Resources for Extreme Weather Events

Hurricanes, Floods, Ice Storms and other severe weather events can occur in New Hampshire. Are you ready? The Portsmouth Health Department would like to remind our residents to make a preparedness plan for themselves and their families. In an emergency, it can take several days for vital services to be restored. Experts recommend that you should be prepared to be self-sufficient for at least three days.

Take Action now to be prepared when disaster strikes:

  • Have a Plan: having a family communications plan in place ahead of a disaster can help ensure that everyone knows how to connect and where to meet during an emergency. 

    • Your family emergency plan contains information you will need about your whole family to help you reconnect after an emergency, like a flood, fire, or severe storm. It is important that the whole family be a part of developing the plan so that everyone understands where to go and how to reconnect. This also helps make sure that the plan includes the needs of children, older family members, or even neighbors. Keep a copy of this plan in your emergency supply kit or another safe place where you can access it in the event of a disaster. Get an emergency contact card for every family member.

      As you take action, remember to check the emergency plan at places that your family frequents – like daycare, school, work, or places of worship.

    • Family Emergency Plan - a template to use to create your individual plan
    • Emergency Contact Cards - fill one out for each member of your family
    • Emergency Preparedness for Pets - information on pets' needs during an emergency
  • Build a Kit: during a disaster event, you and/or your family will require specific items. Assemble supplies before disasters occur.

    • Your emergency kit contains basic items you and your family may need if an emergency happens.  Contents of your kit will be unique to your family needs, including how many family members you have, pets, age, diet, health, mobility and weather conditions. When a disaster hits, your family will depend on you. At a minimum, plan to have at least a 3-day supply of food, water and medicine.

      It is important to remember to review the content of your kit on a regular basis. Some items can expire – like bottled water. Taking action means checking your kit and exchanging these items for fresh supplies. You can always swap out supplies before they expire and use them for lunch or dinner.

    • Emergency Kit Shopping List - use this list to help you create your emergency kit
    • Pet's Emergency Go Kit - use this information to build your pet's emergency kit
  • Stay Informed: the ReadyNH.gov website is New Hampshire's official source for information during state emergencies. Visit it to follow NH Homeland Security and Emergency Management's Facebook and Twitter feeds for the latest safety information. 
    • Sign up for NH Alerts to receive public safety notices issued by the State of New Hampshire and severe weather warnings directly from the National Weather Service.
    • Have questions about NH Alerts? Visit the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page to learn more.