The College of Southern Maryland’s President’s Council and Critical Incident Management Team are closely monitoring the latest developments and potential for Hurricane Florence to affect our region through daily briefings by the National Weather Service (NWS) and Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA).
As the need arises, weather-related information affecting CSM will be shared with students, staff, and faculty. Notifications will be distributed through text message, shared on the college’s main website and hotline, and posted to the college’s Twitter and Facebook social media accounts. Current students and employees are automatically registered to receive CSM.TXT. To learn more about emergency communication notifications and outlets, visit https://ready.csmd.edu
Weather forecasts will become more refined over the coming days and will be dependent upon any stalling of the hurricane and where that occurs. However, now is the time to prepare for potential impacts associated with the hurricane, including common hazards such as high winds, power outages, and flooding.
To help you locate important emergency preparedness information for hurricanes or other threats, the following resources are available:
- Preparedness: prepare.stmarysmd.com
- Know-Your-Zone: KnowYourZoneMD.com
- Maryland Emergency Management Agency: mema.maryland.gov
- Federal Emergency Management Agency: ready.gov
- National Weather Service: weather.gov/safety
- National Hurricane Center: nhc.noaa.gov
Those within our CSM community can prepare personally for severe weather as well by considering the following:
- Clear gutters and downspouts, and trim trees and shrubs.
- Bring in or tie down lawn furniture, grills, garbage cans, plants, and other loose items outdoors.
- Secure boats or bring to shore.
- If you live in a mobile home, make a plan to leave in the event that evacuation is necessary.
- Fill bathtubs and large containers of water for sanitary purposes such as cleaning and flushing toilets.
- Move valuable papers, jewelry, and other contents to upper floors or higher elevations to keep them from flood water.
- Fuel cars.
- Make sure you have fuel for generators.
- Stock pantry with non-perishable food items that can be used and stored for extended periods.
- Tune in to local radio or television news stations for emergency alerts and actions.
CSM will provide updates to the college community as more is learned of the path of Hurricane Florence and its potential impact.