11 disaster preparedness ways to get ready for Hurricane Ike

No one wants Hurricane Ike – Finish emergency preparedness & activate your disaster plan NOW!

There are a whole lot of things that many on the southern portions of Texas would rather be doing than preparing for Hurricane Ike. If you are possibly facing the wrath of Ike or live with the threat of an atlantic hurricane NOW is the time to be reading this article and getting ready. Crisis management is a must if you could be in harms way of a disaster. In many ways disaster survival depends on how ready you are to face a disaster.

1. The MOST important thing during hurricane season you can have when facing a hurricane watch or full blown hurricane warning is an emergency plan. In a hurricane situation a well planed disaster response can mean the difference between life and death, comfortable situation when the wind howls and hurricane anxiety as the flooding rises around you.

2. Get your home’s hurricane safety plan started quickly. This includes putting up hurricane shutters, and doing a hurricane protection inspection to make sure all items that could blow away are inside the building so they do not become flying projectiles. Also stock your safe room with survival supplies.

3. Take time for frequent hurricane tracking so you will have a good idea of when to decide if you need to do a voluntary or be required to comply with a mandatory hurricane evacuation. Know of at least 3 reliable and high quality hurricane news resources who can offer a reasonable hurricane prediction of the timing and strength of the hurricane and any other important hurricane information. Take their hurricane warnings seriously.

4. Finish getting your emergency supplies ready. This means that you will have enough food, water, medical supplies; baby care items like diapers for at last 3-7 days should monster hurricane or tropical storm come knocking on your door. Being pro-active in your emergency planning is vital, so make sure each and every one in the family including the family pets from birds and snakes to cats and dogs are thought of in your hurricane preparedness.

5. If an emergency evacuation is called quickly in your area due to secondary emergencies in your area as a result of a hurricane like a levy breaking or a tornado threat, know the first 10 things that are important for you to take with you in hasty departure and where you need to go. Write them down and keep them in your wallet and posted on your refrigerator. If there is a possibility of an evacuation then put these most important items close to the door that you will most likely need to use to leave. Try to get the items numbered so you can count them off and know that you have all ten securely in your vehicle or safe room should you need to leave quickly. In a hurricane evacuation every minute counts in emergency preparation. These items may be :

1. Emergency survival kits with food, water, flash lights, and a change of clothing and any and all medications for each member of the family including pets.
2. Identification like a passport, driver’s permit, birth certificates, vaccination shots for children and pets. Include a copy of each employable person’s resume at the back of your disaster plan since you may need to look for another job if your company or business is destroyed or will be a while before reopening.
3. Personal address and telephone book. Often there are so many numbers that will be hard to replace if the address book is lost.
4. Emergency communication items like cell phone& charger, battery powered radio, CB radio ( one of the best items to have in your car in an emergency – cell phones can go out but CB radios may still be able to get you help) as well as GPS (Global Positioning Systems).
5. Photos of loved ones and non-replaceable pictures.
6. Highly valued items like jewelry, sterling silver (if you are so lucky to have it), computer external computer backs, and collectibles.
7. Comfort items like pillows, blankets, air mattresses, folding chairs
8. Important papers like home and vehicle insurance documents
9. Emergency cash – ATMs run out fast in a emergency situation – sometimes in less than 30 minutes. Also if electricity goes out so do ATMs,
10. Extra fuel for vehicles since there may be no emergency response services like AAA if you should run out f gas for the car.

6. Contact a loved one out of the disaster region and let them know what are your hurricane safety plans for evacuating the disaster area. Ask them to be your emergency management team to contact everyone else that needs to be notified. They can be a great communication resource to the outside area before, during and after a hurricane storm hits. They may be able to give you more in-depth and updated hurricane information quickly to free you up to get out of harms way. They may be able to help get you reservations for a hotel / motel room or an emergency shelter to ride out the storm. This loved one who is out of the hurricane cone of uncertainty can be an essential help in crisis management in a disaster situation.

7. Review your emergency preparedness checklist often to ensure that you have everything that you were able to think of when life was calmer with no hurricane threat to your area. Hurricane survival depends on you and your loved ones being well trained in hurricane preparedness. It is never too early to start teaching children in emergency response training skills. Some families worry about possibly frightening children unnecessarily with such emergency training. This is a falsehood and a form of disaster avoidance. Family preparedness is a must to safeguard your loved ones in a natural disaster situation. The better trained for a hurricane that every member of the family is -- the better the chances that they will know what to do as a cohesive family emergency response team to better avoid hurricane damage or loss of life.

8. Shut off all utilities to your home like water, gas, electricity at their main source leading into your home before you leave in a hurricane evacuation. This will help ensure that you will not have additional threats to the home such as an electrical fire or gas explosion, drain water tank in house and turn off if you are leaving the home. Make sure you have a copy of the utilities emergency services telephone number so you can call after the danger has passed to re-establish service especially for gas service. DO NOT turn your gas back on after a emergency shut-down of the gas service. ONLY a professional and certified gas specialist authorized by your utility company should turn it back on. They will need to inspect the gas supply system to insure that no damage was done to the equipment that could result in an explosion at your home hurricane danger has passed.

9. If you are sheltering-in-place, then make sure you have as much emergency supply of water by filling you your bah tubs and large containers such as leak-proof trash cans / dumpsters that have lids. These hold a lot of water that can be used for the toilets should electricity fail.

10. If time allows take as many pictures of your home as possible inside and out with a current newspaper that will document that you had these items and their condition prior to the hurricane. If at all possible download and email them t a loved one so they will be able to hold onto the pictures for hurricane recovery purposes if you need to made a claim due to flood damage or other forms of storm damage.

11. Make sure you have survival equipment like a can opener, matches in a water-proof container like a plastic zipper bag. It also means having comfort items like toys for the kids, games and playing cards, books to read and stuffed toys. Rubber sandals that can be used for in the shower if at a public emergency evacuation center and as alternative shoes for tired hurting feet.

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Be Safe – Be Prepared – Help Others!

Terrie

www.trainforahurricane.com