Hurricane preparedness is a must for those that live in our nation’s coastal areas. The impacts of a hurricane, however, can be felt miles for the coast so hurricane preparedness is a topic that concerns many of us. While we often look to our government officials to make the proper preparation and allowances for the types of emergencies that hurricanes typify, we must also remember that we each are responsible for our own family’s safety.
Making provisions for adequate hurricane preparedness can, at best, mean the difference between riding out the hurricane and its aftermath in relative safety and comfort or living through one of the most terrifying experiences of your life. At worse, hurricane preparedness can means the difference in life or death.
There are several questions that need to be asked when considering the appropriate level of hurricane preparedness for your family. The first of these questions relate to the number of people in your care and the relative ages and health of those people. Adequately providing for the needs of one or two family members can be much easier than providing for the needs of a large extended family. When one or more of your family members are young, elderly, or ill, hurricane preparations can be much more complex.
To insure your family’s safety first consider where you are and what type of shelter you have available. Hurricanes are not to be taken lightly. Far too many people have died from approaching them as though they were. Not only is there the storm surge to consider and the high water that comes along with it, there is also the direct wind and the many tornadoes that hurricanes spawn. If you have any doubts as to whether the shelter you have at you disposal is adequate to withstand the conditions of a hurricane, evacuate! If you have any reservations about living for a couple of weeks after the hurricane has passed with no electricity, no water, and limited basic necessities, evacuate!
You need to make the decision to evacuate as early in the game as possible. The one saving grace of hurricanes is that the direction of their swath they can be predicted many days in advance. When it first begins to look like your area will be affected you need to start making plans to either ride out the storm or to evacuate. The highways will quickly become almost impassable as the storm nears and more and more people make the decision to leave.
Whether you decide to stay or go, you’ll need gas for your vehicles. Make sure that you obtain this much-needed necessity at the earliest possible time. Even if you are sure that you are going to ride out the storm it is wise to have gas. Before the storm hits the gas stations will be clogged with people and many will actually run out of supplies. The same can be said of food and other basic necessities.
You will not only need adequate food and shelter but you will also need to consider what prescription and over-the-counter medications each of your family members will need. You’ll need enough supplies to ride through the immediate impacts of the hurricane but you’ll also need to consider the days that follow when conditions may be almost unlivable. Having an adequate supply of clean water is critical. You’ll also need to consider how you will acquire water for bathing and how you will dispose of your bathroom wastes.
Consider such needs well before the storm and decide whether such things as bathing can be accommodated using swimming pool water or water from a nearby lake. If not, you’ll likely need to make even more preparations. Large plastic garbage cans make good storage vats for water and a good supply of plastic bags makes the disposal of bathroom wastes more practical in the event water cannot be hauled in to manually flush toilets.
In addition to the considerations outlined above, you’ll need clothing and bedding as well as flashlights, candles, matches, batteries, a radio, and any other items that can make the experience more comfortable. Don’t forget to provide for the needs of your pets! They’ll need food, water, and medications as well. You’ll also need some means of containing pets during the hurricane as conditions can become terrifying for animals and humans alike.
Hurricanes are one of the most powerful forces of Mother Nature. They do not discriminate as to where they wreak their havoc. Even regions far removed from the coast can be impacted both directly and indirectly by the ravages of a hurricane. Hurricane preparedness is not just a nicety.
