Muskingum County Emergency Management Encouraging Disaster Preparation During National Preparedness Month

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- The federal government has declared September as National Preparedness Month. During this month, individuals, families, and friend circles are encouraged to create an emergency plan, build up an emergency preparedness kit, and prepare for disasters. 

In the state of Ohio, the most common emergencies and natural disasters one should plan for are flooding, home fires, tornados, winter weather, and power outages. While you may never think you’ll be in the path of a bad storm, Hurricane Ida is proof that no matter where you are, disaster can strike in the most unlikely of places. Hurricane Ida didn’t just impact Louisiana but caused fatal flooding all the way from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of Maine, and brought Mid-Atlantic cities like Philadelphia and New York City to their knees with flash flooding. While not as bad, as out East, Muskingum County still got enough rain fast enough to bring flash flooding and cause evacuations for a few people in Dresden. 

“We did have a flash flood event Tuesday in Dresden, associated with Hurricane Ida. Where there were quite a bit of homes that have a little bit of flooding in the basement, one gentleman and his family did have to leave overnight so they could dewater his basement,” Travis Roach, Deputy Director of Muskingum County Emergency Management stated.

The Emergency Management Agency stressed that Hurricane Ida is a prime example of the importance of preparing for the unexpected. Plus it’s relatively easy to prepare an emergency kit and create an emergency plan so you and your friends and family aren’t left in the dark in the event of an emergency. 

“For an emergency kit, we recommend having food and water for three days for every member of your family -including pets, first aid kit, batteries, flash lights, and emergency radio… We recommend having a communications plan in place with your friends and family. How to communicate with them, having various ways of communicating either radio, cell-phone, social media apps, things like that. And then just having general knowledge if there is a disaster or an emergency, where do you go, if you’re not all home where do you meet somewhere separately outside of the home so you can get together,” Roach said.

You can sign-up for emergency text alerts on the Muskingum County Emergency Management Website and check-in on local alerts on their Facebook page. You can also go to Ready.gov to get templates on how to make a disaster plan and for a guide on making an emergency kit.