• Behavioral Issues
• Child Care
• Cleaning Up After a Storm
• Communication
• Deciding To Stay Or Go
• Evacuation Shelters
• First Aid & Medical
• Flood Center
• Food and Water
• Help the Relief Effort
• Insurance Center
• Lighting & Power
• Pet Care
• Preparing Your Home
• Special Needs
• Storms Explained

Creating Emergency Contacts

After Hurricane Katrina, many people lost contact with family members and friends, and were unsure how they would reach them again. As a result, many people went through a lot of pain. For days, thousands of people wondered what had become of loved ones; if more communications plans had been intact before the hurricane, perhaps some of this pain could have been avoided.

For many Americans, Katrina was a rude awakening to the importance of preparation.
Years later, the OneStorm team hopes that those lessons haven’t been forgotten. We know that after any disaster, communication will inevitably be affected. That's why it's so important to establish a communications plan before a disaster- it can only help you and your family.

 

Before the Disaster: Contact Persons

• You should establish at least two emergency contact persons:
  • One should be local. This is especially helpful for families with children. It can quickly resolve many situations- for example, this is a great tool for families to use should children ever become lost in the community.
  • One should be out of the area. Note that it may be helpful to set up more than one out-of-town contact. During and after a disaster, this contact may prove to be more important that your local contact- the further away from the disaster site that the contact is, the better chance that their communication lines have been unaffected.
  • If you are planning on a hurricane affecting your area, let the out-of-town contact know what is happening. It often helps to prepare the person so they know to stay around a telephone or check their e-mail frequently.
• Make sure you tell the emergency contact that they are your emergency contact. This may help to alleviate some confusion, and they can plan ahead on what to do should you ever need them.

 

Using an Emergency Contact Card

• OneStorm offers free, wallet-sized Emergency Contact Cards for you and your family to fill out and use.
• For all the members of your family, including yourself, make a laminated emergency contact card with the local and out of town contact listed. Include their phone number and address.
• Instruct your family that should they be separated, they are to call the contact person(s) to let them know where they are.
• It is also helpful to list family information on this card (name, address, age, relatives’ names and phone numbers, important medical information).
• Make sure that your children understand the information on the card and that they realize appropriate times to call the numbers on the card.