External Affairs Advisory
America’s PrepareAthon and National Preparedness Month
September 11, 2015
Disasters and emergencies can happen at any time, and often without warning. This September, as part of National Preparedness Month, FEMA encourages everyone to take action to prepare themselves and their families for emergencies. Being prepared for disasters is a shared responsibility. When communities prepare and practice for an emergency in advance of any event, it makes a real difference in their ability to take immediate and informed actions.
America’s PrepareAthon! is a nationwide grassroots campaign for action to get individuals, families, organizations and whole communities better prepared for emergencies. The campaign offers easy-to-use preparedness guides, checklists, and resources to better prepare for common natural hazards and to take action, such as downloading alerts and warnings, holding a drill, or safeguarding critical documents.
Here are some ways that everyone can participate in America’s PrepareAthon! and the National Day of Action on September 30th:
? Access Alerts and Warnings;
? Download the FEMA Mobile App;
? Test Family Communications Plans;
? Assemble a Go-Kit
? Safeguard Critical Documents
? Register your preparedness efforts
FEMA encourages all Americans to visit www.ready.gov or www.listo.gov and join the conversation on social media: @FEMARegion2, @PrepareAthon #PrepareAthon to learn more about how to be better prepared and how to plan for your family during emergencies.
To move people to action, the President, through Presidential Policy Directive (PPD-8), has directed all federal agencies to work with their stakeholders across the country to “coordinate a comprehensive campaign to build and sustain national preparedness, including public outreach and community-based and private-sector programs to enhance national resilience…”
FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.