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FEMA Encourages Preparedness for the 2016 Hurricane Season

WASHINGTON – Today, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is calling on individuals and families across the nation to prepare for the 2016 Atlantic Hurricane season, which begins today and runs through November 30.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center seasonal outlook for 2016, released last week, states the season will most likely be near-normal, but uncertainty about the formation of Atlantic storms makes predicting this season particularly difficult. The full release is linked at www.noaa.gov/near-normal-atlantic-hurricane-season-most-likely-year.

The effects of hurricanes can stretch far beyond just coastal areas, impacting communities hundreds of miles inland. When a hurricane hits, it can bring high winds, heavy rainfall, coastal and inland flooding, rip currents, and even tornadoes. Storm surge produced by hurricanes poses the greatest threat to life and property along the coast. Taking action now, in advance of a storm, can save lives and enables families and communities to recover more quickly should disaster strike.

“The United States has not had a significant impact from a hurricane or tropical storm since Hurricane Sandy struck in 2012,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “But luck isn’t a strategy when it comes to being ready. If you live in a potentially affected state, you are at risk for storm surge, extreme winds and flooding during a hurricane. Now is the time for you to learn your evacuation routes and develop a hurricane evacuation plan. Prepare now and enjoy the summer with confidence that if a storm threatens you’ll be ready.”

To prepare for these powerful storms, FEMA is encouraging families, businesses, and individuals to take the following steps to prepare:

Know Your Risk: Residents should learn what types of natural disasters are common in their state. NOAA’s historical hurricane tracks tool provides information on the severity and frequency of past hurricanes.
Know your evacuation zone: Evacuation zones are areas that may be impacted by hurricane flooding. Many communities have designated evacuation zones and routes to get citizens to safety. This information can often be found on the websites of state, county, or town emergency management offices. If a hurricane threatens a community and local officials say it’s time to evacuate, residents should evacuate immediately. Do not wait for the next forecast.
Download the FEMA app: The FEMA app contains important information on what to do before, during, and after a hurricane. The app also allows users to receive weather alerts from NOAA’s National Weather Service, lifesaving safety tips, and provides access to disaster resources should survivors need them. The app is available in the Apple App store or the Google Play store. The FEMA app is also available in Spanish.
Make a plan, build a kit and practice what to do: When a hurricane hits, communications systems can go out, transportation can be limited, and it could be days before emergency responders are able to reach communities that need help. FEMA encourages residents in potentially affected states to do the following:
- Make a Family Communication Plan: Family members should discuss how they contact one another in an emergency and check in with each other from different locations. Families should plan how to care for children or members with access and functional needs, and learn how to get in touch if cell phone, internet, or landlines don’t work. Be sure to practice your plan so everyone will know what to do in the event of an emergency.
- Emergency Supply Kit: A ‘go kit’ is a bag that contains basic items families may need, during an emergency. Kits should contain non-perishable food, water, and other supplies, such as flashlights, local maps, and a battery-powered radio, to last you and your family for at least 72 hours. Ready.gov contains a complete list of items.
- Pets: Many local shelters do not permit pets, but laws require them to accept service animals. Families should have a plan for pets should they need to evacuate.

While much attention is often given to the Atlantic Hurricane Season, there are tropical systems that can affect many other areas around the nation. To learn more about hurricane seasons in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, visit www.hurricanes.gov. To learn more on how to prepare before, during, and after a hurricane, visit www.ready.gov.

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FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.

Follow FEMA online at www.fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema and www.youtube.com/fema. Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema.

The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

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FEMA Encourages Preparedness for the 2016 Hurricane Season

FEMA, NWS Urge Families and Communities to Take Steps to Prepare for Hazards

Officials Encourage Individuals to Register to Participate in an Exercise or Drill, Make a Family Communication Plan, Download Alerts and Know Local Hazards

WASHINGTON – Today, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Weather Service (NWS) urge Americans to take actions to prepare for a wide array of hazards by developing a family communication plan and downloading alerts and learning about local hazards. FEMA is encouraging people to take these actions in conjunction with America’s PrepareAthon!^SM, a grassroots, community-based campaign for action designed to increase preparedness and resilience.

America’s PrepareAthon! provides an important opportunity for individuals, organizations and communities to take action to prepare for specific hazards through group discussions, drills and exercises. Visit the America’s PrepareAthon! website, ready.gov/prepare, to register your participation, for more information, and to sign up.

“Some disasters come with warning and others with little or no warning,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “Families, businesses and organizations need to prepare today – know your hazards, assemble supplies and practice what to do in case a disaster strikes.”

According to NOAA, flooding, which can occur anywhere in America, proved to be the most costly hazard in 2015, costing more than $2.7 billion in damages. Natural disasters left a destructive mark in 2015, putting people at risk and causing approximately $4.8 billion in damages.

“People can improve America’s resilience to extreme weather by knowing their risk, having quick access to weather forecasts and making a plan to follow when forecasters issue a warning,” said Louis W. Uccellini, Ph.D., director of NOAA’s NWS. “We urge everyone to take a moment this weekend to review weather safety information, develop or update their family communication plan and check to make sure their emergency kit is ready for severe weather season.

FEMA offers free, easy-to-use guides, checklists and resources to help individuals, organizations and communities practice the simple, specific actions they can take for emergencies relevant to their area. Examples include:

Create a family emergency communication plan. Visit ready.gov/prepare and download Be Smart. Take Part: Create Your Family Emergency Communication Plan. Collect the information you need, decide on the places you will meet in case of an emergency, share the information with your family and practice your plan.
Download the FEMA app for disaster resources, weather alerts and safety tips. Earlier this month, FEMA launched a new feature to its free smartphone app that will enable users to receive push notifications to their devices to remind them to take important steps to prepare their homes and families for disasters. The app also provides a customizable checklist of emergency supplies, maps of open shelters and open recovery centers, tips on how to survive natural and manmade disasters, and weather alerts from NWS for up to five locations across the nation.
Sign up for local text alerts and warnings, get the latest forecast at weather.gov and download weather apps to stay aware of worsening weather conditions. Visit ready.gov/prepare and download Be Smart: Know Your Alerts and Warnings to learn how sign up for local alerts and weather apps that are relevant for hazards that affect your area.
Gather important documents and keep them in a safe place. Have all of your personal, medical and legal papers in one place, so you can evacuate without worrying about gathering your family’s critical documents at the last minute. Visit ready.gov/prepare and download Be Smart: Protect Your Critical Documents and Valuables for a helpful checklist.

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America’s PrepareAthon! was established to provide a comprehensive campaign to build and sustain national preparedness as directed by Presidential Policy Directive-8. The campaign is coordinated by FEMA in collaboration with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments; the private sector; and non-governmental organizations.

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FEMA, NWS Urge Families and Communities to Take Steps to Prepare for Hazards

FEMA Encourages Families and Communities to Participate in National PrepareAthon! Day

WASHINGTON –Today, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is encouraging individuals, families, workplaces, schools, and organizations across the nation to take part in National PrepareAthon! Day on September 30th, 2015. Extreme weather is occurring more often across the United States, which is increasing the costs of natural disasters. According to a recent survey conducted by FEMA, fewer than half of Americans have discussed and developed an emergency plan with their household.

As part of National Preparedness Month and National PrepareAthon! Day, FEMA is encouraging everyone to develop and practice their family emergency plan to prepare for disasters that are known threats in their communities.

“The first step in preparing yourself and your family is learning the type of disasters that can happen where you live,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “Your family may not be together when disaster strikes. Developing an emergency communication plan doesn’t cost a thing, and the time you’ve invested beforehand will make it easier for your family to reconnect.”

National PrepareAthon! Day is part of America’s PrepareAthon!, a nationwide grassroots campaign for action to increase community preparedness and resilience through hazard-specific group discussions, drills, and exercises. The campaign offers easy-to-implement preparedness guides, checklists, and resources to help individuals, organizations, and communities prepare for the types of disasters that are relevant to their area. People can take these simple steps to increase their preparedness:

Create a family emergency communication plan. Visit ready.gov/prepare and download Be Smart. Take Part: Create Your Family Emergency Communication Plan. Collect the information you need, decide on the places you will meet in case of an emergency, share the information with your family, and practice your plan.
Sign up for local text alerts and warnings and download weather apps. Stay aware of worsening weather conditions. Visit ready.gov/prepare and download Be Smart: Know Your Alerts and Warnings to learn how sign up for local alerts and weather apps that are relevant for hazards that affect your area.
Gather important documents and keep them in a safe place. Have all of your personal, medical, and legal papers in one place, so you can evacuate without worrying about gathering your family’s critical documents at the last minute. Visit ready.gov/prepare and download Be Smart: Protect Your Critical Documents and Valuables for a helpful checklist.
Create an emergency supply kit. Be prepared for bad weather by creating an emergency supply kit for each member of your family. Visit ready.gov/build-a-kit for more ideas of what to include in your kit.

Visit the America’s PrepareAthon! website, ready.gov/prepare for more information, to sign up, and to register your participation.

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FEMA Encourages Families and Communities to Participate in National PrepareAthon! Day

September is National Preparedness Month: Don’t Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today.

DENTON, Texas – “Don’t Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today.” That’s the message emergency managers are sharing with people all over Texas and beyond during the month of September.

September is National Preparedness Month and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Region 6 Office is urging everyone to take steps to make a plan and know what to do during an emergency.

Whether you deal with the possible threats of flooding, wildfires, hurricanes or power outages, the preparedness steps to take are the same. They include:

•   Knowing your risk for where you live;
•   Having an individual and family preparedness plan in place;
•   Practicing that plan;
•   Putting together an emergency kit with water and non-perishable supplies to last for at least three days for you, your family and your pets;
•   Ensuring that your contact list is up-to-date for people you may need to reach out to during a disaster; and
•   Establishing alternative methods of communication in case traditional means are not available.

Additionally, September 30 is National PrepareAthon! Day. You are encouraged to participate by doing a simple, specific action or activity to improve your preparedness and your family’s preparedness; or it can be something more elaborate that involves your neighborhood, your place of worship, your entire workplace or your community.

Visit www.ready.gov or www.ready.gov/prepare for more information on America’s PrepareAthon! You can find tools to stage your own emergency preparedness drills, as well as register any preparedness activities for you or your community.

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FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards. Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/femaregion6, and the FEMA Blog at http://blog.fema.gov.

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September is National Preparedness Month: Don’t Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today.

FEMA Officials Urge Applicants for Aid to ‘Stay in Touch,’ get answers, resolve issues

NORTH LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas residents who have registered with FEMA for disaster aid are urged by recovery officials to “stay in touch.” It’s the best way to get answers and resolve potential issues that might result in assistance being denied.

“Putting your life back together after a disaster is difficult,” said Nancy M. Casper, federal coordinating officer for FEMA. “While the process of getting help from FEMA is intended to be simple, it’s easy to understand how sometimes providing important information is overlooked or missed.”

Residents of nine Arkansas counties affected by the severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding during the period of May 7 to June 15, 2015 may be eligible for disaster assistance. Residents of Crawford, Garland, Howard, Jefferson, Little River, Miller, Perry, Sebastian, and Sevier counties are encouraged to register for assistance with FEMA.

After registering, it’s important to keep open the lines of communication. “It’s a two-way street,” said Casper. “FEMA can’t offer assistance to survivors who – for whatever reason – have not provided all the necessary information.”

After registering with FEMA, applicants will receive notice by mail within 10 days on whether or not they qualify for federal disaster assistance.

If eligible, the letter explains how much the grant will be, and how it is intended to be used.
If ineligible – or if the grant amount reads “0” – you may still qualify. The denial may just mean the application is missing information or that you missed an appointment with an inspector.

Applicants who are denied assistance may call the Helpline to understand why, or go online to www.disasterassistance.gov or m.fema.gov. Becoming eligible for assistance may be as simple as supplying missing paperwork or providing additional information.

FEMA looks at a number of things to determine if a survivor will receive disaster assistance. The agency must be able to:

Verify an applicant’s identity.
Verify damages. If you believe the inspector didn’t see all of your damages, call the FEMA Helpline at 1-800-621-3362.
Verify home occupancy. Applicants need to provide proof of occupancy such as a utility bill.
Collect insurance information.

“FEMA personnel are here to help,” said Scott Bass, state coordinating officer with the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. “Keep in touch. Use the Helpline. You’ll get answers to your questions and help with understanding the assistance process, and ways to move your personal recovery forward.”

Individuals and business owners who sustained losses can apply for assistance by registering online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or by web enabled mobile device at m.fema.gov. Disaster assistance applicants, who have a speech disability or hearing loss and use TTY, should call 1-800-462-7585 directly; for those who use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call 1-800-621-3362.

The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice. Multilingual operators are available.

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FEMA Officials Urge Applicants for Aid to ‘Stay in Touch,’ get answers, resolve issues

When You See the Yellow School Bus, Think Preparedness

Eatontown, N.J. — September is the time of year when those big yellow school buses start making their rounds, offering safe passage to school for millions of kids across the nation.

For parents, teachers and school administrators, keeping children safe and protected is a priority.

That’s why it’s important to let your children know that life may throw some surprises their way, but with a little planning and support, we can handle them.

The most important thing families can do to keep their balance when something upsets the family routine is to create a communications plan so that all members of the family know how to reconnect during a storm or other disaster.

Here are a few tips on reducing the worry and stress that naturally arises when you’re unable to get in touch with those you love:

Complete a contact form for each member of your family that includes name, address, home phone numbers and work and cell numbers for family members. Include the name of a neighbor or relative who is willing to respond in an emergency.

Agree on a meeting place in your neighborhood as well as out of town, where family members can gather should you be unable to go home.

Identify a family member or friend who lives out-of-state who can act as a central contact for household members to notify that they are safe. It may be easier to make an out-of-town call than to get a local connection.

Be sure that every member of your family knows the phone number of that contact person, has a cell phone or carries change or a prepaid phone card to be used in an emergency.

Each member of the family can program an “ICE” (In Case of Emergency) number in their phone. If you or are a family member is injured, emergency personnel can use that number to contact your family or friends. Be sure to alert the person you choose that you are designating him or her as your emergency contact.

Teach family members how to use text messaging (also known as SMS or Short Message Service) on their cell phones. Text communications can often get through when phone calls do not.

Subscribe to alert services. Many communities relay emergency messages to residents via phone calls, e-mails and text alerts. Check with your local Office of Emergency Management to sign up for the service.

Once you have created your family communication plan, practice your plan once or twice a year. That way, should an actual disaster happen, they’ll be comfortable with the routine and ready to act.

A little preparation can go a long way in helping your family stay safe and connected during an emergency. So when you see that yellow school bus, think of it as a reminder to plan and practice your family communications plan for emergencies.

For downloadable emergency contact cards and more information on developing a Family Communication Plan, view http://www.ready.gov/family-communications.

Follow FEMA online at www.twitter.com/FEMASandy, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/FEMASandy, www.facebook.com/fema, www.fema.gov/blog, and www.youtube.com/fema. Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema.

The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.”

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When You See the Yellow School Bus, Think Preparedness

FEMA, Private Sector Partner to Share Critical Information with Millions of Survivors

BATON ROUGE, La. – Critical recovery information has reached more than 2.3 million Hurricane Isaac survivors in Louisiana via Private Sector pathways, including businesses and nonprofit groups.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has partnered with the Louisiana Business Emergency Operations Center, chambers of commerce and trade associations to share messaging such as how to register for federal disaster assistance in prominent locations. Examples include:

The Outdoor Advertising Association of America displaying important registration information on electronic billboards,
In Lafourche Parish, Water District #1 and South Coast Gas Co. included registration information with their bills, while Vision Communication posted that information on its community access channel, and
Lodgenet Interactive Corporation flashing that same registration information on screens in 23,000 local hotel rooms.

Businesses have even asked their workers to spread the word, helping the registration message reach more Hurricane Isaac survivors.

FEMA’s Private Sector and Community Relations specialists have also teamed up to reach out to small, independent and owner-operated businesses, going door to door to learn about the challenges they face and to inform them of possible resources that may help them recover faster.

“The private sector plays an essential role in a community’s recovery,” said Federal Coordinating Officer Mike Hall of FEMA. “Their partnership and collaboration with government agencies helps all of us carry out the mission of recovery in Louisiana.”

The major disaster declaration for Hurricane Isaac made federal assistance available to eligible survivors in 21 parishes: Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Washington and West Feliciana.

Individuals, families and business owners who sustained uninsured and underinsured damages in those parishes can register for assistance at www.disasterassistance.gov, via web-enabled phone at m.fema.gov or by calling 1-800-621-3362 or TTY 1-800-462-7585. Those who use 711 Relay or Video Relay Services may call 1-800-621-3362. The toll-free telephone numbers operate daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-FEMA (3362). For TTY call 800-462-7585.

SBA is the federal government’s primary source of funding for the long-term rebuilding of disaster-damaged private property. SBA helps homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes, and private non-profit organizations fund repairs or rebuilding efforts, and cover the cost of replacing lost or disaster-damaged personal property. These disaster loans cover uninsured and uncompensated losses and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations. For information about SBA programs, applicants may call 800-659-2955 (TTY 800-877-8339).

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FEMA, Private Sector Partner to Share Critical Information with Millions of Survivors