Developing a family communication plan to prepare for a hurricane. (CREDIT: WINK News) While preparing for a storm, a family communication plan isn’t remembered as often as regular supplies, but it’s crucial. The goal of a communication plan is to identify who your emergency contacts will be and who you will be communicating with. Then, to figure out where you will meet and how you will communicate in case of an emergency. All eyes are on the tropics, as Tropical Depression Nine, likely to become a hurricane, moves toward the Gulf. Yianni Villalobos, a Cape Coral resident, told WINK News he knows how to prepare for hurricanes. “We went through Charlie and went through Wilma. We went through Irma, it just had been, like, five years ago,” Villalobos said. When it comes to family communication plans, Villalobos knows how important they can be. “I mean, this is my family. And my mom, you know, she lives with us, so, yeah, we all just stick together,” Villalobos said. Bill Ringler, another Cape Coral resident, has a similar plan in place for family communication during a hurricane. “Yeah, make sure everybody knows where we’re gonna meet. What location, what time, and then we have a failsafe in case they don’t make it there. They still know how to get a hold of me,” Ringler said. A family communication plan can be more important than one may imagine at first. And if you don’t have one, start by picking one person from each family, so everyone has a single point of contact. You can save them in your contacts as I.C.E. which stands for “In Case of Emergency.” Another tip is that it’s better to text than to call unless it’s an emergency. Always keep your family’s contact information close to you.