Preparedness for Military Families

We at Cumberland County are very thankful and appreciative for all of our service men and woman serving our country abroad and at home. With several military installations in our county and the surrounding counties, we realize there are special considerations that military families need to take when it comes to preparing for disasters. We value these folks in our community and want to make sure they, like the rest of our residents have all the information they need to prepare properly for an emergency. We have listed a few suggestions which deal specially with emergency preparedness and regular relocations, deployments and other unique situations impacting military families.

At Home

- When you relocate be sure to learn the types of emergencies that likely affect your new home and what types of planning and response is required by your family.

- Learn evacuation routes for your new home.

- Learn about mass warning systems for your new home. Many municipalities are utilizing alerting systems that can email, call and text users. Research what is available and sign up!

- When creating an emergency plan and communications plan, consider that a family member may be deployed when an emergency occurs and that may alter your plan.

- When preparing items (personal and financial) for deployment, make copies and place them in your emergency kit.

- If you live off of base/post remember that you may not be able to access it during an emergency and plan accordingly.


Serving Abroad

- Learn the number for the Public Safety Answer Point (PSAP), it is most likely not 9-1-1.

- Learn the types of emergencies that are likely to affect you while serving abroad.

- Include your passport, birth abroad certificates, and cash in local currency, electrical current converter and translation book in your emergency kit.

- Follow the instructions of host county emergency officials during a disaster.


If you are a service member new to the area and are seeking any of the information we posted about in this blog do not hesitate to contact our office for assistance! Thanks to all of those who have served in the past and those who are currently serving our nation!