Hurricane Preparedness Includes Clean-Up Issues

How Prepared For Hurricane Clean-Up Woudl You Be?

Even the weakest hurricane like Hurricane Lorenzo - a Category 1 hurricane can cause a great deal of damage to a community and to a individual’s home and business. Our most recent hurricane that came ashore in Nautla, Mexico in the eastern section of Mexico proves that., (Check out article below.)

When most people think of hurricane preparedness they think of water, food, flashlights etc. These are important things to have on hand. There should also be as part of your emergency preparedness plans a recovery plan that considers clean-up issues should your home or business be affected by a hurricane.

Here are some emergency preparedness tips to consider for after the hurricane ahs hit and clean-up is necessary. Your emergency preparedness kit should also have a clean-up just as well. In this kit there should be masks especially N-95 masks to use when dealing with mold issues that will quickly occur after a hurricane. Secondly, there needs to be at least 2 gallons of ordinary CHEAP bottles of bleach for use as a disinfectant. Third is plenty of plastic heavy duty trash bags. I encourage heavy duty bags since the materials you will be throwing out will be very heavy with water and mud and the stronger bags will be in the long run most supportive of your hard working efforts.

To make sure you have everything you will need to get started in a very long and dirty process of cleaning up after a hurricane, make sure you have a well prepared emergency preparedness checklist for all your emergency preparedness necessities including clean-up supplies and instructions to effective ways to quickly clean up after a hurricane. By getting as much disaster preparedness information ahead of time your emergency preparedness plans will go much smoother when the stressful situation of cleanup occurs.

COMMENTS WELCOMED!

Are you or have you been in a hurricane disaster? Do you know someone who is recovering or has been affected by a hurricane in the past? Please share your thoughts and stories here on this blog. All I ask is that everyone be respectful and sensitive of each other and that identifying information about a person who is not the author be limited to protect their privacy.

Be Safe!

Terrie

Dr. Terrie Modesto, Critical Incident Thanatologist

www.trainforahurricane.com

Storm leaves 5 dead in Mexico

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/weather/09/29/tropical.weather/?iref=mpstoryview (CNN) –

Tropical Depression Lorenzo caused mudslides and floods that killed at least five people, put thousands out of their homes and ruined roads in eastern Mexico, according to The Associated Press.

A man clears his home of fallen trees after then-Hurricane Lorenzo hit land in Nautla, Mexico, on Friday.

Swollen rivers began to recede on Saturday, but officials told AP it might take weeks for all flooding to subside.

Lorenzo was expected to dissipate by Sunday morning after dropping 4 to 7 inches of rain Saturday, according to the National Hurricane Center. It had already dropped more than 13 inches of rain in less than 24 hours on the region's mountainous terrain, AP said.

At 11 a.m. ET Saturday, Lorenzo's winds had diminished to 25 mph (35 kph), the NHC said, although the storm hit land as a hurricane with 80-mph winds.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Melissa appeared to have reached its peak with 40 mph (65 kph) winds, hurricane center forecasters said. At 11 a.m. ET, Melissa was moving to the west near 8 mph (13 kph) in the middle Atlantic, far from inhabited land, the center said.

At the same hour, Tropical Storm Karen was downgraded to a tropical depression as its winds diminished to 35 mph (55 kph), forecasters said. It was 530 miles (850 kilometers) east of the Windward Islands and was moving to the northwest near 9 mph (15 kph).

Tropical Depression 14-E spun harmlessly a few hundred miles off the west coast of Mexico with winds of 35 mph (56 kph) and was moving away from North America.