Hurricane season is in full swing, and with all eyes on Hurricane Harvey in Texas, first responders in Prince William are asking residents to get prepared.
According to Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief and Fire Marshal Matt Smolsky, the department has been keeping a close eye on Hurricane Harvey and the path it’s taking.
“The remnants of Hurricane Harvey could be impacting our area as early as Friday. We’re not sure about how much rain we’re going to get…by no means are we going to see anything that’s happening in the Gulf right now,” said Smolsky.
They’re also keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Irma, watching for the potential landing of the storm, but they’re days away from knowing if the storm will move through the area, Smolsky said.
Smolsky highlighted several things Prince William residents can do to be prepared for any emergency.
The first is to monitor the condition of the storm, and keep updated on what’s happening.
“If they do live in the area that has the potential to be evacuated, they need to have a plan of where they’re going to go, what are they gonna take with them,” said Smolsky.
Smolsky said that Prince William County has an emergency alert system that residents can sign up for, to be kept in the loop when incidents occur.
Click here to sign up for Prince William emergency alerts.
Smolsky also said that should a disaster strike the area, residents need to be prepared to take care of themselves for around 72 hours, in the event that first responders cannot assist until then.
“Every citizen needs to be prepared to sustain themselves for 72 hours. Most people don’t do that unless they plan ahead of time,” said Smolsky.
Another thing residents can do ahead of a weather event or disaster is establish a family communication plan.
“A lot of times people don’t think about this. With today’s cell phones – those cell phones might not be used in the area in a disaster. Every family should have some sort of family contact outside your area, where everybody in that extended family knows to call Uncle John, because everybody’s going to be checking in with Uncle John,” said Smolsky.
Janet McMahon, a Prince William resident and volunteer with the American Red Cross, said that having a “go bag” prepped and ready to go is also essential.
“Where you have all of your personal documents in there, maybe a change of clothes, your medications – easily accessible – especially if you have to leave quickly,” said McMahon.
One thing Prince William fire & rescue has also been closely watching is the fuel supply out in the Gulf, where much of the fuel comes from for Prince William first responder vehicles.
“One of the things we’ve been closely monitoring is the fuel supply coming out of the Gulf…we’ve been getting constant reports that everything looks good right now, no disruptions or anything like that…we’re concerned about that because we need fuel for our vehicles, so we need to know,” said Smolsky.
According to McMahon, a cohort of Red Cross volunteers from Prince William have flown out to Houston, Texas to assist with hurricane victims.
“We have sent representatives [from Prince William] to Texas, so they’re part of the shelters – working at the shelters in Texas,” said McMahon.
