Kentuckians have experienced firsthand how natural disasters can occur any time and often with little warning. Disasters take many forms, and we can feel their impacts across most areas of family life. Because there is no “one-size-fits-all” disaster model, planning community outreach can be challenging, and Cooperative Extension is often involved in disaster preparation and response at the local level. 

As a result of local needs, the County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences in Henry County hosted a disaster preparedness program. The focus of this event was on protecting your family and home, food and water safety, and preparing your own emergency disaster kit.   The local Emergency Management Deputy Director was engaged in this event and included great information to participants.  Participants were recruited by receiving the FCS  newsletter, viewing the social media posts, and reading the article about the program in the Henry County local paper.  There were eight individuals who participated in the program.

Following the event, participants completed evaluations.  Eight participants gained a better understanding of steps they could take in preparation for natural disasters. Seven participants increased their understanding of how to find reliable resources on disaster preparation and/or response. Further, eight participants can better identify what items they should include in a disaster kit. Most importantly, all participants reported they intended to add additional resources to their disaster kit that fits their needs, and six participants shared they intend to create a disaster response plan. 

 Participants specifically shared the most significant things they learned from the event were, having a family plan is crucial in a disaster situation, knowing who local contacts are important, and having a completed emergency health information card for each person in the household in the disaster kit is important too.  

Participants also shared how grateful they were for the disaster kit and the resources they received.  The program was successful and will benefit those families who participated.