Step 1: Make a Family Plan

Families who plan go RED Remember these 3 easy steps to create your plans: Risk: Determine what hazards could affect your area. More... Establish: Communication, Evacuation and Shelter in-place plans. Drill: Practice your plans -- Twice each year and anytime your family changes

Here you will find some simple steps for family disaster planning.

Include everyone in your family in this discussion. Work together to decide what to do in each type of an emergency. Write this plan down on paper and keep it with you important files.

• Choose a Family Contact

  When disaster strikes everyone in your family should contact one person. This individual should live far enough out of town that if an event occurred, he or she would be unaffected. Often local phone lines are down or jammed, so reaching someone farther away is easier. Make sure all family members have updated phone numbers, addresses and email addresses.

• At Your Fingertips

  Keep important numbers (doctor, dentist, pharmacy, relatives, friends) near your phone and in your wallet or purse. If you can't use your cell phone or get to your home, it is important to have easy access to these numbers. Click Here for an Emergency Contact Card

• Choose a method

  Will you call one another, email, fax? Consider what you would do it cell towers were down or utility lines were not functioning. Make sure everyone knows this plan.

• Plan for Pets

  Plan how to take care of your pet. American Red Cross shelters do not allow pets. If you are displaced from your home you, will need to arrange for your pet to stay with other people or in an animal shelter.

• Keep Records Safe

  Make photocopies of vital documents and put one set in a safe space (a safe-deposit box, at a friend or family member's house) and one copy in your disaster supplies kit. Remember documents like driver's licence, birth certificate, wills or trusts, When the power goes out, use flashlights. Do not use candles. Candles can start fires, causing more damage than the disaster itself. mortgage papers, and important prescriptions.

• Safe Space

  Know where the safe spaces are in your home for each type of disaster. Plan the escape routes. You should have two ways out of each room.

• Take Inventory

  Make a complete inventory list of your home and property. Note the value of certain items as well. Keep this list with your other important records (outside of your home).

• Get Covered

  Have adequate insurance coverage (flood, fire, home owners, renters or contents insurance)

• Plan for Special Needs

  Create a plan that includes how to care for members of your family with mobility problems or any other special needs.

Move to Step 2: Plan for Evacuation