Governor Nathan Deal and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency today introduced an upgraded version of the state’s emergency mobile app, Ready Georgia, designed to help Georgians stay safe and informed during emergencies. Upgrading the app was one of the recommendations of the governor’s Severe Winter Weather Warning and Preparedness Taskforce.

“When severe weather hit our state this year, I called on our emergency management agency to upgrade the state’s emergency app with shelter information, alternative transportation routes and other emergency-related information,” Deal said. “The Ready Georgia app already served as a good resource for Georgians, but now that its capabilities have been expanded it will keep us better informed when emergency situations arise. I appreciate the cooperative efforts of all involved in this process, and I encourage everyone to download this app in advance of future weather-related emergencies.”

Launching just in time for the start of hurricane season, the upgraded Ready Georgia app features geo-targeted severe weather and emergency alerts that will notify users’ phones before disasters strike. The app also includes traffic information, including a live traffic map with incident reports straight from the Georgia Department of Transportation. Finally, an enhanced shelters map displays the location of open Red Cross shelters as well as approved “good Samaritan” shelters, and provides directions from the users’ current location.

“This was a collaborative process, and we’d like to thank all the organizations that partnered with us to provide information and feedback during development,” said GEMA Director Charley English. “This app is an important tool in our ability to communicate with Georgians and help them stay informed, and we are really pleased with the new features added as part of this upgrade.”

In addition to the new features, users will still be able to keep checklists of emergency supplies, create customized disaster plans for their families, check flood risk levels and historical tornado data near their location, and find contact information for their local emergency management agencies.

GEMA worked in partnership with the National Weather Service, GDOT, Georgia Tech and The Weather Channel during the app’s development.

To download the Ready Georgia mobile app, visit www.ready.ga.gov/mobileapp. For more information on how to prepare for severe weather, visit www.ready.ga.gov. To learn about specific risks in your area, contact your local emergency management agency.

About Ready Georgia

Ready Georgia is a statewide campaign designed to educate and empower Georgians to prepare for and respond to natural disasters, pandemic outbreaks, potential terrorist attacks and other large-scale emergencies. The campaign is a project of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) and provides a local dimension to Ready America, a broader national campaign. Ready Georgia aims to prepare citizens for maintaining self-sufficiency for at least 72 hours following an emergency, and uses an interactive Web site, online community toolkit, broadcast and print advertising and public awareness media messaging to reach its audiences. Ready Georgia is also on Facebook and YouTube.

Last year, there were seven weather and climate disaster events across the United States with losses exceeding $1 billion each. These events included five severe weather and tornado events, a major flood event, and the western drought/heat wave. Overall, these events killed 109 people and had significant economic effects on the areas impacted.

All of these events highlight the need for emergency preparation — highlighted by events like the National Severe Weather Preparedness Week, which runs from March 2-8, 2014.

Being prepared for severe weather hazards does not have to be complicated or expensive. A few simple steps to prepare and take action could help save lives anywhere – at home, in schools, and in the workplace before tornadoes and severe thunderstorms and extreme weather strikes.

Know your risk. Take action.
Severe weather knows no boundaries and affects every individual. Being prepared and acting quickly could be a matter of survival. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) have the responsibility of handling Federal and State emergency events. Ready Georgia,  GEMA’s statewide emergency preparedness campaign, offers tools that residents can use to create an emergency supply kit, develop a communications plan and stay informed about potential threats. Ready Georgia’s interactive website, www.ready.ga.gov, provides detailed information on Georgia-specific emergency preparedness and allows users to create a personal profile and receive a customized checklist and family communications plan.

Employers can use the Ready Your Business guide to create custom contingency plans, and children can visit the ReadyKids page for age-appropriate information, videos and games. For preparedness on the go, families can also download Ready Georgia’s free mobile app at http://www.ready.ga.gov/mobileapp to learn how to prepare for emergencies, create family communications plans and more.

Have you prepared an emergency plan for your home and your agency location? If so, is it up to date?  More than half the households in the United States have no emergency plan. GEMA and FEMA offer a lot of information to help develop a plan on how to deal with emergencies.

Ready.GA.gov offers some of the following guidelines for homes:

• Supply Checklist for Severe Weather emergencies
  • Do you have a stored water supply of at least 3 gallons per day per person?
  • Do you have a 3 day Non-Perishable food supply for your family?
  • Do you have a manual can opener, batteries, flashlights and a NOAA alert radio?
  • Do you have a fully stocked First Aid kit?
  • Are you prepared for a cold weather emergency if the power goes out?
• Fire & Medical emergency preparation for your location or home:
  • Are there two ways out of your home or office?
  • Have you established a meeting point once you have evacuated?
  • Do you have a First Aid kit?  Are Emergency numbers posted?
  • Do you know who has First Aid training at your location?
• Flooding preparation:
  • Do you know what items you want to take with you during an evacuation?
  • Do you have emergency contact numbers in case roads are flooded in your area or at your location?

Of course these are the short list of items.  A few minutes of preparation can save a life or make you far more comfortable in case of an emergency situation.

To promote the importance of preparing before disasters strike, Gov. Nathan Deal – in cooperation with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency/Homeland Security’s Ready Georgia campaign – is encouraging statewide participation in National Preparedness Month this September. Ready Georgia and local emergency management agencies statewide are hosting a variety of events all month to raise awareness and encourage more people to prepare for emergencies.

National and international disasters, ranging from Ebola to wildfires to major earthquakes, have dominated the headlines in recent weeks. Plus, we are entering the most active month of hurricane season. Governor Nathan Deal has proclaimed September as National Preparedness Month in Georgia – a great time to make sure you and your loved ones are disaster-ready. This year’s theme is “Be Disaster Aware; Take Action to Prepare.”

“Knowing the appropriate way to prepare for and respond to disaster can help you survive the emergency and recover faster,” said Lisa Janak Newman, public information officer with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency/Homeland Security (GEMA). “It can also help reduce the fear and anxiety that accompany disasters.”

To learn more about how you can be more prepared for an emergency, check out the Ready Georgia mobile app and visit www.ready.ga.gov.