Your Energy Matters

September is National Preparedness Month, and now is good time to prepare yourself and those in your care for emergencies and disasters.

If you’ve seen the news recently, you know that emergencies can happen unexpectedly in communities just like ours, to people like you.

We’ve seen tornado outbreaks, river floods and flash floods, historic earthquakes, tsunamis, and even water main breaks and power outages in U.S. cities affecting millions of people for days at a time.

Police, fire and rescue may not always be able to reach you quickly in an emergency or disaster.

The most important step you can take in helping your local responders is being able to take care of yourself and those in your care; the more people who are prepared, the quicker the community will recover.

This September, please prepare and plan in the event you must go for three days without electricity, water service, access to a supermarket, or local services for several days. Just follow these four steps:

1. Stay Informed: Information is available from federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial resources. Access Ready.gov to learn what to do before, during, and after an emergency.
2. Make a Plan: Discuss, agree on, and document an emergency plan with those in your care. For sample plans, see Ready.gov. Work together with neighbors, colleagues, and others to build community resilience.
3. Build a Kit: Keep enough emergency supplies -- water, nonperishable food, first aid, prescriptions, flashlight, and battery-powered radio on hand -- for you and those in your care.
4. Get Involved: There are many ways to get involved especially before a disaster occurs. The whole community can participate in programs and activities to make their families, homes and places of worship safer from risks and threats. Community leaders agree that the formula for ensuring a safer homeland consists of volunteers, a trained and informed public, and increased support of emergency response agencies during disasters.

If you’re like most people, the circumstances of your life require that you look ahead and plan for your future, particularly for the unexpected.

But — like most people, too — it’s often difficult to do this because day-to-day obligations take top priority and demand your immediate attention.

Wouldn’t it be great if a particular time of year could be dedicated to such planning? Since September is National Preparedness Month, it offers the perfect opportunity to plan for emergencies.

Say a tornado hits the area. Power lines are down. Your phone doesn’t work. Your water may not be safe to drink. What do you do? In the words of www.ready.gov, “Build a kit. Make a plan. Be informed."

Build a kit

Have enough supplies on hand to last you three days or more. Food, water, a flashlight, batteries, first-aid kit and other basic emergency items should make up your kit. For ideas on how to create your own kit, or purchase a ready-made kit, visit http://www.ready.gov/.

Make a plan

When disaster strikes, it may happen while you’re at work, your spouse is out of town and your kids are at school. So, how do you connect? Make a plan. Decide how you will get in touch with each other, reconnect and what steps to take in the meantime.

Be informed

Do research in advance. Collect phone numbers and website information of government agencies, emergency responders and other community contacts that can help during an emergency. Do the information gathering on the front-end to make sure you are better prepared when disaster strikes.

Check out this short video to learn more about emergency preparedness:



At LG&E and KU, our employees are often among the first responders after a natural disaster.

We always encourage our customers to be prepared for an emergency situation and put safety first.

This September, consider developing an emergency plan with your family, or if you already have one, go through a drill to test your preparedness.

For more information, visit http://www.ready.gov/.

If you’re like most people, the circumstances of your life require that you look ahead and plan for your future, particularly for the unexpected. But — like most people, too — it’s often difficult to do this because day-to-day obligations take top priority and demand your immediate attention. Wouldn’t it be great if a particular time of year could be dedicated to such planning? Since September is National Preparedness Month, it offers the perfect opportunity to plan for emergencies.

Say a tornado hits the area. Power lines are down. Your phone doesn’t work. Your water may not be safe to drink. What do you do? In the words of www.ready.gov, “Get a kit. Make a plan. Be informed."

Get a kit
Have enough supplies on hand to last you three days or more. Food, water, a flashlight, batteries, first-aid kit and other basic emergency items should make up your kit. For ideas on how to create your own kit, or purchase a ready-made kit, visit http://www.ready.gov/.

Make a plan
When disaster strikes, it may happen while you’re at work, your spouse is out of town and your kids are at school. So, how do you connect? Make a plan. Decide how you will get in touch with each other, reconnect and what steps to take in the meantime.

Be informed
Do research in advance. Collect phone numbers and website information of government agencies, emergency responders and other community contacts that can help during an emergency. Do the information gathering on the front-end to make sure you are better prepared when disaster strikes.

At LG&E/KU, our employees are often among the first responders after a natural disaster. We always encourage our customers to be prepared for an emergency situation and put safety first. So, this September, consider developing an emergency plan with your family, or if you already have one, go through a drill to test your preparedness. For more information, visit http://www.ready.gov/.