Although our local American Red Cross of Greater Grand Rapids and most of you reading this blog do not necessarily live in areas that are threatened by hurricanes, that does not mean that we shouldn’t educate ourselves and be aware of the proper safety precautions that need to be taken if and when a hurricane gets near to or actually hits land. So in honor of Hurricane Katrina’s five year anniversary last week and the fact that we are now entering into hurricane season 2010, I figure it might not be a bad idea to make this today’s blog topic. Also, if some of you are not already aware – the American Red Cross is currently monitoring Hurricane Earl, which right now, is a Category 3 hurricane with winds upwards of 125 mph. It appears to be gaining strength as it makes its way through the Atlantic Ocean heading straight for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and causing possible effects on the East Coast as soon as later this week.
It’s always important for you and your family to be ready so lets review some of our basic steps for being prepared for this hurricane season. Here is the Red Cross’s Hurricane Safety Checklist for you to read, review, print out or whatever you would like to do with it, because even if this information does not directly apply to you and where you are living, perhaps you have friends or family living in potential disaster areas that you could pass this information along to. Here at the Red Cross we like to remind people that it’s always important to be Red Cross Ready!
After reading through the checklist, anyone have any other great ideas, tips or suggestions that were left off the list? Let’s hear ’em! We’re all in this together so lets help make sure that everyone is as prepared as possible for this year’s hurricane season!
American Red Cross of West Michigan 
seems a danger may happened next few hours.