S
ometimes, life in the heartland is not for the faint of heart. At least that’s the way it seems when homes and communities experience tornadoes, flooding, drought and other disasters like Kansas communities can. National Preparedness Month gives us the opportunity to prepare our families for the possibility of disaster. You can plan ahead when disasters don’t.
Prepare Kansas is an annual K-State Research and Extension online challenge that happens along with National Preparedness Month. It is designed to help individuals and families prepare ahead of disasters which can make recovery easier. The program focuses on a few activities every week during September. Each year the activities focus on an aspect of becoming prepared. For example, in 2018 we are focusing on a communication plan, learning life-saving skills, insurance coverage and saving for emergencies.
Week 1: Make and Practice Your Plan – create an emergency plan, sign up for alerts and warnings and learn your evacuation plan. Week 2: Learn Life Saving Skills – a few options would be to know basic home maintenance, learn how to turn off utilities like natural gas, put smoke alarms on every level of your home or learn CPR. Week 3: Check Your Coverage – review your homeowners/renters insurance coverage. Do you have or need flood insurance? Did you know that 25% of small businesses never reopen following a disaster? Take the time to make sure you are properly covered. Week 4: Save For an Emergency – plan financially for the possibility of disaster, complete an emergency financial first aid kit and maintain emergency savings.
For more information, check with local or district K-State Research and Extension offices or visit Extension’s Web site: https://blogs.k-state.edu/preparekansas/ or Ready.gov/September.
.