FEMA CONTINUES TO MONITOR HURRICANE EARL, ENCOURAGES EVERYONE TO BE PREPARED

September is National Emergency Preparedness Month

As Hurricane Earl moves toward Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is closely monitoring the storm and stands ready to support commonwealth and territorial officials in the region to ensure they have the resources to respond if needed.

According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Earl is now a Category 3 hurricane. FEMA continues to urge everyone in the region to take steps now to ensure they are prepared for possible severe weather, and remember that hurricanes and tropical storms frequently bring flash flooding as well. Anyone can visit www.ready.gov to learn more about how to prepare for an emergency. A Spanish version of the website is available at www.listo.gov.

The Department of Homeland Security recommends that every family have at least one Emergency Preparedness Kit no matter where they live. Multi-Pure's kit is unique in that it includes our EF8 Emergency Filter which will allow you to have quality filtered water when there is no water pressure.

To help more families get prepared, Multi-Pure is offering all customers who purchase one of our emergency preparedness kits a FREE Emergency Water Filter (EF8) until the end of September. September is National Emergency Preparedness month!
Our Emergency Kit and Gift have a value of $215...your price in the month of September is only $99.95. That is a $115 savings!

For more information visit our website
www.multipureco.com/BusinessGuide/emergencykitpromo.pdf

The NHC has issued a hurricane warning for the U.S. Virgin Islands, including the islands of Culebra and Vieques, which means that hurricane conditions are expected within the warning area in the next 12 hours. The NHC has issued a tropical storm warning and hurricane watch for Puerto Rico. A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch area. A hurricane watch is typically issued 48 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical storm force winds, conditions that make outside preparations difficult or dangerous. A tropical storm warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area within 36 hours.

According to the National Hurricane Center, the center of Earl will pass near or over the northernmost part of the U.S. Virgin Islands this afternoon and evening. Hurricane conditions will be spreading across the northern U.S. Virgin Islands during the next few hours and over portions of Puerto Rico this afternoon. Rainfall is expected to produce total accumulations of 4 to 8 inches with possible isolated maximum amounts of 12 inches. These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.

FEMA is also coordinating across the federal government to ensure commonwealth and territorial officials have the support they need. Federal and other support includes:
• Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has deployed a Regional Extension Center (REC) to the U.S. Virgin Islands in support of the FEMA Incident Management Assistance Team (IMAT) there, and has other resources prepositioned and ready for deployment.
• Department of Defense (DOD) has activated a Defense Coordinating Officer (DCO) in St. Thomas and a State Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer (SEPLO) team in Puerto Rico ready to support a response if needed.
• U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has closed U S. Virgin Islands seaports and has redirected cruise ships slated for the area. Coast Guard assets are on alert and prepared to help in search and rescue efforts.
• American Red Cross has personnel on the ground in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

While there currently are no coastal watches or warnings in effect for the United States mainland, history has shown that storm tracks can change quickly and unexpectedly, and FEMA has been coordinating through its regional offices along the East Coast to aggressively prepare should the region experience severe weather.

The National Weather Service remains the source of official severe weather watches and warnings, including flash flooding which can take only a few minutes to develop in the case of heavy rains. FEMA encourages all individuals in the region to listen to NOAA Weather Radio and their local news to monitor for severe weather updates, and to follow the directions provided by their local officials.

Multi-Pure has a lot of truly wonderful distributors in Puerto Rico. Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this hurricane season. Be safe out there!

- Trina Boice -