Plan, Prepare and Practice |
Take Direction from Authorities
Plan, Prepare and Practice
- Take appropriate steps in planning ahead before disaster strikes.
- Having a plan and being prepared will help reduce stress.
- ready.gov: Make a Plan;
Emergency Alerts and Warnings;
video: Preparing Makes Sense 4:32;
other preparedness videos - Medford: preparedness tips, evacuation checklist
- How to prepare to evacuate
before disaster strikes Mail Tribune; 8/1/2021 - Emergency Preparedness and Resilience Toolkit
1. Prepare the Essentials
2. Inventory Personal Property
3. Evacuation Zones, Routes
4. Understand Your Insurance
5. Store Important Documents;
Ashland Chamber of Commerce; 7/2021 - Pack a ‘Go Bag’ Now
To begin, have a plan.
Pack everyone their own bag.
Know you could be gone for a while.
Break your packing into categories: Clothing; important Paperwork;
Health essentials; Food and Water;
NYT; 9/19/2020 - Communicating with loved-ones will be difficult.
- ready.gov: What is my family/household communication plan? 4/2021
- People and Pets -- Have a plan.
Do you know at least two ways out of your community?
Where will you meet family after evacuation?
Where will you stay and how will you contact each other?
Where will your pets stay? - ready.gov: Older Adults; Kids; Special Needs; Evacuation Route;
Pets or Service Animals; Shelter Plan - Jackson County: Personal and Family Preparedness;
Access and Functional Needs; Pets and Livestock - Papers, phone numbers, and important documents.
Deeds, birth certificates and other irreplaceable documents
should be in one location so these can be
grabbed at a moment’s notice. - ready.gov: Emergency Kit; Emer. Financial First Aid Kit
- Everplans: All The Things You Should Consider Taking
With You In An Emergency Evacuation; checklist .pdf - Prescriptions, eyeglasses, and vitamins.
You may be gone from your home for days,
so insure you have access to all your health related items. - Credit cards, ATM cards and cash.
- Pictures (not yet scanned or digital) and
irreplaceable memorabilia -- these could be lost forever. - Chargers, cables, batteries.
Personal computers, tablets, backup drives
or any info on external media.
Passwords: paper or backed up and encrypted to cloud.
Consider encrypting critical docs onto a web based service. - Any paper or digital info or financial items left behind
-- can't be used by you, but might be found by looters. - ready.gov: Get Tech Ready
- What Belongs in Your Survival Kit, From 8 People Who Know Something About Disasters NYT; 6/1/2023
- Best Home Emergency Kit Gear: Flashlights, Stoves, Chargers, and More Wired; 1/26/2023
- How to build a tech emergency kit ApIn; 9/26/2022
- 14 Essentials You Need in a Car Emergency Kit Wired; 5/18/2022
- How to Stay Safe if You're Trapped in Your Car During a Snowstorm
pack a go bag; stay warm; take care of yourself; pets?
be visible to rescuers; driving when the storm passes; NYT; 1/5/2022 - Preparing for an emergency: How to document your belongings
speed up the insurance claim process by cataloging your possessions in advance; CNet; 11/1/2021 - Is Your 'Go Bag' Ready? 'Stay Bin'? NYT; 9/2/2021
- Emergency Kits MailTribune; 5/17/2021
- How to Pack a 'Go Bag' for Emergency Evacuations LH; 2/1/2021
- OLLI Course: Be Safer on the Internet: Backups: Disaster; Encryption
Take Direction from Authorities
- Know your Zone. Plan several possible evacuation routes.
- Ashland: ashland.or.us/evacuate:
Know Your Zone; Know Your Alerts; Get Ready; Evac. Time Study - Jackson County: Evacuation Zones: Ashland, Medford, Central Point, Talent
- When you are asked to leave your home, Go!
- Always have your disaster supply kit stocked and ready for use.
- Implement your plan just as you’ve practiced
in the past during non-disaster situations. - Stay calm.
- Situational awareness:
be aware of your surroundings such as
downed power lines, fallen objects,
pedestrians and traffic, and
spills or other potential hazards. - Jackson County: Live Evac Map -- with links (now inactive) for:
Missing Persons Form and Evacuation Check In - Almeda, Obenchain Maps .pdf: 9/2020; e.g., on right
- City of Ashland: Emergency Operations Plan 7/31/2018