canned fruits, vegetables, or meats, leaving opportunity for you to pick out something that you would like to eat! 

Peanut butter

Peanut butter is another important food item to add in your stockpiling checklist. It contains a wide variety of vitamins and minerals to keep you healthy when times are desperate. You can eat it just by using a spoon, or you could pair it with jelly and bread or crackers to make a delicious sandwich!

Whole-wheat crackers

Despite whole-wheat crackers being delicious on their own, they make a great alternative for bread! Bread has a much shorter shelf-life and may not last long enough for you during a disaster. Whole-wheat crackers are relatively inexpensive and can make any meal taste great!

Cultural foods

During a disaster, it is important to stay true to your identity. Just because food options are limited does not mean that there aren’t options available to you. For example, you can find a variety of non-perishable kosher foods such as pastries, pasta, or beans. Make sure to ask your local grocery store for non-perishable options that align with your culture or religion.