A powerful hurricane is approaching.  "What should I do?" A Category 4 hurricane is bearing down on your town.  "What should I do?"  The national threat level is raised. "What should I do?"  That one question -- "What should I do?" -- is asked by thousands of Galveston County residents every time we are reminded that our lives can instantly be changed by a number of different emergencies.

Yet, too many Americans have answered the question, "What should I do?" by doing little or nothing at all.  There are simple steps each of us can take to prepare for whatever might come our way.  Emergencies will happen, but taking action now can help us minimize the impact they will have on our lives.

That's why September, National Preparedness Month, is all about helping families take action!  It's about gathering our families and figuring out what we will do if an emergency happens in our community.  How will we find our family members?  How will we know where to go?  What supplies will we need and where should we keep them?

The resources to guide us toward better preparedness and help us answer the "What should I do?" questions are just a click away.  In addition to the resources on this website, visit www.ready.gov to get started.  These websites contain a wealth of information about what you can do to prepare.  There's also a special section at www.ready.gov called Ready Kids, new this year, to help teach children ages 8-12 about the importance of emergency preparedness.

National Preparedness Month 2006 is a nationwide effort to encourage families to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses and schools.  September is an ideal time for families to update their emergency supply kits and family emergency plans and to become better informed about different threats and local emergency plans.  Many things can change over the course of a year, and it is imperative that the entire family have the most up-to-date emergency contact information and Family Communications Plan as they head back to school and work.

National Preparedness Month is also the ideal time to get involved in preparing your community.  Citizen Corps provides residents with opportunities to prepare, train and support local first responders.  For more information, or to get involved, visit www.citizencorps.gov.

This September, the Department of Homeland Security highlighted the importance of emergency preparedness nationally.  And we're acting on the local level as well.