Home > Family & Home > Hazards and Threats > Preparing for Evacuation [Image: Evacuation Traffic ] Vital preparation steps include developing an evacuation plan, preparing an emergency supply kit and preparing your home for the impending disaster. Prepare Your Business for Disaster [Image: Cashier at business] From 15 to 40 percent of businesses fail following a natural or manmade disaster. Getting your business back in operation after a disaster often depends on emergency planning done today. A commitment to planning will help support employees, customers, the local community, the local economy and even our nation. It also protects your business investment and gives your operation a better chance for survival. Flood Insurance and Levees [Image: NFIP Claims and Levees: What you need to know] FEMA released a Levees Brochure during the Spring 2011 Floods, explaining NFIP coverage behind levees, for protective measures and the waiting period. This page is copied directly from that brochure and includes a PDF of the original document as an attachment. Preparing Your Home For a Flood [Image: Flooded home] Your home is one of the largest financial and emotional investments you are likely to make. Advanced planning and preparation can reduce flood damage to your home and belongings in times of disaster.  more articles... Disaster Information Resources Series [Image: Disaster Information Resources] These publications are designed to help Louisiana residents recover from floods, storms, extended power outages and other stressful, dangerous events. After A Disaster Aftera Disaster - Lesson Plan for youth Educators sometimes feel unprepared when new students arrive as a result of disaster they experience, and current students sometimes have difficulty feeling empathy for the new transfer students. This lesson plan can be used with groups of youth in junior high and high school who need guidance in dealing with a change in their social environment, i.e., their school, following a disaster or even after positive changes in their life situation. Shelter - River Center [Image: Unloading supplies] AgCenter employees pitch in at the Baton Rouge River Center, which is housing 6,000 refugees from Hurricane Katrina. Helping Children Cope with Disasters [Image: mom holding child] Parents can help their children to cope with disasters. There are actions parents can take that will help. This information features tips that parents can use during and following a disaster. Preparing a Child's Evacuation To-Go Kit [Image: Mom and child with toys] Information about preparing a child's evacuation to-go kit in anticipation of a disaster and possible family evacuation. Parents can help their child be a part of the preparation to evacuate prior to an approaching disaster and assemble this critically important material. Using interactive maps to find ground elevation [Image: Windspeed Map Portal] As the flood crest moved down the Mississippi River and as hurricane rain and surge threatens Louisiana many people want to compare their ground elevation to a predicted flood crest at their property. This page gives detailed instructions for using the two LSU AgCenter interactive mapping systems to assess flood risk. Using Flood Maps when Waters are Rising [Image: Flier-FloodMaps portal] The LSUAgCenter Flood Maps portal displays Flood Insurance Rate Maps, used for rating flood insurance and as a basis for regulating development in identified flood hazard areas. The portal can be useful in estimating your risk when flooding is anticipated. This page tells you how and explains what you can and cannot do with the information provided on the portal. 2012 Hurricane Season [Image: T.S. Nate Sept 9 early AM] Louisiana faces serious flood threats during tropical storms and hurricanes from a combination of surge and inland rain. This site directs you to information you can use to understand how predicted flood levels may impact you, how you can reduce flood damage and how you can recover and rebuild once the floodwaters recede. 2012 Spring Floods [Image: Goes to NOAA NWS site] Spring floods came early to Louisiana with a mid-March record rainfall in Acadiana. This site directs you to information you can use to understand how predicted flood levels may impact you, how you can reduce flood damage and how you can recover and rebuild once the floodwaters recede. 2011 Hurricane Season [Image: T.S. Nate Sept 9 early AM] Louisiana faces serious flood threats during tropical storms and hurricanes from a combination of surge and inland rain. This site directs you to information you can use to understand how predicted flood levels may impact you, how you can reduce flood damage and how you can recover and rebuild once the floodwaters recede. Click for more information...