The Broome County Office of Emergency Services wants to help people to be ready for emergencies and disasters in the future.

County officials discussed the importance of having an emergency plan Thursday. 

County Executive Jason Garnar recalled the two 500-year floods over the last 15 years and says we need to learn from the past.

"It doesn't take a lot of time to make sure you have what you need in any type of emergency and take some basic steps to get prepared because it will make your family a lot safer and it will make it a lot easier for first responders to help people out in the community," Garnar said.

September is National Preparedness Month. Each week focuses on a different step to being prepared.