Where will your family be when disaster strikes? Anywhere - at work, at school, shopping or in the car. How will you find each other? Will you know if your children are safe?

Disaster can strike quickly and without warning. It can force you to evacuate your neighborhood or confine you to your home. What would you do if basic services - water, gas, electricity or telephones - were cut off? Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone right away.
Families can - and do - cope with disaster by preparing in advance and working as a team. Follow the steps listed here to create your family's disaster plan. Knowing what to do is your best protection and responsibility.

4 Steps to Safety

Step 1

Find Out What Could Happen To You

Please visit the hazards present in Sarpy County, and visit our web pages describing how you can prepare yourself to best respond to each. Outdoor warning sirens will sound when a tornado has been sighted in the county, or is verified by the National Weather Service in Valley. All other warnings will be provided via the Emergency Alert System, which is carried by the National Weather Service on 164.2 MHz and broadcast TV and radio. Also Remember:

• Animals are not allowed inside emergency shelters, with rare exceptions, due to health regulations. Visit the FEMA Animals in Emergencies information area for information about preparing for your pets.
• Contact Sarpy County Emergency Management to find out how to help elderly or disabled persons, if needed. Call us at 402-593-2283 or 402-593-5785, or e-mail us.
• Find out about disaster plans at your workplace, your children's school or daycare center and other places where your family spends time.
  

Step 2

Create A Disaster Plan

Meet with your family and discuss why you need to prepare for disaster. Explains the dangers of fire, severe weather and earthquakes to children. Plan to share responsibilities and work together as a team.

• Discuss the types of disasters that are most likely to happen. Explain what to do in each case.
• Pick two places to meet:
  1. Right outside your home in case of a sudden emergency, like a fire.
  2. Outside your neighborhood in case you can't return home in case of floods or hazardous materials releases.
• Ask an out-of-state friend to be your "family contact." After a disaster, it's often easier to call long distance. Other family members should call this person and tell them where they are. Everyone must know your contact's phone number.
• Discuss what to do in an evacuation. Plan how to take care of your pets.
• List your outside the home and outside the neighborhood meeting places, and your family contact's name and day and night phone numbers, on paper. Give a copy of this list to each family member.

Step 3

Complete This Checklist

• Post emergency telephone numbers by phones. In Sarpy County, dial 9-1-1 for fire and rescue and law enforcement. Include your doctor's phone numbers on the phone list. Cellular phone calls to 9-1-1 are not routed like your 9-1-1 calls from home or work. Please check out the difference and prepare if you are a cellular phone user.
• Teach children how and when to call 9-1-1 for emergency help.
• Show each family member how and when to turn off the water, gas and electricity at the main switches. Turn utilities off only if you suspect they are damaged, or if you are instructed to do so. If you turn the gas off, you will need a professional to turn it back on.
• Check that you have adequate insurance coverage.
• Teach each family member how to use the fire extinguisher (ABC type) and show them where it's kept.
• Install smoke detectors on each level of your home, especially near bedrooms.
• Conduct a home hazard hunt.
• Stock emergency supplies and assemble a Disaster Supplies Kit.
• Determine the best escape routes from your home. Find two ways out of each room.
• Find the safety spots in your home for each type of disaster.
• Place thermometers in your refrigerator and freezer to insure food safety after power outages.

Step 4

Practice and Maintain Your Plan

• Quiz your kids every six months so they remember what to do.
• Conduct fire and emergency evacuation drills.
• Restore stored water every three months and stored food every six months.
• Test and recharge your fire extinguisher(s) according to manufacturer's instructions.
• Test and clean your smoke detectors monthly and change the batteries at least once a year.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Working together neighbors can save lives and property. Meet with your neighbors and plan how the neighborhood could work together after a disaster until help arrives. If you're a member of a neighborhood organization such as a home association or crime watch group, introduce disaster preparedness as a new activity. Know your neighbors' special skills (e.g., medical, technical) and consider how you could help neighbors who have special needs, such as disabled and elderly persons. Make plans for child care in case parents can't get home.

If Disaster Strikes

Remain calm and patient. Put your plan into action.

If you have any questions or comments please call us at 402-593-5785 or e-mail us.

Return to the Sarpy County Emergency Management and Communication Home Page

Return to the Sarpy County Emergency Management Home Page

Revised January 13, 1998

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