What to Do in an Emergency

Tune your radio or TV to one of the stations listed in this site. Monitor the radio or TV for emergency information and follow emergency instructions. People should prepare for possible evacuation (e.g. reunite with family members, assemble emergency kits, provide for pet needs, keep off of the road as much as possible).

Please do not make unnecessary phone calls. Leaving phone lines open for emergency workers will help everyone involved. If you require assistance, call the emergency phone numbers broadcast on the radio or TV.

Shelter-in-Place

Go indoors and stay there. Close all doors and windows and shut off any systems that draw in outside air, such as furnaces, fireplaces and air conditioners. Keep listening to the radio or TV for updates. Keep pets inside and shelter farm animals. If traveling in a vehicle, close windows and vents.

In an evacuation, people in the affected area will be asked to go to local reception centers listed within this site. After this, they can stay at specified mass care centers or with friends or relatives outside the evacuation zone.

Please do not try to pick up children or others at schools, hospitals, nursing homes or overnight campgrounds. These facilities will be following their own emergency plans, and you would most likely miss connections. If evacuated, students, hospital patients and nursing home residents will be accompanied to relocation centers where their needs will be addressed. To find out where people are being moved, stay tuned to the radio or TV.

Plan for three days away from home, locking up and turning appliances off as you would for a weekend vacation. Pack all necessary items (See “Emergency Supplies”). Evacuate everyone in your home, following directions given on the radio or TV. These routes will have been selected as the safest ways out of the affected area.

NOTE: If time permits and if safe to do so, the public is encouraged to alert neighbors, by means other than the telephone, to ensure they heard and understand the warning signals and have transportation to reception centers.

People should only evacuate when instructed to do so. Evacuation of individuals not within the declared evacuation area could impede evacuation traffic flow. Monitor the radio or TV and prepare to follow instructions.

You may be instructed to shelter-in-place until people in a higher risk area are evacuated. Monitor the radio or TV and prepare to follow instructions.

When advised to do so, remove all livestock from pasture, shelter if possible, and provide them with stored feed and protected water. The county U.S. Department of Agriculture representative will provide further instructions regarding the protection of livestock and foodstuffs.

If your child’s school is in session at the time evacuation is recommended, children attending schools located within the Emergency Planning Zone will be transported to designated host schools outside the area. They will remain under supervision until picked up by parents or guardians. These host schools have been planned to coincide with main evacuation routes. Children whose homes are inside the Emergency Planning Zone, but who attend school outside the emergency planning zone, will not be sent home if an evacuation is recommended. They will remain at the school under supervision until picked up by parents or guardians. See the “County-specific School Information” within this site or contact school officials for more information.

Parents and guardians with children attending non-public schools or at day care facilities within the Emergency Planning Zone should become familiar with the facilities’ emergency plans. Contact the facility operator for more information.