TODAY’s COLUMN: Hurricane season starts June 1! Here are some tips for being prepared

The 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season is just around the corner (June 1- Nov. 30). In preparation for hurricane season, National Hurricane Preparedness Week is May 15-21.

Formerly known as National Hurricane Awareness Week to spread awareness of the dangers and hazards of hurricanes, emergency management officials realized that being aware is not being prepared and that knowing your vulnerability and what action to take can reduce the effects of a hurricane; hence, the name was changed placing more focus on being prepared.

The goal of National Hurricane Preparedness Week is to inform the public about hurricane hazards while providing information that can be used to take action to save lives at work, home, on the road or on the water before, during, and after a hurricane strikes.

Here are safety tips for use in preparing for hurricane season:

• Clear out rain gutters so water doesn’t back up and end up in your house.

• Trim back trees and shrubbery to minimize flying debris.

• Secure outdoor objects and put things inside ahead of the storm.

• Around the dinner table, talk to your family about where you would meet in the event of an emergency.

• If you have pets, identify some pet-friendly hotels in case you have to evacuate.

• Program “In Case of Emergency” contacts into your phone.

• Teach friends and family members to text on their cell-phones, text messages can often get through when phone calls can’t.

• Make copies of important documents for your emergency kit. (medications, medical info, proof of address, passports, birth certificates, insurance policies, etc.) Consider putting them on a secure flash drive, as well.

• Get an extra set of house and car keys made for your emergency kit.

• Download the FEMA smartphone app (FEMA.gov/smartphone-app).

• Teach everyone how to turn off the utilities in your house (electricity, gas, water, etc.) so they can do it in case of an evacuation.

• Make a checklist of everything that needs to be done before a storm, and divide up it up among your family. That way everyone has a responsibility and nothing gets missed.

• Learn how to forward your home phone so loved ones can still contact you if you evacuate.

• Sign up to receive alerts text messages from FEMA (FEMA.gov/text-messages) and your local response officials. Learn more: Ready.gov/alerts.

• Pick up canned goods when your store has a sale, they will last a long time and ensure you will have something to eat if you can’t go out to the store.

• Clean empty two-liter soda bottles and fill them with water.

• If it has been six months since you got fresh water for your kit, it’s time to rotate new stuff in.

• Write the date you bought items for your kit on them; it will aid in replenishing old supplies.

For more information on hurricane preparedness, visit http://www.ready.gov/hurricane The N,ational Hurricane Center http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ the N,ational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration http://www.nws.noaa.gov/com/weatherreadynation/hurricane_preparedness.html and t,he National Weather Service http://www.weather.gov/chs/hurricanepreparednessweek and t,he Federal Emergency Management Agency http://www.fema.gov