#SafePlaceSelfie – April 6th, 2022
On April 6, 2022, please join the National Weather Service and its Weather-Ready Nation Ambassadors to take a “selfie” and post with the hashtag #SafePlaceSelfie. One of the most essential preparedness actions anyone can do is to identify their safe locations from various extreme weather threats. Knowing where to go ahead of time can minimize hesitation and ensure your decisions are good ones even under great duress.
How to Participate:
Post a “Selfie” using the hashtag #SafePlaceSelfie and challenge others to do the same by tagging them in your post – other family members, friends, colleagues at work, or other social networks. The following are helpful steps and tips to help you prepare:
Step #1: Think about what hazards are relevant to your area and those locations where you spend lots of time.
- These can be frequent hazards like lightning, flash flooding, or extreme heat, or can be rare but high-impact hazards such as a tsunami.
- Don’t limit yourself to just one selfie post. Take selfies in various locations dependent on these different hazards. For instance, your car can be an effective refuge from lightning, but is a dangerous option during a tornado warning or flash flooding. Home, office, school, gym, and athletic fields are all great locations to identify your safe place.
- Maybe your most common hazards aren’t exactly weather events — wildfires, rough surf/rip currents, earthquakes. These are all good hazards to know your safe place.
Step #2: Get Creative
- Have pets or children? Get them involved in the creative process. Have a pet? What is your plan for them if extreme winds threaten your home? Make things fun by including things you have in your emergency kit.
- Bend the rules by thinking beyond just a physical location. For example, your safe location may be anywhere you have access to lifesaving warnings (e.g., NOAA Weather Radio, FEMA, or commercial app) or could be your proximity to safety (e.g., swimming near lifeguard stands or with a swim buddy)
Step #3: Challenge others by tagging them in your post
- “Hey, @______, where is your safe place when extreme weather threatens?”
- Encouraging others to participate makes you a force multiplier that could result in saving lives.
Steph #4: Follow the action throughout the day
- Stay engaged by replying to, liking, and/or retweeting your favorite #SafePlaceSelfies.
For more information on #SafePlaceSelfie visit: https://www.weather.gov/wrn/safeplaceselfie
Do You Know About the Annual Disaster Recovery Exercise?
Each year Information Technology teams, here at Intact Specialty Solutions US, conducts a disaster recovery exercise. This is a simulation to recover the data center in the event of a disaster.
What is a Disaster Recovery Exercise?
- Validate the recovery processes for servers and applications.
- Identify gaps in the recovery processes and correct them before a real event occurs.
- Reinforce recovery tasks to team members in the event of a disaster. Actions performed during a recovery are different than day to day activities.
How does it work?
- The Disaster Recovery Exercise is a surprise, just like a real disaster would be. Only 3 people in the company know when the DR exercise will take place.
- Teams across IT collaborate on completing the recovery tasks outlined in the project plan.
- Critical applications have been identified. These applications are time sensitive, if they are not recovered in a specific amount of time Intact Specialty Insurance could face repercussions. Referred to as Recovery Time Objective (RTO.)
- During this exercise the entire team is working remotely.
- Team members are tested to the max working 14-hour days. Not only completing Disaster recovery tasks, but still supporting day to day business as well.
All this work that is done behind the scenes, is to help ensure the lines of business continues to operate no matter what crisis might be encountered. You might instantly think of weather-related incidents, but there are a multitude of other situations where we might have to declare a disaster and implement the Disaster Recovery Plan.
If you want to learn more about our Disaster Recovery plans visit: Disaster Recovery – Home (intactspecialty.com)
Tornados
Tornados are violently rotating columns of air that extend from a thunderstorm to the ground. Tornadoes can destroy buildings, flip cars, and create deadly flying debris. A tornado can happen anywhere, bring intense winds, over 200 miles per hour, and look like funnels. Tornado season is generally March through August, though tornadoes can occur at any time of year. They tend to occur in the afternoons and evenings.
Know the difference between a Tornado WATCH and a Tornado WARNING.
- A Tornado WATCH can cover parts of a state or several states. Watch and prepare for severe weather and stay tuned to local weather authorities to know when warnings are issued.
- A Tornado WARNING means a tornado has been reported by spotters or indicated by radar and there is a serious threat to like and property to those in the path of the tornado. A tornado warning indicates that you should ACT NOW and find shelter.
- Go to a safe room, basement, or storm cellar.
- If there is no basement, get to a small, interior room on the lowest level.
- Stay away from windows, doors, and outside walls. Flying debris can cause injury or death.
- If you can safely get to a sturdy building, do so immediately.
- Do not get under an overpass or bridge. You’re safer in a low, flat location.
- Use your arms to protect your head and neck.
After a tornado you are not free from dangers yet, there are many hazards you could face.
- If you are trapped, try to attract attention to yourself. Bang on a pipe or wall. Use a cloth or mask to protect your mouth, nose, and eyes from dust.
- Check for injuries. Clean open wounds and cuts with soap and water. Apply an antibiotic ointment. Have any puncture wound evaluated by a physician.
- Do not enter damaged buildings until local authorities determine it is safe. Tornados can damage buildings and make them unsafe.
- Leave your home or building if you hear shifting or unusual noises. Strange noises could mean the building is about to fall.
- Be aware of possible structural, electrical, or gas-leak hazards in your home.
- Carefully check your home’s walls, floors, doors, windows, and staircases for damage. If you see structural damage, like cracks in the foundation or missing support beams, you may need to relocate to a shelter or another safe location.
- Check gas, electrical, and water lines for damage. If you smell gas or see a broken line, shut off the main valve from the outside.
- Do not use matches, lighters, appliances, or light switches until you are sure there are no gas leaks. Sparks from electrical switches could ignite gas, causing an explosion.
- Never use portable gasoline or coal-burning equipment or camp stoves inside your home, basement, or garage.
- Use a battery-operated or battery backup CO detector any time you use a generator or anything else that burns fuel.
For more information on Tornado’s visit: https://www.ready.gov/tornadoes
Have an idea, question, story, or feedback you’d like to share? Send an email to CrisisMgmt@intactinsurance.com
SafetyFIRST! is for internal use and informational purposes only. Questions may be directed to CrisisMgmt@intactinsurance.com