Stay Informed
Being able to communicate with family, friends and emergency responders during an emergency is critical. However, keep in mind that everyday communication devices may not work properly during an emergency.
The most common emergencies that occur in Lunenburg County are winter storms, hurricanes, flooding, and fires (home, forest, and grass fires). By knowing what to do before, during, and after an incident will reduce the impact on you and your family.
No matter where you live, the following basic preparedness actions can help you in any emergency.
- Listen to local radio and television stations, as well as social media for forecasts and emergency instructions.
- Monitor municipal government social media for updates. There are a lot of options for news but not all of it is accurate, ensure you follow a reputable source for accurate information.
- Arrange with friends and neighbours to advise one another of an emergency notification.
- Post emergency numbers by every phone.
- Evacuation routes will be announced when required. Listen for the routes to take and where to go to meet up with loved ones or to receive updates.
- Be familiar with the emergency plans in your workplace and your children's school or daycare.
- Leave written backup care arrangements with the school or daycare in case you can't get there right away in an emergency.
- Learn First Aid and CPR to assist a family member or neighbour.
- Some municipal units may have purchased their own alert system. Visit their website or call to ask if they have an alert program and be sure to sign up for it.
Communications Supply List
- Self-Powered (hand crank or solar) radio with flashlight
- Fully charged spare cell phone battery
- Car cell phone charger
- List of emergency and family contact names, addresses, and phone numbers
- House, apartment, and car insurance cards and policies
- Posterboard
- Markers
Additional tips
- Save your safe meeting location(s) on your phone's mapping application.
- Texting or emailing uses less bandwidth than calling or streaming on social media. Keep phone lines open for first responders. To reduce network congestion immediately after an emergency, avoid using your mobile device to stream videos, download entertainment, or play video games.
- If you must use a phone, keep your conversation brief, and convey only vital information. Keeping calls short also saves the battery life of your mobile phone.
- If you are unable to complete a call, wait ten seconds before redialing to help reduce network congestion.
- Provide your safe location to an out-of-area contact and have them post your safety on your social media and provide one person updates to keep lines and your time free.
- Conserve your battery by reducing the screen's brightness and closing apps you are not using.
- Keep extra batteries or a charger for your mobile device in your emergency kit. Consider getting a solar-powered, crank, or vehicle phone charger, or if you do not have a cell phone, keep a prepaid phone card in your kit.
- If you have been evacuated and have call-forwarding on your home phone, use it to forward calls to your cell phone.
- If you do not have a hands-free device in your car, stop driving or pull over to the side of the road before texting, making a call or using the device.
- Keep your contacts up to date on your phone, email, and other channels.
- Cordless phones rely on electricity and will not work during a power outage. If you have a landline, keep at least one corded phone in your home.
