Many of you probably don't know that September is National Preparedness Month. Around these parts, we had a taste last year of how scary preparing for Hurricane Irene was and we were very lucky to get away with minimal damage. This year, Hurricane Isaac has been wreaking havoc on the Gulf Coast and serves as an eerie reminder of the damage that was caused by the now infamous Hurricane Katrina. OEM (Office of Emergency Management) is urging all New Yorkers to sign up for Notify NYC. It is the City of New York's official source for information about emergency events and important City services. The best part about this great service is that it is completely free to join and use. By subscribing you receive text messages, e-mails, tweets, or phone calls about significant citywide events. Additionally, you will also receive notifications about smaller events that might be taking place right in your own neighborhood. The topics of these notifications will range from … [Read more...]
Are You Prepared For Hurricane Irene?
As I'm sure many of you already know, Hurricane Irene is scheduled to wreak havoc throughout the Eastern Seaboard all the way from North Carolina to New England this weekend. Since we live in New York City, it definitely looks like we will not be dodging this bullet. Even as I am writing this post, I am going over in my mind all of the preparations that we need to make before this storm hits our area as expected on Sunday Morning. If you reside in an inner city like I do, you are probably as puzzled about emergency preparation as we are. The only difference is that New Yorkers have been hit with a couple of emergency doozies in the past couple of decades so we don't take emergencies lightly. Despite this level of awareness, I am ashamed to say that I really do not have much of an emergency plan in place should a real catastrophe occur. In an attempt to make myself feel better and to get a better idea regarding what emergency supplies we need to prepare, I … [Read more...]
