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Top Tips for Hurricane Season Preparedness
Top Tips for Hurricane Season Preparedness: Stay Safe and Ready!
The best time to prepare a hurricane plan was a year ago. If you didn’t do that, now is the time to start. You can develop a plan in a few hours. It would be best if you implemented it.
AcuWeather is forecasting between 6 to 10 named storms for September.
If you or your family live in a hurricane-prone area, developing a family emergency plan is in your best interest. It would be best to have one and not need one and not have one.
Understanding Hurricane Risks:
The two factors to be concerned with during hurricane season are high winds and water. Depending on where you live when the hurricane hits, you can be subject to catastrophic disaster. We can recall Hurricane Michael in 2018, which devastated Mexico City, Florida.
We need to look at five different things to prepare for hurricane season.
1. Shelter: Will my family or I be able to stay dry and protected from the high wind or encroaching water?
2. Food: Do I have enough nonperishable food to feed myself and my family for the next 72 hours without needing to cook it?
3. Water: Do we have enough water to stay hydrated and use for sanitation?
4. Sanitation: I am not just talking about washing your hands. At some point during the storm’s impact, you and your family will need to do something about your bodily waste.
5. Evacuation. Three things to consider for evacuation.
1. You must evacuate immediately because of your home location.
2. You do not need to evacuate. You can weather out the storm in your home.
3. Something has changed. It is no longer safe to remain home, and you must evacuate.
Developing a Family Emergency Plan:
It is vital to have what’s known as a family emergency plan. The family emergency plan covers everybody in your family who will be in your household, and anybody who can be affected by that plan must be aware of what is happening.
I recommend you contact your local emergency management office in your city or County and ask them for guidance. They should have a PDF file to download, which will walk you through developing your family emergency plan.
Another consideration is whether you need to evacuate.
Your county or city office of emergency management should have a map identifying if you live in an area that requires evacuation. Even if you do not live in an area that requires an immediate evacuation, it is vital to identify your local evacuation routes and practice an evacuation drill because things can change.
An emergency kit, that’s right, if you have to evacuate, you will need to take supplies with you. Supply kit information should be found in the hurricane preparedness download you received from your local emergency management office, or you can go to the American Red Cross to find one.
Let’s not forget our pets’ elderly relatives or infants. They have special needs that should be in your family emergency plan.
Communications Plan:
If something happens, your family might not all be in the same place at the same time. It is crucial to have a communications plan so that if and when something important happens, you can get together to discuss what’s going on and find a way to come back together as a family unit. Now, the upside of living in a hurricane-prone zone is that you will know it’s coming, so it would be improbable that people are out and unaware when the hurricane lands in your location.
Stay informed, monitor weather alerts using an NOAA weather radio, and monitor local news or mobile apps for real-time updates. And take appropriate action when necessary.
These are just the basics for hurricane preparedness. We can dive much deeper into building your emergency kit, preparing your home for the hurricane, using shelter-in-place strategies, or determining where to shelter at a distance with friends or family.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the essential bare minimum is shelter to protect yourself and your family from the elements of having enough food and water to sustain yourself until services are restored. Disposing of human waste and evacuation considerations. Evacuation to a safe location.
Let’s not forget our pets’ elderly relatives or infants. They have special needs that need to be in your family plan.
Once you have your family plan in place, reviewing it yearly and making any needed updates is good.
Additional Information: Fortify Your Home
Stay informed and stay safe.
Daniel Kilburn
P.S.
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