Tropical Storm Joaquin has become a hurricane and is barreling towards the east coast today. Eleven  states, stretching from Appalachia to New England are under flood watch.

And in those states there are likely thousands of military families, who PCS'd there this summer and have never had to prepare for a hurricane. If this includes you, you should start preparing, now.

www.ready.gov/hurricanes provides a complete checklist of everything you need to know about hurricane preparation and evacuation. The site even provides a list of what you need to be doing when the hurricane is 36 hours from arriving, 18 hours from arriving and six hours from arriving.

The organization's most basic preparedness tips:

• Know where to go. If you are ordered to evacuate, know the local hurricane evacuation route(s) to take and have a plan for where you can stay. Contact your local emergency management agency for more information.
• Put together a disaster supply kit, including a flashlight, batteries, cash, first aid supplies, and copies of your critical information if you need to evacuate
• If you are not in an area that is advised to evacuate and you decide to stay in your home, plan for adequate supplies in case you lose power and water for several days and you are not able to leave due to flooding or blocked roads.
• Make a family emergency communication plan that includes discussing a safe place everyone will head to during the storm and how your family will keep in touch if communication systems are out.
• Many communities have text or email alerting systems for emergency notifications. To find out what alerts are available in your area, search the Internet with your town, city, or county name and the word “alerts.”

You can also follow the progress of storms by visiting the National Hurricane Center's website at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

The PCS move is over, now it is time to prepare for any emergencies in your new region. Don't wait to prepare for major storms. Hurricane season runs until the end of November. There is a lot of time left for a major storm to hit.