Are You Ready To Evacuate When Time Comes?
Release Date: May 26, 2006
Release Number: 1604-371
» More Information on Mississippi Hurricane Katrina
BILOXI, Miss. -- The state's eight-week Stay Alert. Stay Alive. hurricane awareness campaign is drawing to a close. The critical question now is: "Are Mississippians ready for the 2006 hurricane season that starts June 1?"
"We cannot overemphasize the importance of being prepared for this hurricane season," said Mississippi Emergency Management Director Robert Latham. "We still have 100,000 Mississippians living in travel trailers, and they are more vulnerable in manufactured housing than in their former homes built on solid foundations."
Mississippi officials and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are working to spread the message of emergency preparedness. Gov. Haley Barbour kicked off the Stay Alert. Stay Alive. hurricane awareness campaign on April 6 in Biloxi.
Hurricane preparedness reminders are everywhere. Evacuation preparedness is the Week 7 focus of Mississippi's Stay Alert. Stay Alive. campaign. May 21-27 also is National Hurricane Preparedness Week.
The campaign wraps up in Biloxi on June 5-7 with the state's annual emergency management conference. This year's event is titled, "Katrina - America's Worst Natural Disaster, Mississippi's Greatest Challenge."
In the meantime, Mississippi residents can search the Department of Homeland Security's www.ready.gov web site for information about what to do when a disaster approaches. The web site encourages readers to prepare a kit (of emergency supplies), make a plan (for what you will do in an emergency) and be informed (of what might happen).
FEMA's online guidance ranges from simple steps a family should take in advance of a storm to a list of specific items to include in an emergency "go-kit." These online resources are available at www.fema.gov. Among other things, the site defines hurricanes, explains their categories, lists hurricane names and outlines what to do before, during and after a storm.
Mississippi-specific disaster preparedness information is available online at www.msema.org. The Mississippi Department of Transportation web site - www.gomdot.com - includes information on hurricane evacuation routes.
Hurricane Katrina showed Mississippi and the world what can happen when a major disaster strikes. The storm also showed the need for preparedness - and the importance of evacuating when the time comes.
FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
Last Modified: Friday, 26-May-2006 15:36:26