Frequent severe weather is a common occurrence along the Gulf Coast. The following links will provide you with valuable information about what to do as severe weather approaches.

• General Information About Hurricanes
  
  
• Disaster Supplies Kit - Things you will need if you stay at home
  
  
• Shelter Information
  
  
• Milton Natural Gas Safety Awareness
  
  
• What to do Before the Storm
  
  
• What to do During the Storm
  
  
• What to do After the Storm
  
  
• Helpful Hints When Filing Insurance Claims
  
  
• See Links to More Info
  
  
• CPR Training
  
  
• Hurricane Preparation for Your Pets
  
  
• Pet Friendly Shelter Plan
  

Individual Disaster Preparedness – FEMA Administrator Fugate Video Message:

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate emphasizes the need for the individual to be a part of the emergency management team. http://www.fema.gov/medialibrary/media_records/904

"Our entire emergency management team has a role to play when it comes to preparing for and responding to the next disaster," said Administrator Fugate. "One of the most important parts of that team is the public. The more prepared the public is now, by getting an emergency response kit, making an emergency action plan, and getting a skill, like CPR, the stronger our emergency response team will be."

In recent years, the American people have been urged to "get ready" and to prepare for emergencies—from natural disasters to terrorist attacks. But no one has ever given the public a simple, comprehensive and consistent tool to actually measure how prepared they are. No one has ever provided communities and the nation as a whole with a practical "gauge" to assess their preparedness, recognize their successes, and identify gaps where more work needs to be done. Until now.

The Public Readiness Index (PRI) is a first-of-its kind tool for individuals, families and communities to determine and evaluate their readiness. See how you stack up against the national average and learn specific steps you can take to better prepare yourself and your family, as well as things you can do to encourage your community, schools, and workplace to be better prepared.

Get your readiness quotient - "RQ" - by visiting The Council for Excellence in Government at http://whatsyourrq.org/form.php?refcode=SantaRosa The importance of taking the RQ test is that we can track grades by zip code which may assist us in determining where future preparedness training and public awareness initiatives should take place.