· FEMA encourages all Americans to visit www.ready.gov or www.listo.gov to learn more about how to be better prepared and how to protect your family during emergencies.
· Plan for your loved ones’ needs in advance. Ask schools, hospitals, nursing homes and day care facilities about their emergency plans and how they will keep your loved ones safe.
· Talk with personal care assistance providers, oxygen or dialysis providers, child or adult care providers, transportation providers, schools and workplaces about their plan for emergencies.
· Residents and visitors in potentially affected areas should be familiar with evacuation routes, have a family emergency communications plan, keep a battery-powered radio handy and have plans for their family members and pets. People with disabilities and others with access and functional needs, older adults and their families may need to take additional steps for themselves and their service animals.
· If you or someone you know needs assistance to receive and respond to emergency alerts and to safely evacuate in an emergency, work with family members, neighbors, friends, service providers and coworkers as partners in planning strategies that will work for your specific needs, whether you are at home or away from home.
FEMA, through its regional offices in Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York and Boston, continues to monitor Hurricane Joaquin and remains in close contact with state, tribal and local officials. According to the National Hurricane Center as of 8:00 am EDT, Hurricane Joaquin is located approximately 10 miles north of the Samana Cays Bahamas with sustained winds near 120 MPH. Joaquin is a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some strengthening is forecast in the next day or so, with some fluctuations in intensity possible on Friday. We encourage those in the areas potentially affected by Joaquin to monitor local radio, TV stations or official social media accounts for updated emergency information, and to follow the instructions of state, local, and tribal officials.
Although there have been no requests for federal Stafford Act assistance, FEMA continues to stand ready to assist states and tribes, as needed and requested.
FEMA has increased its staffing at our 24 hour National Watch Center in Washington D.C. to provide additional reporting and monitoring of the situation. FEMA Incident Management Assistance Teams and other lead elements have either deployed or are preparing to deploy to potentially affected states to support response activities and ensure there are no unmet needs. FEMA staff have been activated to prepare for the establishment of potential Incident Support Bases which would pre-position supplies including water, meals, blankets and other resources closer to potentially affected areas, should they be needed and requested. At all times, FEMA maintains commodities, including millions of liters of water, millions of meals and hundreds of thousands of blankets, strategically located at distribution centers throughout the United States and its territories.
FEMA - [source]