REGION:

Mouse over each region to see most common disasters.

disaster preparedness plan tips:

1. Gather information: Become informed about hazards that can affect the region where you live. Find out if your community has warning signals and/or evacuation plans.
2. Assemble a Preparedness Kit: Make sure you have enough food and water to provide for your family for two weeks; Food Insurance's™ Essentials Kit and EmergencyPlus Kit are perfect for this. Additionally, you'll want to add things like medication, first aid supplies, water filters, heat sources, clothing, blankets, and temporary shelter.
3. Setup a Family Plan: Choose a place outside your home but nearby to meet in case of an emergency. Choose a secondary meeting location away from your neighborhood in case you can't get home. Select a friend or relative who lives out-of-state as your "family check-in contact".
4. Prepare Your Home: Post emergency telephone numbers by phones, and teach childern when and how to call 911. Install and maintain smoke alarms and fire extinguishers. Store important family documents in waterproof containers. Keep your Preparedness Kit in a location where it is easily accessable in case of a quick evacuation.
5. Practice and Maintain Your Plan: It is important to make sure that each member of your family knows your Disaster Preparedness Plan. Practice your plan, and update it as needed.

With preparation, and with survival food kits from Food Insurance™, you can ensure your family is prepared for whatever the future may hold. Don't wait — start working on your family's disaster plan today.

preparation for specific disasters:

hurricane

Hurricanes bring wind, many times in excess of 155 mph, rain, and floods, and leave a path of destruction that may take years to overcome.

When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, it left thousands of people in the New Orleans area without water, food, shelter, and power for several days after the storm itself had passed. In 2011, shortly before Hurricane Irene reached the east coast of the United States, it was reported that many grocery stores had sold out of all of their food.

Many ask how to be prepared for a situation like this. The first step is taking care of the essentials, having enough food and water (or a good water filter) on hand to take care of each member of your family for two weeks. Food Insurance's™ The Essential Kit and Emergency Plus Kit are perfect solutions for taking care of your family's basic needs. Other things you may want to include in your family's emergency preparedness supply are extra clothing, bedding, tents, and medicine.

tornado

A tornado is nature's most violent storm. Spawned from powerful thunderstorms, tornadoes can cause fatalities and devastate a neighborhood in seconds. A tornado appears as a rotating, funnel-shaped cloud that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground with whirling winds that can reach 300 miles per hour. Damage paths can be in excess of one mile wide and 50 miles long. Although tornados generally occur in the mid-west and southern regions of the United States, every state is at some risk for tornados.

Your family's disaster preparedness plan for a tornado should include enough food and water (or a good water filter) on hand to take care of each member of your family for two weeks. Food Insurance's™ The Essential Kit and Emergency Plus Kit are perfect solutions for taking care of your family's basic needs. Other things you may want to include in your family's emergency preparedness supply are extra clothing, bedding, tents, and medicine.

When a tornado hits, it's too late to begin thinking about disaster preparedness and what your family will do if a tornado disaster strikes your area. Advanced preparation is the best thing you can do to ensure your family's security.

flood

Floods are one of the most common hazards in the United States. The devastating effects of floods and flooding can be local, impacting a neighborhood or community, or very large, affecting entire river basins and multiple states.

In order to prepare for potential floods, find out about potential flood hazards where you live. Although low-lying area near water or downstream from a dam are most commonly areas that flood, small streams, gullies, creeks, culverts, dry streambeds, or low-lying ground that appear harmless in dry weather can flood. Every state is at risk of flood disaster.

Food Insurance's™ The Essential Kit and Emergency Plus Kit are perfect solutions for taking care of your family's basic needs. Other things you may want to include in your family's emergency preparedness supply are extra clothing, bedding, tents, and medicine.

earthquake

An earthquake can strike suddenly without warning, putting your disaster preparedness plan to the test. If you have emergency food kits from Food Insurance™, you and your family could have the food and supplies you need to survive one of nature's most frightening and destructive forces.

Earthquakes can be violent, and strike at any time of the day or night. If an earthquake occurs in a populated area, it may cause many deaths and injuries and extensive property damage. Although there are no guarantees of safety during an earthquake, if you live in an earthquake prone area, you can do a lot to prepare to survive an earthquake and its terrible after effects. Your earthquake preparedness and advance planning can save lives and significantly reduce injuries and property damage.

power outage

A power outage emergency can have many causes — fires, winter storms, brown outs, floods, and wind damage. Whatever the cause, a power outage is easier to get through when you're prepared, and being prepared means having emergency kits on hand, ready to use the moment they're needed.

One of the most serious side effects of a power outage in the house is that the refrigerator will no longer work and the food inside will quickly spoil. If the power is out for less than 2 hours, the food in your refrigerator and freezer are generally safe to consume. While the power is out, keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to keep food cold as long as possible.

Additionally, power outage may affect water purification systems, and they may not be functioning properly. Safe water for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene includes bottled, boiled, or treated water.

Given that the refrigerator is where most people keep the bulk of their food, it makes sense to have a backup food supply in case the power goes out for an extended period of time. Food Insurance™ survival food kits and packages ensure safe food and clean drinking water until the power comes back on.

severe winter storm

When a severe winter storm hits, the heavy snowfall and extreme cold can immobilize an entire region. Your disaster preparedness with emergency food kits from Food Insurance™ can make all the difference when it comes to how well you weather severe storms when they arrive.

Even areas that normally experience mild winters can be hit with a major snowstorm or extreme cold. Severe winter storms can result in flooding, storm surge, closed highways, blocked roads, downed power lines and hypothermia. Make sure you and your family are prepared for such disasters with emergency plans, survival food kits, warm clothing, warm bedding, and fuel powered heat sources.

pandemic

A pandemic is defined as epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region, for instance a continent, or even worldwide. Throughout history there have been a number of pandemics, such as smallpox and tuberculosis. More recent pandemics include the HIV pandemic and the 2009 swine flu pandemic.

Having an emergency kits stocked with enough food for two weeks can limit exposure. Fewer trips out into public could literally spare you and your loved ones from being infected. Emergency food kits from Food Insurance™ could provide food for you and your family until things return to a "safe" and normal state, and should be a part of your own pandemic preparedness plan.

terrorism

Al Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks and the subsequent anthrax incidents raised concerns about the security of America's food supply. Deliberate contamination of the nation's food supply is a real possibility and the economic and psychological implications of an attack on the food supply are sobering. Some foods are more susceptible to deliberate contamination than others, but there is no practical way one can eliminate the possibility of being affected.

Emergency kits from Food Insurance™ are an important part of disaster preparedness for emergencies resulting from threats to homeland security and bioterrorism.

unemployment

Unemployment is something none of us want to go through. The term itself conjures up feelings of despair, helplessness, and fear.

Are you prepared with an unemployment preparedness plan? The economic events of the recent past have made everyone feel less secure. Things that were once reliable now seem unsure. Although you may feel powerless to control everything in your life, one thing you can control is making sure you and your family have emergency food kits stocked, with enough to eat in the event economic downturn affects your family in the form of job loss or unexpected unemployment.

When thinking about how to prepare for unemployment survival, few people put food at the top of the list, but how many things are really more important than food? What would you do if you couldn't afford to buy food? How long would you be able to survive? Your personal unemployment preparedness plan should include emergency food kits with enough survival food for your family to survive until your personal financial crisis has ended.

Food Insurance's™ long-term food supplies are the ultimate way to ensure your family's food supply. They are available in 3, 6, and 12 month supplies, and have a 25+ year shelf-life, making them a long-lasting investment that will be ready should you ever need it.