In celebration of National Disaster Preparedness Month, Companions For Life has created a series of short weekly articles to guide you through preparing your pets - and your family - for a disaster.
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Week #1 - Developing An Evacuation Plan.
Prepare an evacuation plan now. Don’t wait until you need one. Take a few minutes now to decide where you will go should you need to evacuate.
Disasters can strike at any time. Where will you be? At work? School? Who will get your pets out?
If you’re away from home when an evacuation is ordered, you likely won’t be allowed back in. Be sure your family knows where to meet if they can’t get home, and make sure a trusted neighbor or friend has access to what they need to get into your home and can get your pets – and knows where to go to meet you.
Will you meet your family members at your place of employment or your spouses? A local hotel? A family member’s home? What if the evacuation order encompasses those places also? Have a secondary location to fall back on. Keep in mind, communication is limited during a disaster. You may not be able to reach your family members by phone. That's when having an evacuation plan in place will really pay off!
Think through all the possibilities, put your plan in writing, and be sure each member of the family knows and understands where to go and who is responsible for the animals. It will only take a few moments, but will be invaluable in a crisis.
Don't think you need a plan? Even an inland area like the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex can be threatened - by fires, floods, biological weapons, nuclear power plant malfunctions, toxic train derailments, tornadoes, and more.
Next week - Identifying available resources.
**********************************************
Week #1 - Developing An Evacuation Plan.
Prepare an evacuation plan now. Don’t wait until you need one. Take a few minutes now to decide where you will go should you need to evacuate.
Disasters can strike at any time. Where will you be? At work? School? Who will get your pets out?
If you’re away from home when an evacuation is ordered, you likely won’t be allowed back in. Be sure your family knows where to meet if they can’t get home, and make sure a trusted neighbor or friend has access to what they need to get into your home and can get your pets – and knows where to go to meet you.
Will you meet your family members at your place of employment or your spouses? A local hotel? A family member’s home? What if the evacuation order encompasses those places also? Have a secondary location to fall back on. Keep in mind, communication is limited during a disaster. You may not be able to reach your family members by phone. That's when having an evacuation plan in place will really pay off!
Think through all the possibilities, put your plan in writing, and be sure each member of the family knows and understands where to go and who is responsible for the animals. It will only take a few moments, but will be invaluable in a crisis.
Don't think you need a plan? Even an inland area like the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex can be threatened - by fires, floods, biological weapons, nuclear power plant malfunctions, toxic train derailments, tornadoes, and more.
Next week - Identifying available resources.
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