Some Things You Can Do Around The House To Prepare For Disaster

• Know where the gas, water and power shutoffs are and have the tools near by to be able to shut them off. It is also a good idea to write down where the shutoffs are so that another family member or neighbor can shut them off if you are not home.
• Make an emergency plan and escape route for your home and practice it with your family. It is also a good idea to make sure children know how to contact 911.
• Fasten shelves and heavy pictures or mirrors securely to walls, and don't place them over beds or couches.
• Keep plenty of aluminum foil on hand, it can serve many purposes in an emergency. Also very useful are zip-seal plastic bags, these have many first aid uses, use for insulation, padding, to stop a sucking chest wound. Even if they are not being re-used to hold things after emptied. Remember, depending on the size of the disaster, industry/supply may fall apart, and simple things we take for granted may not be available for a long time. After a disaster, think twice before throwing something away you might be able to put it to use.
• Make sure you have a few large fire extinguishers in your home type ABC, and that everyone knows how to use them.
• Keep a 5 gal. pail with seat/cover, in it store some garbage bags and several rolls of toilet paper. This can be stored easily in a garage or basement and makes an excellent emergency toilet if your home is damaged or there is no water supply.
• Strap gas appliances to walls or the floor, especially the hot water heater. Your water heater is a very good, large source of drinking water. They are also very heavy, if it were to fall it would break the glass lining of the hot water heater and ruin your water for drinking. If it fell, it would also break the gas lines. Gas appliances are the cause of most fires after an earthquake or hurricane.
• Replace solid gas lines with flexible lines for gas dryers, water heaters, stoves and any other gas appliances. (Check with local building codes)
• Keep bleach and ammonia products in separate areas. If they combine they create a very deadly gas.
• Install emergency lighting.