It’s the perfect time to prepare for a natural disaster

PANAMA CITY, Fla. ( WMBB ) — Natural disasters are unannounced and can happen at any time. That’s why Bay County officials are raising awareness about National Preparedness Month this September.

“What we’ve learned from [Hurricane] Michael is invaluable. You need to be prepared because it was a [category] 1, 3, next thing you know, by the time it hit, it was a 5,” Home Depot Customer Service Specialist Jack Milam said.

The disaster preparedness sales tax holiday is the perfect time to stock up on emergency essentials and save some money, too. From now to September 6, you can buy certain disaster preparedness items free of tax.

“The biggest item would probably be the plywood to cover the windows and stuff like that. That’s the first thing that will go and get empty. Second of all, you’ll want to go ahead and get water because that’s another item that disappears very quickly, batteries, cleaning supplies, gloves, alcohol, stuff like that,” Milam said.

It’s also important to stay connected and up-to-date on emergency information.

“If you sign up for Alert Bay, you’ll be sure to get those emergency notifications such as tornado warnings. You can sign up for a host of alerts. You actually have the opportunity to sort of curate the ones that you want to get,” Bay County Chief Communications Officer Valerie Sale said.

Start getting prepared before it’s too late.

“It’s really important that everybody be very cognizant that those things can happen. I think the most important thing you can do is sign up for Alert Bay and make sure that you get those emergency notifications when they come out,” Sale said.

“Everything you do now will prepare you and your family for a quicker comeback and get back to your home,” Milam said.

For a full list of eligible disaster preparedness tax-free items, click here.

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