Neighborhood Safety Plans – What Your Family Needs to Know

Tornadoes, flooding, and wildfires are common in the United States. When disasters strike, neighborhoods usually band together to help each other pull through. Preparing a neighborhood safety plan before it’s needed will help each person in the neighborhood be ready in case of a disaster or emergency.

Start by planning a neighborhood meeting. Determine where the meeting will be held, how long you plan to meet, and ask that everyone in the neighborhood attend. Sending out invitations or flyers with the information might be helpful.

Having a neighborhood meeting does more than get everyone thinking about neighborhood safety. It also gives everyone a chance to meet and get to know one another.

A sign-in sheet would be a good idea for those attending. Include columns for the names of all family members with ages, contact information, any special medical needs, and any special skills they have. Ask if anyone knows of someone who couldn’t attend but may have special needs.

Be sure to note who in the neighborhood is a doctor, nurse, EMT, electrician, or carpenter so everyone will know who will best be able to help if there is a need.

Make a list of everyone with medical conditions. This could be children with bee allergies, teens with sulfur allergies, adults with diabetes, or senior adults with heart issues. The medical condition isn’t important, knowing who has it and what needs to be done in an emergency is. Knowing this information will allow you to know who needs medical attention first after those injured if there is a natural disaster.

Each person should know how to turn off the utilities to their house. Turning off utilities may help save your home from catching fire after an emergency. This could very well save your lives as well as save those of your neighbors.

Draw a map of the neighborhood, indicating each home and the location of each shut-off for the utilities. In times of emergency or natural disaster, people may not be home. By all the neighbors knowing where the shut-offs are, anyone will be able to turn the utilities off after an emergency.

Type up an emergency-preparedness list for each family in the neighborhood and encourage everyone to create their own kit. If you don’t know what should go in this kit, you can contact a fire department or check on the internet to find one.

Check with local officials to get a list of local temporary shelters. These will most likely be schools, school gymnasiums, or sports complexes. It might be a good idea to also give each family a map with directions to each shelter.

Choose a team of people who can act as a damage assessment team. These people will be responsible for evaluating potential dangers after an emergency and helping to minimize them.

If there is a natural disaster or emergency, make sure that no one returns to their homes until they have been declared as being safe. This is particularly important to stress with children as they may try to go back home and get some of their favorite things.

No one wants to think about having a natural disaster strike their neighborhood, but it can happen. This is plain to see on newscasts of people’s homes being flooded, licked by wildfire flames, or tornadoes. By having a neighborhood safety plan in place, your neighborhood can help each other pick up the pieces if disaster strikes.