National Preparedness Month and You!

Date Posted: Tuesday, September 29th, 2015

Katie Hall, reference archivist

A tornado struck Felton in 1967 leaving behind this trail of damage. Disasters can strike quickly and without warning, rendering even the most prepared of us feeling helpless. September is National Preparedness Month and also falls in the middle of hurricane season, which is a great time for us on Delmarva to think about and prepare for what to do in case of an emergency.

FEMA has declared September 30 National PrepareAthon Day, a day devoted to readying citizens to respond to a disaster. If you need ideas on how to get started with creating an emergency plan, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has a website full of useful tips for participating in the PrepareAthon and for creating your own emergency plan: http://www.community.fema.gov/. If you’re looking for more Delaware-specific tips, the Delaware Emergency Management Agency also has tips on preparing for a disaster http://www.dema.delaware.gov/services/disaster_prep.shtml

September leads into October, which is Archives Month, when we celebrate all things archives-related. If you already have an emergency plan in place, then you can celebrate National PrepareAthon Day AND Archives Month by thinking about a plan to protect your valuable family records, heirlooms, and your genealogy research in case of an emergency. As I always like to say, memories don’t preserve themselves!

Related Topics:  Disaster Preparedness, Genealogy, National Preparedness Month