Preparedness for Individuals & Families

Act Now to Prepare for Any Emergency.

An emergency could be flooding, an ice storm, power outage, flu pandemic or disease outbreak.

You may need to evacuate or stay where you are to keep safe. To help you prepare, you can act now to protect yourself and your loved ones.

Prepare an emergency kit

If a disaster strikes you in your community, you might not have access to food, water, or electricity for several days. You may think that you will have enough time to run to the grocery store, but stores quickly sell out of important supplies following emergency warnings. Preparing emergency kits for your family is an important step in keeping them safe and healthy during a disaster. It is important to consider your family's unique needs when assembling your kit, including medical conditions and pets.

Build a Kit- Ready.gov
Build a Preparedness Kit- Vermont Emergency Management
Personal Health Preparedness – Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
Disaster Preparedness for Your Pet – Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
Car Safety- Ready.gov

Make a plan

Be informed

Translated Information: There are many ways that Vermonters can get emergency warnings, updates, and safety instructions. Take steps now to make sure you’ll get the information you need when an emergency happens.

Stay Informed – Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
Vermont Alert is the state system designed to keep Vermonters informed about emergency situations, weather alerts, road information, and other information that could affect everyday life. Users select what information they wish to receive, how they receive that information (by email, text, phone call, etc.), and to what areas the alerts pertain. VT Alert is a free service and it only takes a few minutes to create an account. Sign up for VT Alert

Helping children and adolescents cope with traumatic events

Every year, children and adolescents experience disasters and other traumatic events. Family, friends, and trusted adults play an essential role in helping youth cope with these experiences. Learn more about supporting youth and adolescents during and after disasters and traumatic events from the National Institute of Mental Health.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offers a Disaster Distress Helpline, which provides immediate crisis counseling for people who are experiencing emotional distress related to any natural or human-caused disaster. The helpline is free, multilingual, confidential, and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can call or text the helpline at 800-985-5990 or visit the helpline website.

SAMHSA also provides the Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator, an online tool for finding mental health services in your area. Find treatment programs in your state. For additional resources, visit www.nimh.nih.gov/findhelp.

If you, your child, or someone you know is in immediate distress or is thinking about hurting themselves, dial 988 for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) or text VT to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line. Trained counselors are available 24/7.