Hurricane Noel – A late arrival - Yet there is still time for hurricane preparedness
Hurricane Noel is a late arrival in the hurricane season but still a Category 1 storm. It is a serious storm in that it ahs killed over 64 people in the Dominican Republic and Haiti this week. Over 37,500 have had to evacuate their homes. Many will struggle for weeks and months with flood and mud-slide issues. Full hurricane recovery will take much longer and for those who have had a loved one die the grief recovery will be a lifetime.
Here in the United States, the Category one hurricane will affect folks from Florida to New England with rain and utility outages.
What hurricane preparedness have you made for such an occurrence? Even late season hurricanes call for everyone to have their emergency preparedness plans in place for sheltering in place as well as disaster recovery plans. The next few days are going to be stormy. Having emergency preparedness necessities for a hurricane requires that you address the issues of a hurricane strike in the summer and early fall as well as a hurricane that strikes closer to winter.
For Hurricane Noel, it is important to have ample water for several days as well as food that can be used without much or any utilities. Check your flashlights an batteries and communication resources as well.
Sunday is Hurricane Preparedness Review Day. Since many may be indoors due to stormy weather, it could be a really good time to do that review.
Get your emergency preparedness checklist out and see that you have current supplies of everything and what items need to be rotated. Also go over those emergency preparedness plans for your home as well as the individual plans, don't forget to include the emergency preparedness plan for your pets as well. Update when necessary.
Hopefully you will have electricity this weekend so why not crank up the computer scanner and take a couple of hours scanning in your favorite photos of years gone by an have them send to a free email account like yahoo or Google. That way you will also way your pictures available to you no matter what the disaster you could face.
By making the photo scan a family activity you can help the children know more about your past as well as preparing the family in case of a disaster. Pop some popcorn, tell some stories of fond memories and scan the photos. That can be a real enjoyable way train for a hurricane!
COMMENTS WELCOMED!
Please share your thoughts, emergency preparedness tips 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
www.trainforahurricane.com
1 comment:
There have been so many disasters in the news recently I've been thinking of this blog quite frequently! Between the fires and earthquake in California and the storms in the Carribean, it has been quite a busy few weeks.
A simple incident at my son's school in the midst of all this made me think of how important it is to get kids involved in disaster planning. During a school recital there was a brief power outtage and the emergency lights were a bit slow in coming on. Some kids stood where they were and just froze, but many of the kids started to shriek and were getting ready to run in the dark, presumably to an exit. When some of the parents started shrieking as well (mind you, this was all in less than a minute) my husband and I got concerned.
My husband stood up and told the group to calm down--that the lights were out and that was all. Hearing a calm direction was all it took to get the situation back under control and give the emergency lights a chance to come on. If the lights hadn't come on, keeping calm would have enabled everyone to get outside and back to cars safely. Panicking could have led to many injuries.
The situation reminded me why it's important to have a flashlight at all times (I was using my cell phone's emergency light, but I'm back to carrying a separate flashlight), but more importantly it reminded me how important it is to give people the tools to stay in control in an emergency situation, especially one caused by a natural disaster.
Keep up the good work here!
AmyZ
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