How to Make a Disaster Plan for Your Home

My husband was recently asked to help update the disaster plan at the company he works for. Many companies update these disaster plans every year or so. For some reason, it had never occurred to me to create a domestic disaster plan for our home.

There are tornadoes occasionally close to the area where we live. A nuclear power plant is less than 20 miles away. Flooding and forest fires are local disasters waiting to happen, too. What would our family do if one of these disasters happened when one member was at school, one member at work, and yet another at the grocery store?

I decided to ask the experts for advice, and I started with the Red Cross. As it turns out, that was the correct starting point to creating a disaster plan for home. They suggest first evaluating what types of disasters are most likely to happen in your area. Floods? Fires? Hurricanes? Tornadoes? The Red Cross has information available on what to do in the case of each of these emergencies.

The next step is to become familiar with the disaster plans at each family member's workplace, school or daycare. Make sure that everyone in your family knows this information.

You will need to talk to your children about why you need to prepare for emergencies. You may want to explain what tornadoes, wildfires, or other disasters can do to an area, and explain to them why you need the family to work together to create and implement a disaster plan. My children are still very young, but a simple conversation can be created for the preschool set.

Pick a spot to meet outside of your immediate neighborhood for disasters during the day when family members are at work or school. Designate another spot immediately outside the home for such emergencies as a fire or gas leak when the family is home. As soon as your child is capable of learning your address and telephone number, make sure he knows it and can recite it.

Decide what will be taken in an evacuation. Items such as prescription medication, a change of clothing, identification, and disaster supplies like water, batteries, flashlight and a first aid kit should be at the top of your list. We also have a small lockbox with identification, emergency credit card, and emergency cash ready to go.

If you have pets, you will need to decide what to do with them. Most emergency shelters do not take animals, and animal shelters are likely to be full during an emergency. In the case of an extreme emergency, remember that they are animals and therefore not quite as important as the human members of your family, but most people want to feel they are doing the best they can for their pet.

Another great suggestion is to have a designated out of state family member as a central emergency contact. You will want to teach your children this family member's phone number, too. When disaster strikes, it is often easier to dial long distance than to make local phone calls. Information can be relayed through this family emergency contact.

So, we have our lockbox with pertinent and crucial papers in it; emergency grab bag with bottled water and snacks; and a designated meeting place for our family if we can't make it home. Hopefully, this will all be wasted effort.

Do you have a disaster plan for your home?