{"id":38618,"date":"2023-05-10T13:28:59","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T20:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/?page_id=38618"},"modified":"2023-08-29T19:16:59","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T02:16:59","slug":"emergency-preparedness","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/outages-safety\/outage-center\/emergency-preparedness\/","title":{"rendered":"Emergency Preparedness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Check out the following links for more information about getting prepared for an emergency or disaster.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pep-c.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Peninsula&#8217;s Emergency Preparedness Coalition website<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fema.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Federal Emergency Management Agency website<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Have a Family Plan<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Designate an out-of-area contact person, far enough away so he\/she won\u2019t be involved in the same emergency.<\/li>\n<li>Have at least a seven day supply of food, water, medications and other special needs for your family. Don\u2019t forget your pets!<\/li>\n<li>Be sure your disaster preparedness kit contains light sticks, flashlights and radios with extra batteries.<\/li>\n<li>Make copies of vital records and secure in a safe place\u2014safety deposit, or fire\/flood proof box.<\/li>\n<li>Build an emergency supply kit for your car, workplace, and your child\u2019s school.<\/li>\n<li>Sign up for <strong>Pierce County alert<\/strong> to receive emergency messages on your cell phones, work phones, text-to-cell, e-mail accounts, etc. You can register online or get more information at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.piercecountywa.gov\/945\/Personal-Preparedness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pierce County website<\/a>\u00a0or call <a href=\"tel:+1-253-798-6595\">(253) 798-6595<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Power Outages<em><br \/>\n<\/em><\/h2>\n<p>Both wind storms and snow storms can cause power outages. Preparing now can help avoid some of the problems.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Have a corded telephone\u2014cordless phones don\u2019t work when the power is out.<\/li>\n<li>Have a safe alternative heat source and supply of fuel. <strong>Never burn charcoal or use a generator indoors.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Avoid using candles\u2014they can cause fires.<\/li>\n<li>Turn off lights and electrical appliances, computers, etc., except the refrigerator or freezer. Leave one lamp on so you will know when the power comes back on.<\/li>\n<li>Never use gas ovens, ranges, barbecues, or portable or propane heaters for indoor heating\u2014they use oxygen and create carbon monoxide.<\/li>\n<li>Use and store food carefully:<\/li>\n<li>Use food first that can spoil.<\/li>\n<li>Keep doors to refrigerators and freezers closed\u2014a refrigerator freezer will keep food frozen up to a day; a separate fully-loaded freezer up to 2 days.<\/li>\n<li>When in doubt, throw it out!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Floods<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>If you live in an area where floods occur, do the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Plan and discuss with your family where you will go and the route to take if you have to evacuate your home.<\/li>\n<li>Purchase flood insurance and take photos of your valuables.<\/li>\n<li>Maintain at least a half tank of gas in your car at all times.<\/li>\n<li>If you are told to leave\u2014<strong>don\u2019t wait\u2014evacuate! <\/strong>Grab your go-kit, your family and your pets and get to higher ground.<\/li>\n<li>Do not try to walk or drive through flooded waters\u2014 even 6 inches of moving water can knock you off your feet and cars can be swept away in 2 feet of water.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Winter Storms<\/h2>\n<p>Winter storms bring many of the above hazards but also include additional concerns.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Prepare your home for cold weather\u2014wrap pipes, and repair leaks in the roof and around doors and windows.<\/li>\n<li>Be sure your fireplace functions properly.<\/li>\n<li>If you have a kerosene heater, refuel it outside and keep it at least three feet from flammable objects.<\/li>\n<li>Reduce the temperature in your home to conserve fuel and heat only the area of your home you need to use\u2014keep other parts closed off.<\/li>\n<li>Dress in layers\u2014several layers of lighter-weight, warm clothing keeps you warmer than one layer of heavy clothing. Wear mittens rather than gloves and keep your head covered.<\/li>\n<li>Eat regularly\u2014food provides calories that help maintain body heat.<\/li>\n<li>Have rock salt or sand for traction on ice and keep it next to your snow shovel.<\/li>\n<li>Do not drive unnecessarily.<\/li>\n<li>If you must drive, be sure you have snow tires, winter tires, and\/or snow chains (and know how to put them on).<\/li>\n<li>Let people know where you are going and the route you are taking\u2014stay on main roads.<br \/>\nHave extra clothing, food, water, and a blanket for each person in your vehicle.<\/li>\n<li>Carry a cell phone.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure you have jumper cables and flares.<\/li>\n<li>Other emergency supplies include a shovel and kitty litter or sand for traction and a coffee can with a lid and toilet paper for hygiene use.<\/li>\n<li>If you get stuck, stay inside your vehicle.<\/li>\n<li>Use a bright distress flag or your hazard lights to draw attention.<\/li>\n<li>If trapped in a blizzard, clear your tail pipe and run your engine and heater for 10 minutes every hour.<\/li>\n<li>At night, keep the dome light on so rescuers can find you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Detailed information can be obtained on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.piercecountywa.gov\/945\/Personal-Preparedness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pierce County website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Check out the following links for more information about getting prepared for an emergency or disaster. Peninsula&#8217;s Emergency Preparedness Coalition website Federal Emergency Management Agency website Have a Family Plan Designate an out-of-area contact person, far enough away so he\/she won\u2019t be involved in the same emergency. Have at least a seven day supply of [&#8230;]\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"parent":138748,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38618"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38618"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139030,"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38618\/revisions\/139030"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/138748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}