Disasters happen. While you can’t predict when a flood, hurricane or any other emergency incident will occur, you can prepare by taking steps to be ready.

How do you get ready? Have a plan! Talk with your family and go through different scenarios. Plan what you’ll do if a flood, hurricane, or other disaster affects your home.

When making your plan, keep the following in mind:

Choose a rally spot – somewhere that you, your family, and friends can meet after a disaster event.
Have a disaster home kit with first aid supplies and non-perishable food items, and a plan for evacuation if you need to leave.
Make sure you have updated contact information for family and friends who live outside your area.
Make sure you have contact information, stored in your phone as well as in a hard copy format, of your family’s healthcare providers, and important contacts such insurance companies.
Keep copies of your homeowner’s insurance policy, wills, trust, deeds, mortgages, utilities and other financial information in a water proof plastic bag and store it in your disaster kit.

Business Disaster Planning

Disasters don’t just impact individuals and families. They can also impact businesses and their employees. If own a business, it’s important to have a plan of what you’ll do to safeguard property and employees. You can get pointers and how-to’s by visiting www.floridadisaster.org

Evacuation

If you must evacuate your home, the best place to stay is with family or friends who live outside of the impact area. If that’s not an option, shelters can also provide a safe place to ride out the storm or disaster.

A list of evacuation zones and shelters can be found online: www.revize.com

Special Needs Shelters

Special needs shelters are opened during emergency events for residents with specific health and medical conditions and those requiring transportation assistance. The Special Needs Program helps to provide assistance in sheltering, evacuation, and transportation for registered residents during times of disaster with the resources available within Citrus County.

You may be eligible for the Special Needs Shelter if:

You are a person with special needs.
Your care exceeds basic first aid provided at a general shelter.
Your impairments or disabilities are stable, and can be managed by the available medical staff and equipment of the special needs shelter.

The medical staff and equipment at the shelter is decided by the local emergency management agency and the county health department or designee.

Please see the Special Needs Shelter page for more information or to register for the Special Needs Shelter: citrus.floridahealth.gov

Helpful Links

Build an emergency kit:www.floridahealth.gov/kit
Sign up for Alert Citrus member.everbridge.net/alert
Florida Families:www.floridahealth.gov/Families
Get a plan: https://www.floridadisaster.org/planprepare/
How to prepare: www.redcross.org/get-help
Citrus County Emergency Management: sheriffcitrus.org/divisions
National Hurricane Center:www.nhc.noaa.gov