Join Us for National PrepareAthon! Day on April 30
America's PrepareAthon! urges everyone to participate in activities to prepare for a wide array of hazards.
National PrepareAthon! Day – Saturday, April 30 – provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations, and communities to take action to prepare for specific hazards through group discussions, drills, and exercises.
America's PrepareAthon! 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 of actions you can take for National PrepareAthon! Day include:
- Create a family emergency communication plan. Visit ready.gov/prepare and download Be Smart. Take Part. Create Your Family Emergency Communication Plan . C ollect 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. FEMA launched a new feature to its free mobile application 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 application 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 the National Weather Service 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. Take Part. 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. Take Part. Protect Your Critical Documents and Valuables for a helpful checklist.
Visit the America's PrepareAthon! website, ready.gov/prepare , to sign up and register your participation and find information on hazards, tools, and resources.
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National PrepareAthon! Day
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Join individuals, communities, businesses, and organizations across the country who will participate in America's PrepareAthon! This national effort calls on all communities to take preparedness actions now and throughout the year for the types of emergencies that could strike their area.
When people prepare and practice for an emergency in advance of the event, it makes a real difference in their ability to take immediate and informed action, which, in turn, enables them to recover more quickly. Participation in drills, exercises, and trainings helps to establish brain patterns that support quick and effective action during an emergency.
If you need ideas on preparedness activities to do for National PrepareAthon! Day, here are 10 ways you can participate including accessing alerts and warnings , assembling or updating supplies , and safeguarding your documents .
Also, check out a webinar on how communities are participating in the America's PrepareAthon! campaign. It may inspire you to: Be Smart. Take Part. Prepare.
Be sure to register your activities on ready.gov/prepare , so your activities toward building a more prepared Nation will be counted! |
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Periscope Broadcast: Preparing Your Pet for an Emergency
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During an emergency, every second counts and it's easy to forget things. This is why advance planning for every member of your family, including your pets, is important.
On Wednesday, May 4 at 2:00 p.m. EDT , follow @PrepareAthon on Periscope for a discussion on how to prepare your cat, dog, bird, or any other animal for a disaster.
In the live broadcast, you'll hear about how to create a pet emergency kit, what items should be included in the kit, how to find an emergency animal shelter, and even what NOT to do.
Share this with your family and friends, especially other pet owners.
Periscope is a free live video streaming mobile application that is compatible with the Apple (iOS) and Android (Google) mobile operating systems. To join the live broadcast, the application must be enabled on your mobile device. |
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Give the GIF of Preparedness
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On Saturday, April 30 – National PrepareAthon! Day – help spread the importance of taking a preparedness action, and most of all have fun doing it!
Share the preparedness GIF image on your social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. You're encouraged to use the below social media content, but get creative and make it your own.
Include the below language with the GIF on April 30:
Twitter:
- Our emergency kits are ready. Now it's your turn to #Prepare and Share. Visit ready.gov/prepare #PrepareAthon
Facebook:
- Do your #weekend plans include making an #emergency kit? Visit ready.gov/prepare #PrepareAthon #springtime #weather
Download the GIF by following the below steps:
- Click on the link to open the animated image: http://1.usa.gov/20Y5dqo .
- Save it to your computer or mobile device.
- Share the file on your social media channels.
Sharing on Social Media:
Some social media platform like Facebook may require additional steps to upload a GIF. For Facebook, you must:
- Go to Settings>Videos>Auto-Play Videos and turn “Auto-play” on.
- Copy and paste the following in the body of your post: http://1.usa.gov/20Y5dqo .
Don't forget to also follow #PrepareAthon to see the nationwide preparedness activities happening. |
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Communities Take the Wildfire Challenge
In preparation for Wildfire Community Preparedness Day on Saturday, May 7 , many organizations are creating a project that will not only bring attention to wildfires but also gather people together to prevent wildfires.
The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo , a significant cultural site located in the forested hillside near Colorado Springs, CO, is teaming up with the Colorado Springs Fire Department and TwoCor Youth Corps – a vocational training program for troubled youth for their wildfire project. Recent tussock moth impacts resulted in dead standing trees in and around the zoo, creating a fire hazard that will impact both humans and animals. The groups will remove the trees and tackle other much needed fuel reduction and safety training.
Also, a small rural community in Drake, CO is putting together a neighborhood-wide BBQ and wildfire educational event on May 7. The event, dubbed “We Survived Together,” will highlight the community's experience with extensive wildfire and flooding from the nearby Big Thompson River Canyon. The get-together is set to focus on evacuation planning and getting to know their neighbors, so if an emergency should happen – they have strong ties to assist.
Wildfire Community Preparedness Day is next week. To participate, find a local wildfire preparedness activity near you .
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FEMA App Takes on Preparedness
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As FEMA Deputy Administrator of Protection and National Preparedness Tim Manning put it, “our lives are increasingly busy and on-the-go.” The FEMA mobile application now makes it easier to prepare for emergencies even for those with busy schedules.
FEMA launched a reminder feature to its free mobile application 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 reminder feature allows mobile users to receive pre-scheduled safety and preparedness tips, including testing smoking alarms, practicing a fire escape plan, updating emergency kits, and replacing smoke alarm batteries.
The FEMA mobile application can be downloaded for free in the Apple App Store and Android Google Play Store. |
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In Case You Missed It
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Dates for Your Calendar
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