Plano Learns: National Preparedness Month

According to the United States Department of Homeland Security, “National Preparedness Month is an observance each September to raise awareness about the importance of preparing for disasters and emergencies that could happen at any time.” There are many ways you can prepare for potential disasters, including supplies to have on hand, financial preparedness and understanding your own community resources.

Continue reading to learn about the different programs and resources from Plano Public Library, City of Plano and Bank of America.

Upcoming Programs

Are You Financially Ready for a Disaster? | Thursday, September 29 at 6:30pm | Virtual – Register here

Learn steps you can take to shore up your finances ahead of and after a natural disaster to avoid long-term damage. Presented by Bank of America

Local and Government Resources

City of Plano – Emergency Management Department – Sign up for local alerts, join the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and more

Mark your calendar for September 1: City of Plano Director of Emergency Management Carrie Little is on the Plano Library Speaks podcast! Listen to learn about situations you should be prepared for and the best way to prepare you entire family (pets, included).

Know What 2 Do – Look at the “Make a Plan” and “Build a Kit” to be prepared

Ready.gov – United States Department of Homeland Security – Learn about different disasters and how to best prepare for them, how to get involved, preparedness for business and more

RedCross – What Do You Need in a Survival Kit? Check out this list to get started

Library Resources

Junior

How do we Prepare for Severe Weather? By Nancy Dickmann Print
A storm is coming! How do people prepare? What supplies and tools do we need to survive? Find out how people prepare for all kinds of severe weather. From tornadoes to hurricanes and blizzards to floods, we can be ready for anything.

Life Savers by Eryl Nash Print
Meet eleven real-life emergency service heroes and discover what their days are like and the important equipment they use to save lives.

How to Survive an Earthquake by Marne Ventura Print
Provides information on the causes and effects of earthquakes, describes how people in earthquake zones provide for the possibility of a quake, and suggests ways to be prepared.

Adult

World War C: Lessons From the Covid-19 Pandemic and How To Prepare for the Next One by Dr. Sanjay Gupta Print
CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, MD, offers an accessible, data-packed answer to our biggest questions about Covid-19: What have we learned about this pandemic and how can we prepare for–or prevent–the next one?

The Emergency Survival Manual: 300+ Life-Saving Tips & Skills by Joseph Pred Print
Survival and preparedness expert Joseph Pred and the editors of Outdoor Life magazine share 294 tips and plans to deal with dangers and scenarios that can affect your and your family’s safety.

The Devil Never Sleeps: Learning to Live in an Age of Disasters by Juliette Kayyem Print
In The Devil Never Sleeps, Juliette Kayyem lays the groundwork for a new approach to dealing with disasters. Presenting the basic themes of crisis management, Kayyem amends the principles we rely on far too easily. Instead, she offers us a new framework to anticipate the “devil’s” inevitable return, highlighting the leadership deficiencies we need to overcome and the forward-thinking we need to harness.

Dr. Disaster’s Guide to Surviving Everything: Essential Advice for Any Situation Life Throws Your Way by John E. Torres Print
A practical, all-encompassing guide to disaster preparedness-from avalanches and blackouts to pandemics and wildfires-from NBC News senior medical correspondent and emergency medicine physician Dr. John Torres.

The Prepared Home: How to Stock, Organize, and Edit Your Home to Thrive in Comfort, Safety, and Style by Melissa George Print
Whether there’s a power outage, the wi-fi goes out, or you are asked to quarantine, you should have plans and preparedness goals that don’t take over your space and your life. George providea guide to help you transform your home from entertaining mode to disaster-ready mode, using clever ways to store emergency items.

The Disaster Survival Guide: How to Prepare for and Survive Floods, Fires, Earthquakes, and More by Marie D. Jones Print
Using what has been learned from previous disasters, this indispensable book illustrates how others survived past crises and managed to rebuild their lives. Covering the basic needs from food, water, and first aid to shelter, security, and self-defense, this informative guide walks readers through the steps it takes to create their own personal emergency action plan.

Prepping 101: 40 Steps You Can Take to be Prepared: Protect Your Family; Prepare for Weather Disasters; Be Ready and Resilient When Emergencies Arise by Kathy Harrison Print
This friendly and highly accessible guide introduces the most important, practical steps your whole family can take to ensure survival in short- or long-term emergencies. The critical information is presented in 40 achievable tasks, ranging from simpler ones such as creating a preparedness notebook and repackaging store-bought food for storage to more involved preparations like learning to collect rainwater and building a solar oven.

What to do With Your Money When Crisis Hits: A Survival Guide by Michelle Singletary Print
Michelle Singletary provides a hands-on guide to all of your debt concerns, credit card issues, cash-flow problems, medical coverage questions, and the dozens of other common financial issues that crop up with all of us when money suddenly becomes tight.

How to Survive and Thrive When Bad Things Happen: 9 Steps to Cultivating an Opportunity Mindset in a Crisis by Jim Taylor Print
Exploring the essential psychological, emotional, and interpersonal factors that most impact your reaction to a crisis, Jim Taylor provides you with deep insights and practical tools that help you move from a crisis mentality of fear, pessimism, and panic that controls you to an opportunity mindset of calm, confidence, and courage that you control in a crisis.