Do your #weekend plans include making an #emergency kit? This Saturday is the Spring National PrepareAthon. Get Ready - we have everything you need for Emergency Disaster Survival Preparedness!

Business Preparedness, while encompassing all the same basics as individual preparedness has its own special additional considerations.

? CDC Foundation’s New Business Pulse Focuses on Workplace Safety

? National Preparedness Small Business Webinar Series

? Tools for a Disaster Prepared Business

? Is your Business Prepared?

? Get Your Business Ready For Any Kind of Disaster with Free Preparedness Month Webinar Series

? Safety Pays! How Businesses Can Save Their Bottom Line

? Workplace Safety Investment means Higher Profits

Disaster Preparedness & Your Supply Chain Webinar

WHAT:         Free SBA/Agility webinar on “Disaster Preparedness & Your Supply Chain”

WHEN:        Tuesday, April 12th, 2016 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM EDT

HOW:           Register at http://tinyurl.com/gutbvnh

Most organizations know supply chain vulnerability poses a threat to their operations, yet few take proactive steps to mitigate that risk or enhance the preparedness of partners. In fact, many organizations may not consider some of the most vulnerable parts of their supply chain as partners at all.

Businesses can protect against disruptions and the impact on the bottom line by adding supply chain redundancy, performing collaborative test exercises, and simply working with their partners to develop a disaster preparedness strategy. Even if your organization doesn't rely on a long list of vendors & suppliers to create goods and perform services, this critical step in developing a comprehensive business continuity strategy can have far reaching implications during a disaster.

Join the US Small Business Administration and co-sponsor Agility Recovery as we discuss strategies and best practices for enhancing your own organization's preparedness by engaging suppliers, vendors and partners in the process.

The SBA has partnered with Agility to offer business continuity strategies through its “PrepareMyBusiness” website. Visit www.preparemybusiness.org to access previous webinars and for additional preparedness tips.

The FEMA Private Sector Division partners with SBA and Agility Recovery to make the monthly "Prepare My Business" webinars available to our e-bulletin subscribers. This information does not represent an endorsement by FEMA of any commercial or private sector issues, products, or services.

To contact the FEMA Private Sector Division, email FEMA-Private-Sector@FEMA.dhs.gov.

So often we think about emergency preparedness and disaster as sudden, cataclysmic events, but they aren't always so.

The California Drought (well really the entire western US) spells disaster for the whole nation - and in fact is already and will continue to have global impact.

The western US States, and particularly California a vital to  the food supply of the nation and the planet. California is the world’s 5th largest supplier of food, cotton fiber and other agricultural commodities in the world. This current drought has forced California farmers and ranchers have been forced to cut back the amount of water they use drastically.

This is not going away. A new Department of the Interior report released Tuesday shows that water supplies across the West are at an increased risk because of climate change.

Projections by the U.S. government say stream flow could decrease across the Colorado and Rio Grande river basins by as much as 27 percent over the next century - this is where the majority of non-snowmelt water in the West comes from.

Learn more:

? Climate Concerns

? Is Southern California in a Drought?

Businesses have special preparedness needs. Not only do business owners and managers needs to be concerned with their own safety and well-being, they must also consider safe preparations for their employees and visitors/guests, and must further consider plans for rapid return to "business as usual" after a calamity - or face business failure.

We have shared some help in these areas in our articles: Is your Business Prepared?, Tools for a Disaster Prepared Business, and Get Your Business Ready For Any Kind of Disaster with Free National Preparedness Month Webinar Series now you can join a webinar for new information from the Small Business Administration:

Get business continuity tips at a free webinar

WHAT:          “Preparing for Severe Spring Weather”

WHEN:          Tuesday, March 15, 2016 from 2-3 p.m. EDT

HOW:            Space is limited. Register now at http://agil.me/springwxprep

Hosted by SBA & Agility

Severe storms, often the form of deadly tornadoes or massive rainfall which leads to flooding, typically causes millions of dollars in property losses across the U.S. each spring.

Gear up and be Prepared!

There are many inexpensive, efficient steps you can take now to make sure your company, clients and employees are safe in the months to come. Join the U.S. Small Business Administration and Agility Recovery on Tuesday, March 15 at 2 p.m. EDT for a free webinar on best practices for reducing spring weather threats.

These preparedness tips are based on real-life recovery experiences from business owners. A question and answer session will follow the presentation.

The SBA has partnered with Agility to offer business continuity strategies through its “PrepareMyBusiness” website. Visit www.preparemybusiness.org to access previous webinars and for additional preparedness tips.

The SBA provides disaster recovery assistance in the form of low-interest loans to homeowners, renters, private nonprofits and businesses of all sizes. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov/disaster.

Another great resource is Ready.gov/business

& read:

• Spring Means Severe Thunderstorms
  
• A “Must-Have” for Spring
• Getting Prepared for a Flood
• Spring Safety and Weather Concerns

What's the single most important item you can stock for Springtime? A PONCHO – for as low as 74¢, you’ve got an emergency shelter, cover, wrap, all-in-one wet-weather solution!

Keeping dry during rainfall or a storm is important, not only because wearing wet clothing is irritating, but because it can lead to sickness. Our adult and child rain ponchos are about wallet-size when folded so that they can be easily stored or carried, yet when opened, are large enough to adequately cover the body to protect against the elements.

Keep them in your desk, car, carry bag, at home, and always leave a few in your suitcases so you don’t forget to pack some for the next trip!

More on Spring: Spring Means Severe Thunderstorms, Spring Safety and Weather Concerns, Spring and Summer Fair Safety, Spring Showers

Remember (we tell you this twice a year!)

Time change? Time to check some important safety issues around the house!

Set your clocks before bed tonight as we'll be "Springing Forward" at 2:00 AM tomorrow.

Tornado Preparedness is essential for dwellers of Tornado Alley, but did you know that Tornadoes are common occurrences nationwide? Tornadoes are not just in silver-screen epics and they are devastatingly dangerous phenomena.

As Weather Ready Nation Ambassadors, we remind you that in the past 10 years, 49 states have come under a tornado warning. While tornadoes can strike almost anywhere, the Great Plains is particularly prone to tornadoes in the spring. The 2013 Moore, Oklahoma tornado, which killed 24 people and injured hundreds, struck in May of that year.

What to Do:

~ Watch out for Wireless Emergency Alerts and other warnings - and heed them!

~ You may have only minutes to find shelter before a tornado strikes. Practice a family tornado drill at least once a year.

~ Have Emergency supplies ready - at home, in your cars, and for evacuation.

Learn more! Why people live in disaster zones, Tornadoes, Tornado Preparedness and Response, Disaster Preparedness: Tornadoes, Special Needs and Tornadoes: A Joplin Story, If an emergency occurred tomorrow, would you be ready?

Tornadoes are nature's most violent storms. Knowing what to do before a tornado strikes to keep you and your loved ones safe. Doing so will make you a Force of Nature and is an important step in building a Weather-Ready Nation. Watch this free video:

Get Weather Ready: Before a Tornado