From www.FEMA.gov

Power of One

Picture this—You’re stranded on the highway for hours, in the cold, with little food and no heat and your car just ran out of gas. The nearest restroom is at least three miles away and you don’t know when you’ll be in the comfort of your home again. This was the case for many metro Atlanta residents during a winter storm that recently hit the south. Out of this tragedy, however, came triumph - people took action and helped each other overcome this crisis.

There were countless stories of people opening their homes to strangers, offering food to the hungry, walking to get medication for those in need and more. Many of these citizen rescue operations were coordinated on the Facebook page, “Snowed Out Atlanta.” Within a few hours this page quickly gained 50,000 followers who not only reached out to get help, but to serve their neighbors. The woman who started this page, Michelle Sollicito, is a mother, wife and most of all an everyday community member who wanted to help. She took action and stepped up to be a community ambassador. 

You can also be a community ambassador for preparedness. Use your social media channels, email or word-of-mouth to shareactions people can do now to get prepared!

1.       Visit ready.gov and familiarize yourself with steps to take before, during and after every natural disaster.

2.       Practice and implement – don’t just educate yourself on preparedness actions; practice them with family, friends and coworkers. Why wait to build an emergency kit?—do it today!

3.       Download the FEMA mobile application. It contains disaster safety tips, an interactive emergency kit list, emergency meeting location information and a map with open shelters and open FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers.