• Download the FEMA App to sign up to receive emergency alerts for your area.
• Sign up to receive emergency notifications from your local emergency management agency, and if possible, monitor their social media accounts.
  • Apps, alerts, and social media will also provide information on open shelters, assistance centers, and warming or cooling centers.
• Contact neighbors, friends, and family in advance, especially if they are part of your support network before, during, or after a disaster. Confirm your plans and make sure they'll still be available to help.
• Check batteries in flashlights, and if you have one, a battery-operated or hand-crank weather radio. Keep these items nearby in case you lose power.
  • Charge up your devices, just in case!
• Talk to your doctor or provider about their plans for backup oxygen supplies, power-dependent devices, and additional medications. 
• If you have Long COVID or are otherwise at greater risk of illness if exposed to COVID-19, influenza, and other infectious diseases, protect your health and safety if you need to evacuate. If your plan includes staying with friends or relatives, try to have at least two options available.
  • Check with friends or relatives before you leave home to make sure no one in the household is ill, has been recently exposed to, or is showing symptoms of infectious disease.
  • If, for any reason, you are unable to stay with either household, and you cannot go to a hotel or motel, find the nearest open shelter by calling the Red Cross at 1-800-733-2767. Ask for the shelter phone number and call to find out what measures will be taken to protect shelter residents from infectious diseases. Ask if you, your household members, and caregivers will be given the option to isolate from others and still receive services.
• Whether you go to friends or relatives or to a shelter, continue any pre-disaster precautions you would to protect your and your household members’ health:
  • Wear face coverings, and try to bring your own supply of the kind you prefer. If you are staying in a shelter and forget or run out of face masks, a shelter or health services worker should be able to help you get more, including surgical and N-95 masks.
  • Maintain six (6) feet of distance between yourself and others. If necessary, ask people to respect that space.
  • Make people aware of your comfort level with things like shaking hands, fist or elbow bumping, and hugging.
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If you can, use hand sanitizer when handwashing isn’t possible.
• If possible, plan several different escape routes from your home and community. Practice these often so everyone in your family is familiar in case of emergency.
  • Include your service animals and pets in these practice runs so they become comfortable. Make note of any additional support or training they may need to stay calm and focused.
• Be sure you and everyone in your household knows where to meet if you are separated. This is also important if your home is damaged and you need to go to a shelter or to friends or family.
  • If possible, ask a friend or relative who lives outside your area to be a single point of contact for everyone in case household members can’t get to your meeting place. It’s easier to call or message one person and let them contact others than to try and call everyone when phone, cell, and internet systems can be overloaded or limited during a disaster.
• Avoid areas where power lines are down, but know how to stay safe if you’re in a situation where you must deal with them. Learn more by watching this video from Puget Sound Energy, “This Might Shock You: Downed Power Line”
• Public libraries act as warming and cooling centers during their regular operating hours. Find your nearest library at https://www.usa.gov/libraries. 
• Take CPR training so you know how to help when someone is hurt.

The 6 Ps of Emergency Evacuation:

• People and pets
• Papers, phone numbers, and other important documents
• Prescriptions, vitamins, hearing aids, and eyeglasses
• Pictures and irreplaceable memorabilia
• Personal computers/tablets, portable hard drives, and thumb drives
• Plastic (credit cards, ATM cards) and cash

• Know if and where warming centers have been opened. Remember, public libraries act as warming centers during their regular operating hours. Other community warming centers may be open 24/7 and can be found on your city’s government or county emergency management website and social media, or by calling 211 or 311. This information may also be available by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS (733-2767).
• Try to do everything you can to be ready. Think about having your disaster kit ready. Think about supplies in your car if you are going to be out and about.
• Bring your outside pets inside and keep them and your service animals warm. If there are outdoor pets who refuse to come inside, try to ensure they have a warm space to go to with plenty of food. Be sure to check on them.
• Think about water - for drinking and hand washing, teeth brushing, and flushing - in case your pipes freeze and/or burst. Be sure to have some for your pets as well. Remember, it’s a gallon a day per person. Make sure you prioritize having enough water for everyone in the household, as our nation’s infrastructure is decrepit and in need of serious repairs. While the water in your home might not freeze, that doesn’t mean the infrastructure will hold up.
• Let water drip. A trickle of hot and cold water might be all it takes to keep your pipes from freezing. Let warm water drip overnight when temperatures are cold, preferably from a faucet mounted on a wall that faces the outside of your house.
• Adjust the thermostat. Keeping your thermostat set at the same temperature during both day and night also reduces the risk of frozen pipes. During extreme cold, this also helps reduce the strain on your home’s heating system.
• Open cabinet doors. This allows heat to get to uninsulated pipes under sinks and appliances near exterior walls.
  
• Be prepared for power outages. Charge any external batteries to be able to charge phones, tablets, laptops. Know where your flashlights, lanterns, and batteries are to be able to find them quickly and easily. It's a good idea to have a flashlight beside everyone’s bedside.
• If you lose power, some tips are putting blankets over windows and bedroom doors to help insulate the room. If you have tile or wooden floors and no rugs, put blankets, towels, even folded sheets down on the floor to help reduce the cold from the floor. Put bath mats and towels down on the bathroom floor to make it warmer. A towel on the toilet will help reduce the coolness a bit but it will still be chilly to sit on.
• If you have a carbon monoxide detector, check the batteries are working. Remember it should be at the same level as your bed height(s), NOT on the ceiling! If you resort to going into one closed-off room, remember to bring the carbon monoxide detector into the room with you.

• Be very careful with using candles for a light source, and remember to put them out.
• Do NOT use a generator inside your home, garage, or enclosed spaces.

• The National Weather Service defines severe thunderstorms as storms that are capable of producing hail an inch or larger in size, and/or wind gusts over 58 miles per hour (mph). Hail this size can damage property such as plants, roofs and vehicles. Wind this strong can break off large branches, knock over trees or cause them structural damage.
• Some severe thunderstorms can produce hail larger than softballs or winds over 100 mph, so it’s important to pay attention to the weather so you know when severe storms are possible. Thunderstorms can produce tornadoes and dangerous lightning, and heavy rains that can cause flash flooding.
• Severe thunderstorms can occur anywhere in the United States, so it’s important to understand the difference between a watch and a warning, no matter where you live: 
  • Severe Thunderstorm Watch: Be Prepared!

Severe thunderstorms are possible in and near the watch area. Stay informed and be ready to act if a severe thunderstorm warning is issued. The watch area is typically large, covering numerous counties or even states.

• • Severe Thunderstorm Warning: Take Action!

Severe weather has been reported by spotters or indicated by radar. Warnings indicate imminent danger to life and property. Take shelter in a substantial building. Mobile homes can blow over in high winds. Warnings typically encompass a much smaller area (around the size of a city or small county) that may be impacted by large hail or damaging wind identified by a National Weather Service (NWS) forecaster on radar or by a trained spotter or law enforcement watching the storm.

• Severe thunderstorms can intensify rapidly. Being prepared is the most important thing you can do to keep yourself and your household safe.
  • Check the forecast regularly to see if you're at risk for severe weather. Listen to local news or a weather radio to stay informed about severe thunderstorm watches and warnings. 
  • Pick a safe room in your home such as a basement, storm cellar, or an interior room on the lowest floor with no windows. 
  • Conduct a family severe-thunderstorm-drill regularly so everyone knows what to do if damaging winds or large hail is approaching. 
  • Keep trees and branches trimmed near your house. 
  • If you have time before severe weather hits: 
    • move loose objects, such as outdoor furniture, wall art and signs, windchimes, and trash and recycle containers inside or under a sturdy structure 
    • close windows and doors 
• Lightning is hotter than the surface of the sun and can reach temperatures of 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Know how to keep safe when severe thunderstorms produce lightning.

This video from the National Weather Service provides safety tips for the whole community

• Use every minute to focus on getting yourself and your loved ones into the safest place in your home. Stay away from windows and exterior doors, and do not take time closing them. 
• If possible, protect yourself and others from flying debris indoors and out by ensuring everyone is wearing a helmet throughout the tornado watch/warning period. A motorcycle helmet with a full face shield provides the best possible head, neck and face protection. Any helmet is better than none, so a bicycle helmet or hard hat will also work. Use the best possible helmet you can find or purchase, and remember to keep chin straps securely fastened. 
• Take cover in a basement or a windowless area on the lowest floor of your home, such as a bathroom, interior hallway, under stair area, or large closets. 
  • Bathtubs are often anchored directly to the foundation or ground and sometimes are the only thing still in place after a tornado. If you can do so easily, get into the bathtub and cover yourself with sofa cushions, pillows, blankets, or heavy coats for added protection if the walls, ceiling, or roof collapse. 
  • If sheltering in an interior hallway, close all doors to rooms. In hallways, too, consider covering yourself with cushions, blankets, or heavy coats. 
• Storm prediction technology is constantly improving, allowing forecasters to provide information much sooner. Try to avoid scheduling outdoor events, and activities which would require you to be out in a car when severe weather is probable. 
• If severe weather is forecasted and you are in a mobile home, try to leave as soon as possible and get to the nearest sturdy building. Metal or wood storage buildings, sheds, and RVs are not sturdy enough to withstand extreme straight-line or tornadic winds. Seek shelter in a building constructed of brick, concrete or cinder-block, maybe a friend or family member’s home, community shelter, or other public and private buildings. 
• If you live in a mobile home community, try to prepare with your community well in advance so that everyone has a plan for getting to a safer place. Think about transportation and how to support neighbors and friends who may not have a way to leave. 
• If you have to be out in a car when extreme weather is expected, keep your radio tuned to local weather. If you learn that severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are approaching, you should immediately drive to the nearest shelter or safe place and get indoors. Do not take shelter under an overpass, as they may take on a tunneling effect which could increase wind speeds.

• Wildfires are most common in the western half of the United States, but it’s important for everyone, regardless of where you may live, to understand wildfire watches, warnings, and alerts issued by the National Weather Service (NWS):
  • Fire Weather Watch: Be Prepared

    A Watch alerts land managers and the public that upcoming weather conditions could result in extensive wildland fire occurrence or extreme fire behavior. A Fire Weather Watch means critical fire weather conditions are possible but not imminent or occurring.

• • Red Flag Warning: Take Action

    Be extremely careful with open flames. NWS issues a Red Flag Warning alongside land management agencies, to alert land managers and the public to an ongoing or imminent critical fire weather pattern. A Red Flag Warning means fire conditions are ongoing or expected to occur shortly.

• • Extreme Fire Behavior
    
    This alert implies a wildfire likely to rage out of control. It is often hard to predict these fires because they behave erratically and sometimes dangerously. The NWS uses very specific fire science criteria to determine the need for this alert.

• When you receive watch or warning alerts for enhanced fire weather, take precautions immediately to keep yourself and others in your household safe:
  • Follow instructions issued by local officials. Leave immediately if ordered!
• When mandatory evacuation orders have not been issued:
  • Do not light campfires, bonfires, candles or anything else that could blow over and start a fire.
  • If you smoke, be sure to extinguish your cigarette or cigar before disposing of it.
  • Never throw a burning item out a window.
  • Fuel up your vehicle in case you need to evacuate.
  • If you are advised to stay indoors due to smoky conditions, protect yourself and your household:
    • Keep windows and doors closed
    • Use your home’s central air conditioning system to keep cool
    • Turn off window air conditioning units. If possible, remove them and close the windows. Use electric or battery-operated fans to keep cool.
    • If you are unable to stay comfortably cool in your home, go to a shelter or cooling center. Remember, public libraries operate as cooling and warming centers during their normal hours of operation.
  • Remember, you don’t have to wait for mandatory evacuation orders. If you feel unsafe in your home, follow your personal evacuation plan and go to your safe place. Use the resources provided in the General Tips section if you need to locate a shelter, and to check for any road closings on your evacuation routes.
• Making Your Home Safer from WildfiresOnly California and Oregon have state laws requiring residents to take specific actions to protect homes and other buildings on their property, such as garages, by creating defensible space. This helps slow or halt the progress of an approaching wildfire, keeps firefighters safe while they defend your home, and improves your home’s and other buildings’ chances of withstanding a wildfire.

• Learn more about California’s law.
• Learn more about Oregon’s law.
  
  • Note: Make sure to check with your local fire station about laws in your area, as many local jurisdictions may have more strict requirements.

• From Move.org: The Most Dangerous States for Wildfires 2021

• Flying embers can travel miles ahead of an active wildfire, and are responsible for igniting the majority of homes lost to wildfires. If you live in other states at increased risk for wildfires, it’s a good idea to maintain defensible space.If for any reason it is difficult for you to create and maintain this space, ask for help from your support network. You can also contact your local fire department on their non-emergency phone line to ask if they can assist you.If you are a renter, talk with your landlord or property manager about their plans to maintain defensible spaces, and any safety concerns you may have. 

• The list below offers low- and no-cost maintenance actions to help make your home safer from wildfires, and from everyday fires, too.

• • The first five (5) feet around your home are the most important. Keep this area, including decks, porches and patios, free of items which can easily catch fire.
  • Remove dead vegetation, trash, mulch, pine cones and needles, and other flammable materials, especially within that first 5 feet of your home. Do not use groundcover plants, shrubs or other landscaping plants and planters in this area.
  • Remove any wood or plastic items attached to or located within 5 feet of your home, such as trellises, lattice, arches, other decorative items, planters, outdoor furniture, and any natural fiber doormats or outdoor rugs. Replace them with others made of metal, cast aluminum, stone, and heavy rubber for doormats.
  • KEEP your lawn as hydrated and as short as possible. If heat and lack of water turn your lawn brown, cut it down to the level of the ground to help reduce fire intensity.
  • PRUNE tree limbs so the lowest branches are 6 to 10 feet above the ground to help reduce the chance of fire getting into the crowns of the trees.
  • MOVE construction material, trash, and fire wood piles at least 30 feet away from the home and any other outbuildings.
  • DISPOSE of branches, weeds, leaves, pine needles, and grass clippings that you have cut to reduce fuel for radiant or direct heat.

• Tropical storms, hurricanes and typhoons are the same weather phenomenon: tropical cyclones. A tropical cyclone is a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and has a closed center of circulation. They are dangerous storms which can cause major damage from storm surge, high winds, flooding, tornadoes, and rip currents. They can happen along any U.S. coast or in any territory in the Atlantic or Pacific oceans. They can also affect areas hundreds of miles inland from where they make landfall. Significant impacts can occur, even when a storm is not a major hurricane. Storm surge is historically the leading cause of hurricane-related deaths in the United States.

The only difference between a hurricane and a typhoon is the location where the storm occurs. They are called hurricanes in the Eastern Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, and typhoons in the Central Pacific Ocean.

• The best time to prepare for hurricanes is before the official start of the season:
  • Eastern Pacific Hurricane Season: May 15-November 30
  • Atlantic Hurricane Season: June 1-November 30
  • Central Pacific Typhoon Season: June 1-November 30
• Understand how tropical storms and hurricanes/typhoons are classified:

• • Tropical Depression: A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 38 mph or less.
  • Tropical Storm: A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph.
  • Hurricane/Typhoon: Categorized from 1 to 5 based on sustained wind speeds, with categories 3 to 5 defined as major hurricanes/typhoons.

• • • Category 1, sustained winds of 74 to 95 mph

• • • Category 2, sustained winds of 96 to 110 mph

• • • Category 3, sustained winds of 111 to 129 mph

• • • Category 4, sustained winds of 130 to 156 mph

• • • Category 5, sustained winds of 157 mph or more

Learn about the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale and the damage that typically occurs with each category

• Knowing the difference between watches and warnings can help you and your family stay safe as a storm threatens your area. Watches mean that severe conditions haven’t occurred yet, but could in the near future. If a warning is issued, it means dangerous weather will soon begin. Preparedness activities become difficult once winds reach tropical storm force. 

Listen for National Weather Service (NWS) alerts on TV or radio, on your smartphone or tablet, or check for them online. There are two kinds of alerts:

• • A tropical storm/hurricane watch means tropical storm/hurricane conditions are possible within 48 hours.
  • A tropical storm/hurricane warning is more serious. It means tropical storm/hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours.

• It is also important to listen for storm surge watches and warnings. Storm surge is the most dangerous and destructive part of coastal flooding. It can produce a rushing wall of water that floods homes and buildings, erodes beaches, and damages roadways.
  • A storm surge watch means there is a possibility of life-threatening flooding from rising water moving inland from the shoreline somewhere within the specified area, generally within 48 hours.

• • A storm surge warning means there is a danger of life-threatening flooding from rising water moving inland from the shoreline somewhere within the specified area, generally within 36 hours. If you are under a storm surge warning, check for evacuation orders from your local officials.

• Just as you would for any other type of emergency, make a plan for yourself and your household, including your service animals, emotional support animals, and pets.

Make sure everyone in your household knows your hurricane plans. Include workplaces, children's daycare and schools, landlords or property managers, neighbors, friends, and family members who don’t live with you. 

• Hurricanes are considered notice events, because they can be tracked as they develop over a period of days. Watches and warnings are typically issued in time to allow at least 36 to 48 hours to plan for evacuation.

Planning is vital to making sure that you can evacuate quickly and safely with the rest of your household. The first thing you need to know is whether you live in a designated Evacuation Zone, and if so, which one. If you’re not sure, use this state-by-state list to find information for your area.

• • Follow instructions from local emergency managers, who work closely with state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies and partners. They will provide the latest recommendations based on the threat to your community and appropriate safety measures.

• Once you know your Evacuation Zone and evacuation routes, plan how you will leave and where you will go if emergency managers recommend evacuation or issue mandatory evacuation orders.

• • If you have a car:

• • • Try to keep a full tank of gas if an evacuation seems likely. Try to keep a half tank of gas in it at all times in case of an unexpected need to evacuate. Gas stations may be closed during emergencies and unable to pump gas during power outages.

• • Try to identify several places you could go in an emergency such as a friend’s or family member’s home in another town. Choose destinations in different directions so that you have options.
  • Follow recommended evacuation routes. Do not take shortcuts, they may be blocked.
  • Be alert for road hazards such as washed-out roads or bridges and downed power lines. Do not drive into flooded areas.
  • Be familiar with alternate routes and other means of transportation out of your area.
  • If you do not have a car, plan how you will leave if you are advised or ordered to evacuate. Decide with family, friends and/or your local emergency management office to see what resources may be available.
  • Refer to the General Tips section for additional planning tips common to all hazards.
  • Practice your evacuation plan with your support network, and with your household members, including your service animals, emotional support animals, and pets.

• If you go to a community evacuation shelter, check with your local jurisdiction to learn what may or may not be available. Many evacuation shelters do not set up cots, and advise evacuees to bring items they’ll need to be comfortable until emergency management deems it safe for people to return to their homes. 

Review the list below, and if you can, bring the included items and any others you and your household members may need to support activities of daily living. The goal is to make sure you and others in your household are able to maintain a pre-disaster level of independence.

• • Medications
  • Change(s) of clothing. Consider taking sturdy shoes and clothing that provides some protection, such as long pants, long-sleeved shirts, and a hat. These items will be most important when emergency management deems it safe for citizens to return to their homes.
  • Cellphone and Charger
  • Tablets and communication devices for children and adults who use specific apps for visual schedules, communication boards, education and/or entertainment. Be sure to include chargers for these devices, too.
  • If you use an electric-powered mobility device, be sure to bring your charger, and if possible.
  • Sensory items for children or adults who may need more or less stimulation to help them cope with the shelter environment and disruption to their regular routine.
  • Hygiene items, especially if you have sensitivities to chemicals, perfumes or dyes.
  • Food items required due to food allergies/sensitivities or other dietary needs.
  • Food, bowls, leashes, kennels, bedding, as needed, for service animals, emotional support animals, and pets.
  • Bed sheets or sleeping bags, and pillows.
  • Towels
  • Portable crib for infants and toddlers

• Keep in mind the timing of the arrival of tropical storm-force winds and storm surge in your area. Think about other things you may need or want to do if time allows before you must leave your home.

• • Call or email the out-of-state contact in your family communications plan. Tell them where you are going.
  • If you are leaving in your own or a household member’s car, consider checking with neighbors who may need a ride.
  • Secure your home by closing and locking doors and windows.
  • Unplug electrical equipment such as radios, televisions and small appliances. Leave freezers and refrigerators plugged in unless your home is at greater risk of flooding.
  • Consider leaving a note telling others when you left and where you are going. Write the note on paper or cardboard, in permanent marker, if you have one. Tack it as high up as possible on a wall near an entrance to your home, so it will be noticed quickly if neighbors, friends, and family members are trying to find you after the storm.

• After the storm has passed, check with local officials both where you’re staying and in the area you left, to find out if they have deemed it safe to return home. Gather all the information you can so you know what to expect while traveling back and once you get there.

• • Check local news outlets for photos, video and audio or print descriptions of storm damage.
  • Does your area have power? Water? Stable cell phone service? If not, when will utility services be restored?
  • Will you be allowed into your neighborhood only long enough to check for damage to your home, or will you be able to stay there permanently?
  • If your home is uninhabitable, will there be temporary accessible housing options available while you wait for it to be repaired?
  • If you were renting and cannot return to your home, will you have options for accessible rental properties in the area?
  • Would you be willing to relocate for better housing options and/or access to home and community based services?
• There are likely to be many more questions and decisions to deal with after the storm has passed. Your local Center for Independent Living, Area Agency on Aging, and your city and county/parish emergency management offices are good places to start for disaster relief and recovery resources.