One of the best ways to prepare your family for these situations is to have an established family emergency plan prepared.

If your family does have an emergency plan in place, it is important to have drills to practice that plan and review it as the weather seasons change throughout the year so everyone knows exactly what to do.

If you’ve not yet created a family emergency plan, we’ve compiled some information of things to take into consideration when creating one:

1. How will you receive emergency alerts and warnings?

Thanks to today’s smartphone technologies, it is easy to receive emergency alerts and warnings on your smartphone in addition to the emergency broadcasts on the radio and television. If you have a weather app or Google on your smartphone, you can quickly receive emergency alerts, which gives you valuable time in severe weather situations.

2. What type of storm shelter is available?

If your home is in an area where tornadoes are a frequent occurrence, you’ll want to be in the lowest part of your home. Basements are preferable, but if there is no basement, choose an interior room on the lowest level of your home that is away from windows and doors. Tornadoes are not the only situations that require a form of storm shelter, and there is more information available about those situations at ready.gov.

3. What is your evacuation route?

Before an emergency happens, you should map out evacuation routes, since things such as hurricanes, flooding and fires can force you from your home at a moment’s notice. It’s always wise to have multiple routes planned as some routes could become impassable, and be sure you find places to stay with your pets along the way if you have furry family members that need to be evacuated.

4. How will everyone stay in touch?

We can have peace of mind when we are able to communicate with our family members during an emergency. Our first instinct is to rely on cell phones, but in some circumstances, that may not be possible. Cell phone towers can be damaged, phones may be lost or left behind, and if power is lost, you will not be able to recharge the batteries.

For these reasons, your family should have an emergency communication plan in place and a pre-arranged meeting spot to gather in case you are all separated during the evacuation.

If a storm does cause damage to your home or business, don’t hesitate to call your friends at SERVPRO® of Western Dutchess County to get the cleanup and restoration process started.