What's huge and mean and could blow your house down? No, I'm not talking about any big bad wolf ? a mere animal can't turn your living room into a swimming pool! Only hurricanes, big gnarly hurricanes, can do that and endanger you and your loved ones. If you don't make the necessary emergency preparations now, you could be out of luck. So prep and plan, people!

I'm Mr. Prepared and I specialize in trying to do everything humanly possible to make sure you stay safe! As you all probably know, hurricane season is here ? it runs from June 1st to November 30th (although, let's face it, it ain't like baseball season ? storms can come before and after those cut-off dates!).

2008's hurricane season is supposed to be a very, very active one, according to those meteorologist dudes (I think they went to school and got degrees ? so they're worth listening to!). There's a possibility of six to nine hurricanes this season hitting the good old USA ? ouch!

?Planning and preparation is the key to storm survival and recovery.? That's not Mr. Prepared talking ? it's Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA administrator (when there are that many words after your name, you know you're important!). Now is the time to take the proper emergency preparedness actions, such as stocking preparedness supplies, making sure you know where shelters are, and having a preparedness plan for where family members should meet up if a big storm hits!

The best thing to do is prepare a checklist of the items you will need so that you are prepared incase of a hurricane (or any other disaster such as a fir, tornado and earthquake). This list will include items like first-aid kit, survival kits, food and water, generators, etc.

Another thing to do is put together a preparedness plan. Be sure you know exactly what to do, where things are, where you are going to evacuate to (if you need to), etc. incase a disaster strikes. Remember, it's better to be safe then sorry and the more you plan now, the better prepared you will be!

Your safety preparedness is important to me. Natural dangers are lurking out there, involving earth, wind and fire (no, I'm not referring to the 70's super group ? but, kids, do ask your folks about the melodic wonders of ?September? and the ultimate dance fave, ?Boogie Wonderland?). You can survive these threats by being smart and being prepared! Until next time, this is Mr. Prepared, bringing awareness to preparedness!

Copyright (c) 2008 Mr. Prepared