5 Steps to Prepare for Emergencies

By: JoAnn Vann, Family Consumer Science Extension Agent, Clark County

Are you ready if a disaster struck your area?

With recent events in the news, sadly, many people are realizing the answer to that question is no.  Arkansas is prone to a multitude of natural disasters including winter ice, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes that bring with them power outages, flooding, and damage from falling trees.  It is not too late to get your family prepared! 

Use these five steps to complete your plan:

1. Discuss options:

Think about options for communication, sheltering, evacuating, meeting locations, and building an emergency supply kit as a family/household. For more information on each step watch this video.

2. Consider specific needs:

Think about the needs of each individual and pets in your household and others that you provide care for. What items will be needed to maintain health? Who will be responsible for which tasks?

3. Write it down:

In a crisis, it is difficult to remember details such as phone numbers and addresses. Write down important information and keep a copy accessible in your emergency kit and at daily routine locations.

4. Practice:

Practice does make perfect! Having a rehearsed plan in place improves the ability to cope with disaster. Be sure all members of your household and others you provide care for practice the plan. If something does not work, it is much better to fix it before an emergency happens.

5. Build your emergency supply kit:

Now that you have carefully considered the needs of your household, know how and where you plan to shelter or evacuate to, it is time to build your emergency supply kit. Be sure to store it for easy accessibility while protecting it from damage.  Consider having a second smaller kit in your car in the event you cannot make it home for your full kit.

Ready to get started?

Request our free emergency planning packet    that includes a template to create a family communication plan, checklist for building an emergency preparedness kit, checklist of important papers to include and recovering lost documents, with bonus features:

• 12 Ways to Prepare Checklist
• Preparing Your Pets for Disaster
• Guide to Meals & Snacks During Hardships & Disasters!

Request A Free Packet

Check out these additional sources on emergency preparedness:

• Ready to Plan
• Download the Resiliency Cookbook

For more information, contact the Clark County Extension Office at 870-246-2281, clark-arkadelphia@uada.edu, and follow us on Facebook.