September is National Preparedness Month, an annual effort to raise awareness about the importance of preparing for disasters and emergencies that could happen at any time. The nationwide preparedness campaign is part of the ongoing “Ready” initiative of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The 2021 theme is “Prepare to Protect. Preparing for disasters is protecting everyone you love.”
According to FEMA’s “Are You Ready?” guide, the first step in effective disaster preparedness is to understand your specific risks by identifying the hazards that could possibly affect you and then by evaluating your actual vulnerability to those sources of danger.
“Once you understand your risks, you can effectively plan to mitigate them by decreasing your vulnerability and then manage their consequences quickly and effectively if the worst does happen,” the Claremont-based Servpro company reported in a news release. “Of course, individual home or business owners’ risks vary depending on their location, but regardless of where you live or work, FEMA’s guide has some basic steps that everyone can take to prepare for the unexpected.”
The guidelines include: creating a family communication and shelter plan; signing up for emergency alerts, including FEMA alerts; building emergency savings and keeping a small amount of cash on hand at home; gathering and safeguarding critical documents such as deeds, medical information, insurance policies, and a list of your household belongings; and creating an emergency kit with basic tools and enough food and water to last 72 hours and keeping the contents fresh and up to date. For more information visit the FEMA site at https://www.ready.gov/fema-app-toolkit.
“In addition to the planning tools and checklists provided by FEMA, businesses like Servpro that specialize in disaster mitigation and restoration offer free tools that make disaster recovery easier. The free Servpro Ready app allows home and business owners to store essential contact and property information electronically where it can be accessed in seconds with a mobile device.”For more than 50 years, Servpro has been in the fire and water cleanup as well as restoration services business. The individually owned franchises can be found across the country and in Canada. For more information about the Claremont location call (909) 399-9057 or email servpro9704@hotmail.com.