Wildfire Preparedness Day 2024

thatdisasterauthor:

Wildfire Preparedness Day 2024

A purple, green, and white poster about staying prepared for a disaster. The poster features a shelf with various items on it and lines to each item explaining them. The text of the poster is as follows:
Title: Stay Prepared Without Becoming overwhelmed.
First arrow to the top two shelves full of assorted personal items: Irreplaceable items such as photos, sentimental items, and collectibles.
Second arrow to a small bowl: daily items such as keys and wallet.
Third arrow to a pile of backpacks: Go Bags for every family member, including pets.
Fourth arrow to several boxes: Additional supplies.
Fifth arrow to a small radio: NOAA Weather Radio.
Sixth arrow to a file of papers: Paper maps and paper copies of important contact information.
Seventh arrow to another box: Important documents such as birth certificates, pet vaccination records, diplomas, etc.
Eight arrow to two harddrives: Digital backups.
Ninth arrow to a pile of bags: reusable shopping bags for quick packing of all items.
Bottom paragraph: It is important to be prepared for emergency scenarios you may face in which you are forced to leave 
your home. But, equally important, is not being so overwhelmed by the possibility of these scenarios that 
you cannot live your life comfortably. Having all your important items ready to go in a known location can allow you to be prepared while also alleviating stress at the same time.
Additional bottom text: If you are in the U.S.A. and experiencing disaster related anxiety, call the Disaster Distress Hotline at 1-800-985-5990 for support and resources.
Poster source text: Poster created by Katy L. Wood ● www.Katy-L-Wood.comALT

(Alt text included within image.)

May 4th is not just Star Wars day, it’s also Wildfire Preparedness day! So what better time to finally share my new preparedness poster?

One thing I hear a lot when discussing wildfire preparedness is that people want to protect their most treasured items, so they have them pre-packed to make them easy to grab in the event of an emergency. I’ve always found this kind of sad. Understandable! But sad. You shouldn’t have to hide away the things you love.

Which is where the concept of a preparedness shelf comes in. The idea here is to keep all your evacuation based stuff AND your “save first” items in one spot where they can be displayed instead of hidden away, but still easily grabbed and evacuated.

This has several advantages. For one, you don’t have to hide away the things you love but they will still be easy to access in one central spot. For two, if you are not home at the time of evacuation and someone else is (maybe a partner, or your neighbor, or an older child) and they call you and ask what you want them to grab, you do not have to direct them all over your house, just to one central location.

As always, use your best judgement about the hazards in your area and what works for you.

If you are in the U.S.A. and experiencing disaster related anxiety, call the Disaster Distress Hotline at 1-800-985-5990 for support and resources.

If you would like a print of this poster, you can get the high quality digital file on my website for $3, and discounted rates are available if you would like to purchase the right to make more prints! You can get files of the evacuation prep poster the same way!