As your trusted Texas insurance agency and with hurricane season in full swing, we would be remiss if we did not mention one of the most important things you and your family can do before a storm: develop a family emergency plan.

When we talk about a family hurricane plan, we’re talking about your kids, your older parents, your pets – whoever is dependent on you in the event of an emergency.

Steps to a Plan

Put together a hurricane emergency kit.

We will go into more detail in a subsequent post as to what items you will want to have in your kit. Remember that your kit should contain emergency supplies for several days and should be complete with water, no-perishable food, medications, first aid kit, flashlight and a battery operated radio at the least.

Choose a point of contact.

As with many families, we are all pretty spread in location. Especially if you have kids in college or on their own. Decide on a point of contact both in your community as well as outside of your local area. As those in your local area will be impacted by the affects of a hurricane, this is why you’ll want to have an emergency contact outside of the window of disaster as well.

Decide on a destination in the event of evacuation.

Although this may seem like worst-case scenario, go ahead and map it out. Typically you will have one of three options:

1. Stay with friends or family
2. Find a hotel
3. Locate a shelter – many shelters do not take pets so you’ll want to make sure you prepare accordingly.

Talk about it

Go ahead and have this conversation with your older children and adult dependents. Make sure everyone is aware of the family plan. Although we are using this as a reference for hurricane preparedness today, it’s a wise plan to have in place at all times.

Be proactive.

• Keep your vehicles fueled.
• Make sure that all prescriptions are filled and you have an adequate supply on hand.
• Make sure your pets are up-to-date on vaccinations.
• Post both local emergency telephone numbers as well as a few numbers of friends or family members that live outside of your local area.
• Make sure all the adults in your home know how to turn off the water, gas and electricity.
• And of course, check your insurance policy now. Do you have flood insurance in addition to your homeowner’s insurance policy? It takes 30 days for a flood policy to be in effect so don’t wait until it’s too late.

As a Texas insurance agency providing protection to those throughout the state of Texas and along the Houston Gulf Coast, we want to make sure those in our community are prepared. Make it a goal to make sure your family’s hurricane preparedness plan is well thought out and ready to go before you need it.