Personal Preparedness Checklist

With just a little bit of effort, a community disaster can be more of a personal inconvenience to you. Here are a few things you can do to limit the impact of a disaster:

• Know where to shelter and locate evacuation routes in places you frequent.
   
• Be informed and know where to find emergency information like building posters and UT Alerts.
   
• Know how to protect yourself against potential hazards.
   
• Have a bag ready to go with some water, medications, hygiene items, clothes, cell phone charger, IDs, flashlight, etc.
   
• Have a plan to check in or link-up with friends and family if phones aren’t available. It is recommended to use an out-of-town relative as the common contact. The UT System Reconnect website offers a way to register and share information during an emergency. You can also choose to make a more detailed plan.
   
• Register with UTPD if you need evacuation assistance or have medical needs and carry an evacuation assistance card.

The information you can pick up in a half hour of web surfing will be useful the rest of your life. That’s some serious return on investment.