Step 3. Make a Plan
Disasters can happen unexpectedly. Get together and figure out your plan ahead of time so everyone in your house knows what to do to stay safe and connected.
Your Impact
Action Steps & Tips
Introduction
The main steps to making your plan:
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Get together with everyone in your house and make sure everyone is up to speed on the risks and signed up for alerts.
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Make a plan to shelter.
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Make a plan to evacuate.
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Make a communications plan.
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Practice!
This action is part of the Get Prepared sequence, be sure to complete all Steps 1-5!
1Step 1. Plan & learn together
Getting everybody in your household on the same page is a huge step toward being disaster-prepared. Why plan together? Learning and planning together gives everyone, including children, a chance to have a say in the plan, which will help everyone feel prepared.
Talking about potential scenarios is super important, but it can also be scary, especially for children. The goal for these conversations is not to scare anyone, but to prepare and practice so that everyone in the family is informed and ready if a disaster happens.
Action: Hold a family meeting. Talk through your plan together. Make it fun! Meet over your favorite comfort food like pizza or ice cream, or plan to do a special activity together after you meet!
Action: What are your local risks? Start off your family meeting by talking about what kind of natural disasters you could experience and when they are likely to occur. Find your local risks by completing the Step 1: Find Local Risks and Resources action. Then read through Step 1 of the disaster specific actions that apply to your area.
Action: Sign up for emergency alerts! If you haven’t already, make sure everyone with a cell phone signs up to receive emergency alerts. Find out how to sign up by completing the Step 1: Find Local Risks and Resources action.
Next step: Create your plan! Take turns reading the steps below and make creating your emergency preparedness plan a group activity! Give everyone a responsibility in the plan and work together as a team so everyone feels included.
2Step 2: Make a plan to shelter
Some emergencies are best weathered in the safety of your home or another secure location like a shelter. Below are the three main types of shelter-in-place scenarios and what to do in each. Follow your local emergency alerts to see which one applies to you and to look for additional instructions.
Stay-at-home:
In a stay-at-home scenario, stay at home as much as possible and only leave when necessary. This could happen during a pandemic, like we experienced with COVID-19, or another event where contact with others can spread or worsen the disaster.
What to do: Essential services like grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations and post offices are still open and okay to visit. It’s okay to exercise outside if you practice social distancing and to use outdoor spaces at your home like a patio, deck or yard. Follow any emergency instructions such as sanitation practices.
Shelter in place:
Sheltering in place means to stay inside wherever you are, which could be at home, work, or another location and don’t go out. This could happen if a disaster creates debris, contaminated air, severe weather or other event that makes it unsafe to go outside.
What to do:
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Bring your family and pets inside to an interior room with as few windows as possible.
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Take your emergency supply kit with you to the interior room (unless you think your kit may have been contaminated.)
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Lock the doors and close all windows. If instructed to keep outside air out, close air vents and fireplace dampers; turn off fans, air conditioners, and forced air heating systems.
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If there is serious air contamination and authorities instruct you to seal a room, seal all windows, doors, and air vents with thick plastic sheeting and duct tape.
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Check for updates on the radio, TV or internet.
Community Shelters:
Community shelters, also called Community Resource Centers or Temporary Evacuation Points, are temporary spaces set up to help those in need during and after a disaster. If you’re unable to shelter at home, can’t get home, or it’s unsafe to do so, you may be asked to go to a community shelter.
What to do: If you are advised to go to a community shelter during a disaster, bring your emergency kit (if you are home or able to get it, if not go straight to the shelter.) To find local shelters and instructions, listen to the TV, radio or internet. You can also text SHELTER plus your ZIP code to 43362, or search through the FEMA app at fema.gov/mobile-app. The Red Cross also lists shelters during a natural disaster here: Red Cross shelter list. Tip: save these links and save the text/numbers on your phone.
Action: Make your shelter plan.
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Make sure everyone in your household understands what each type of stay at home order is and what to do.
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For shelter in place — decide which interior room to go to and which room could be closed off to from outside air if needed.
Save the shelter information number to everyone’s phone (text SHELTER plus your ZIP code to 43362)
3Step 3. Make a plan for evacuation
Evacuating your home (like in a fire or flood):
If you need to evacuate your home, you may need to exit as quickly as possible. To be safe, create an escape plan and identify meeting locations.
What to do when evacuating your home:
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Find all members of the family and pets and follow your escape route. Make sure to help pets and anyone who needs assistance.
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Grab your emergency supply kit — but ONLY if there is time to do so safely.
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Meet at your designated meeting spot.
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If any family members are not home, contact them as soon as possible to let them know the situation and where to meet.
Action: Make a plan for evacuating your home: As a family, discuss and draw out an escape plan from your home.
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Create a primary and a back-up evacuation route from every room. Use windows as a back-up option in case you can’t get through the door. Make sure everyone knows how to safely open and exit through the windows designated in your plan.
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If you live in a second-story or high-rise apartment, know where the emergency exits are, and always plan to use the stairs. Never take the elevator during an emergency.
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Choose a nearby primary and back-up meeting location near your house and in your neighborhood. For example: the front sidewalk, a big tree down the block or the next door neighbor’s driveway.
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Decide on a place for a short term stay. Decide on a few places you could go nearby if you need to be away from home for a few days, like a neighbor or friend’s house.
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Plan for any special accommodations that might be needed for family members with special needs, such as mobility, or a shelter that will accept pets.
Evacuating the area
If you need to leave the area, like for a hurricane or extreme storm, having a meeting location and plan in advance will make evacuating much easier. This is especially helpful if you are not together when a disaster happens. After you’ve gathered your family and pets, here’s what to do when evacuating:
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Only if you have time:
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Grab your emergency kit
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Call any family members who aren’t at home and your out-of-town emergency contact (check out Step 5 below!) to inform them of the plan and meeting location.
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Close and lock doors and windows, unplug appliances (except refrigerators, unless there could be flooding)
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Leave a note in a prominent location listing when you left and where you went.
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If you have extra time, check on neighbors to make sure they’re evacuating.
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Use only one vehicle per household and carpool with neighbors when possible to reduce traffic and speed evacuation.
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Head to your pre-arranged evacuation spot that makes most sense based on the current conditions.
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Watch for hazards along the way like downed power lines and flooded roads.
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Check the radio or your phone for updates and alerts.
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Follow recommended evacuation routes and alerts.
Action: Make a plan for evacuating the area:
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Choose a primary and backup meeting location: Choose two locations that everyone is familiar with and that are easy to get to:
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Local: Choose one meeting location in town, but outside your neighborhood. Ex: a library, community center, faith community facility or family friend’s home.
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Not local: If you need to evacuate your whole area, choose a second location out of the area like the home of a relative or family friend.
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Know your evacuation route: Your local emergency agencies may have specific evacuation routes planned for your area. Find these routes and become familiar with them (this is covered in Step 1. Find Local Risks and Resources.) This is particularly important for disasters such as hurricanes, floods and wildfires. You can find a list of local evacuation route maps for hurricanes here.
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Plan how to get to your meeting locations:
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Plan for back-up modes of transportation in case your usual method isn’t available.
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Keep your car’s gas tank at least half full at all times, in case of an emergency.
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Print out or purchase local maps and store them in your emergency kit and car in case you don’t have internet access during the evacuation.
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Plan who will gather supplies: If you have time to gather your kit or supplies and personal belongings (for example, a hurricane that will hit land the next day), decide who will gather which supplies and items.
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Plan to carpool: This will help reduce traffic congestion and speed the evacuation process.
4Step 4: Add in Disaster Specific plan steps
For many disasters there are a few additional things to know and plan for. For example, in the case of an extreme heat event, know the signs of heat stroke, and in the event of tornadoes, know the safest way to take shelter. Check the disaster specific actions that apply to your area and read through Step 2 together.
5Step 5: Make a family communication plan
Having a plan for how you will communicate during an emergency is an important part of your plan. What if something happens and you’re not together? Will you be able to reach each other? Communication networks could be unreliable during disasters and electricity could be disrupted. Planning in advance will ensure that all members of your household know how to reach each other.
Action: Create your communication plan.
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Collect emergency contacts and create a communication plan: Talk as a family or household about who your emergency contacts should be and in what scenarios you should contact them.
- Create a group text list with everyone you would need to communicate with during an emergency. Texts may go through when calls do not!
- Make sure everyone has a copy of the plan and carries it with them in their backpack, purse or wallet. Post a copy in a central location at home.
- Designate an out of town emergency contact who can communicate between all family members and help you reconnect. In a disaster it may be easier to call or text someone out of town if local lines are jammed. Make sure this person knows they have been assigned this role and have contact numbers for everyone in the household.
- Include numbers for schools and workplaces, and ensure your school and children know who is approved to pick them up. Make sure children know to follow instructions from teachers or the principal during an emergency.
- Store at least one contact in your phone under the name “in case of emergency" in case someone is trying to help find your contacts.
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Communication tips:
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Decide who will be the lead person to alert everyone about which designated meeting place to go to.
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If you are separated from your household members during an evacuation, contact everyone in your household that you can reach, then contact your out-of-town emergency contact to let them know the situation and any needs you have. If you are separated from children or other family members that need care (such as elderly) contact their caregivers or backup guardians to watch or pick them up until you can get to their location.
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Make sure everyone, including children know how and when to call 911 for help. Only call 911 if there is a life-threatening emergency.
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To conserve cell phone battery, reduce the brightness of your screen, close browsers and apps or place in “airplane mode” when not needed.
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If phone lines are down, but the internet is available, use social media to connect with loved ones.
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6Step 6: Practice and update your plan!
Twice a year, get together with everyone in your household and review your plan. Practice evacuating your home, sheltering in place, locating your emergency kit and calling your out-of-area emergency contact.
The first time you practice, also read through the disaster specific actions that apply to your area and steps 4 & 5 to learn what to do during and right after a disaster. Print the one page summaries for each local disaster out and add them to your kit. Make sure everyone knows how to turn off utilities (see the Turn Off Utilities action).
Update your plan as needed for example if kids change schools or if you move. After you practice, talk about how it went and if anyone has ideas on how to improve the plan!