Hurricane Season is HERE!!!
photo from NOAA
It is hurricane season here in the Southeast and I thought this would be a great time to start this series with a post on some important safety information on hurricane preparedness. According to the The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA, hurricane season begins on June 1st and stretches all the way to November 30th. This is quite a big deal here in the Southeast. As we have also see in the past however it can be a source of worry for the entire East coast.
photo credit stuckattheairport.com
In my opinion preparedness is a way of life but I was recently asked by a neighbor, who just moved to Florida and will be experiencing his first hurricane season, what do I need to be prepared for hurricane season? I will not go into a long drawn out list but I will however give out some of what I consider basic essentials from a member of the public safety community.
#1 Water
We need clean water to survive. The body can only last about 3 days without water so this is a top priority. I would suggest having about 3 days worth of clean drinking water on hand.TIP: The average adult uses about 1 gallon of water per day
#2 Medications
The next item I highly recommend having is a 90 day supply of any medications you or your family need on a daily basis in order to maintain your health. For instance my youngest daughter has a heart condition and takes a beta blocker on a daily basis; so we maintain a 90 day supply of this medication in reserve.Tip: It would be a good idea to also keep a supply of your preferred over the counter pain reliever
#3 Food
Ok, before you run out and buy a whole bunch of food keep in mind that the power may go out and you would need a way to cook and in the case of fresh foods, i.e. dairy products, store your food. My suggestion would be to have some canned foods or other prepackaged food stuffs. Keep in mind we are looking at short term power outages maybe 1 week or less but plan accordingly.Tip:
Backpacking meals or MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) work great for this purpose
#4 Batteries
We should all have at least 1 flashlight in the house and if you don't.....go get one!!!! So we will need batteries in order to power these. The reason I suggest flashlights instead of candles is simple.......DUH no open flame.Tip: It is a good idea to change the batteries in flashlights every 3 months when not in use
image from cliparthut
#5 Evacuation Route
It would be in your best interest to already have a destination and route to get there thought out before you need it. If the decision is made to evacuate it would be better to leave early so that you do not get caught up in the crazy gridlock traffic that occurs during mandatory evacuations of an area.Tip: Estimate how much fuel you would need to get to your destination and have a DOT fuel can or two set aside (treated with a stabilizing agent of course)
Well that's it for this safety briefing. I hope you can use this down and dirty short list to help plan for hurricane season or whatever may be your worries. Till we meet again stay safe and vigilant.
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Links
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
http://www.weather.gov/wrn/hurricane-preparedness
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hurricane/index.shtml
I'm sure you've been there, but in the Marine Corps we had a tradition and it was two simple words...."HURRICANE PARTY!!" Lol.
yup both of my daughters were conceived due to such events lol
Haha. Sounds about right to me! Lol
Oh the military. It is definitely missed sometimes. Lol
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We are bracing here in Texas for our first of the season. Thanks for the tips!
Great advice there, I live in the North East UK, we don't get storms as bad you all get but they are getting worse each year
true..I hope it was at least some useful info for you....thanks for the view....as always @karenb54 your awesome
It definitely gave me something to think about, its a brilliant idea too to help your neighbours as at times like those we all need someone to have our backs and who best to rely on than a firefighter :)
Awesome & informative post @resistancemedic! Resteemed
thank you sir I hope you have a good day
Very good advice!
Thank you for posting it.
Glad you liked it and thank you for stopping by @awesome-seven
By chance, we never had hurricanes here in Switzerland. But good advices, just in case. ;)
thanks...these could be applied to preparations to a whole host of emergencies...thanks for checking it out @troilo