Q: What advice can the embassy offer to US citizens in Jamaica to prepare for hurricane season?

A: Plan ahead, and take responsibility for your own safety before an emergency arises. The US and Jamaican governments offer a number of resources to the public to help you do this.

The US Federal Emergency Management Agency offers detailed suggestions on how to prepare for emergencies of all kinds, including hurricanes, at www.ready.gov There you can find instructions on how to prepare an emergency kit with stockpiled food, water and medical supplies, and how to set up an emergency communication plan with your family and friends.

Monitor the weather. Storm forecasts can be found on the National Hurricane Center’s website at www.nhc.noaa.gov. Jamaica’s Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management provides information on local conditions at odpem.org.jm. If you don’t have ready access to a computer, pay attention to local media reports throughout the hurricane season.

Enrol in the US Department of State’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP), whether you are a temporary visitor or reside in Jamaica long term. The embassy uses STEP to transmit emergency messages to US citizens in Jamaica. You can enrol in STEP at travel.state.gov or through the US Citizen Services section of the embassy website.

Make sure your passports and visas are current. The embassy might not be able to issue passports and visas in the wake of a catastrophic storm. If it becomes clear that a storm is heading for Jamaica, the best way to avoid danger is to depart the island before it strikes, and stay away until it is safe to return. To do this, you will need a valid passport or visa.

US citizens should ensure that their passports are valid through the end of hurricane season. If your passport expires soon, renew it now. If you are Jamaican and your children are US citizens, you will only be able to travel with them if you have a valid visa. Make sure your visa is current. Make an evacuation plan now, and be sure that you have the necessary documents to allow you to leave on short notice.

If a situation requires an evacuation from an overseas location, the Department of State will work with commercial airlines to ensure that US citizens are repatriated as safely and efficiently as possible. Commercial airlines are the department’s primary source of transportation in an evacuation; other means of transport are utilised only as a last resort.

It should be noted that the Department of State does not provide no-cost transportation, nor is space for non-US citizen relatives guaranteed. For all of these reasons, it is best to depart before a storm makes landfall, when commercial transportation is still available. More information on the services the Department of State offers during a crisis can be found at the US Department of State’s website, travel.state.gov. For more information about American citizen services, please visit our website at jm.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services.

For more information about visas, please visit our website jm.usembassy.gov/and the website of our authorised service provider at www.usvisa-info.com Keep on top of embassy news on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/pages/US-Embassy-Jamaica and by following @USEmbassyJA on Twitter . We also answer general visa questions on our Facebook and Twitter pages.