EMBARQ and Home Safety Council Help North Carolinians Plan for Severe Weather

WAKE FOREST, N.C., May 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- While 58 percent ofmoms feel their families are prepared for a severe weather emergency, only 30percent have created and discussed an emergency communications plan, accordingto a recent survey by the Home Safety Council.

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That is a cause for concern given that many experts say a detailedcommunications plan plays one of the biggest roles in helping families stayconnected to each other and emergency contacts during a natural disaster, suchas hurricanes and floods.

North Carolina residents recently received even more reasons to create anddiscuss emergency plans. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) is forecasting a 65 percent chance of an above average storm seasonthis year, predicting there will be 12 to 16 named storms originating in theAtlantic Ocean, including up to five major hurricanes.

'When an emergency occurs, the first thing people often reach for is aphone to call their loved ones,' said Dan Alcazar, consumer marketing officerat EMBARQ. 'As a communication company, we can help people prepare, especiallywhen staying connected by phone may be an individual's lifeline.'

To help families stay connected during severe weather, EMBARQ and the HomeSafety Council created wallet-sized emergency communication cards that includespace to list important phone numbers and medical information. The cards canbe downloaded at www.embarq.com/severeweather.

'Creating an emergency communication plan is simple,' said Home SafetyCouncil President Meri-K Appy. 'First, families should discuss how they willcommunicate during an emergency and then record important plan information ontheir emergency communication cards. Making sure every family member has thisinformation at his or her fingertips can be a lifesaver if you're in differentplaces when disaster strikes.'

Both Alcazar and Appy recommend having a corded landline phone in the homeor workplace, which is a phone that has a handset connected to the base of thephone by a cord.

'Corded landline phones will continue to operate if the power goes out inyour home,' Appy said.