Hurricane Tips

Here are some helpful tips to get you ready this hurricane season.

Before a Hurricane threatens

• Look over your insurance policy to insure it provides adequate coverage.
• Check the storm surge history and elevation of your area.
• Make an inventory of possessions.
• Photograph your house and all the rooms inside for insurance purposes.
• Make sure your roofing is properly fastened and secure. make all necessary repairs.
• Obtain lumber, plywood, and concrete nails for battening up.
• Know your evacuation route.
• Organize a place to meet with your family should you become separated during the storm.
• Clear your yard and drains of debris.
• Prune trees limbs that are close to your house. They can cause damage to your home or utility wires during a storm.
• Find a place to move your boat in an emergency
• If your home is at risk, plan in advanced where you will stay. Call the ODPEM Disaster Co-ordinator for the location of the nearest shelter.
• If you need transportation to a public shelter due to special needs -- such as age, physical disability, or mental disorders; register in advance with the nearest Parish Council Office and the Office of Disaster Preparedness.

When a hurricane threatens

• Turn refrigerator and freezer to the coldest level. Freeze water in plastic containers.
• Sanitize bath tubs and fill with water.
• Tie down or bring in all outdoor objects (such as awnings, patio furniture, garbage cans).
• Secure or remove satellite dishes, TV or radio antennae from roofs.
• Pick fruits such as coconuts, mangoes etc., from trees. Clear your yard and drains of debris.
• Remove all pictures, clocks, books, figurines, tools, office equipment, appliances and important papers (passports, birth certificates etc.); wrap them in plastic or in waterproof containers; and store in a safe room.
• Turn off electricity at the main switch and remove TV and radio antennae from roofs.
• Stock up on water and non-perishable foods. Refill prescriptions needed.
• Fill your car with gas to avoid long lines after the hurricane. Also fill containers for portable generators.
• Park your car in a place that is safest from falling trees and utility poles.
• If you are in a high-rise, know the location of the nearest stairways. Don't use the elevator.
• Batten down windows and doors with shutters or lumber. Wedge sliding glass doors with a bar.
• Turn off electricity from main switch 24 hours before the storm is expected to hit.
• Unplug major appliances.

During the hurricane

• Be calm! Your ability to act logically is very important.
• Stay inside. Do not go outside unless it is absolutely necessary
• Stay away from windows and doors even if they are covered. A windowless or interior room or hallway is usually the safest.
  Listen to the radio for information
• If you are in a two-storey house, stay on the first floor.
• If you are in a multiple-storey building, take refuge on the first or second floors. Interior stairwells and areas around elevator shafts are usually the strongest part of a building.
• If your house shows signs of breaking up, stay under a table or stand under a door frame.
• Do not go outside during the calm when the eye of the hurricane is passing.

After the storm

• Wait until you hear on the radio or television that the dangerous winds are definitely out of your area.
• Do not go sight-seeing
• Do not go outside barefooted. Avoid wearing open shoes and watch out for sharp debris
• Do not use phones or CB radios unless vital. Keep lines clear for emergency calls.
• Bury all dead animals as soon as possible.
• Beware of downed power lines, weakened bridges and washed-out roads, and weakened trees.
• Purify drinking water by boiling or by adding bleach, 2 drops of bleach per litre of water, 4 drops if the water is cloudy. Do not purify all your water at once.
• After adding bleach, let water stand for 30 minutes before drinking
• Use perishable food first , then non- perishable foods and staples after.
• Do not cook more than is needed for one meal
• Be alert to prevent fires
• Report broken sewer or water mains to local authorities
• Be sure to check your house for structural damage before moving back in.

Emergency Supply Basic List

• Water, enough to last 2 weeks
• Foods that do not require cooking:
• Canned or salted fish and meat
• Packaged oats
• Biscuits and crackers
• Condensed or powdered milk
• Canned soups and vegetables
• Juices
• Cereals
• Coffee, Tea.
• Flour, Rice, Cornmeal, Sugar and Salt
• Infant formula
• Bread

Emergency Supply Extended List

• Battery-operated radio
• Flashlight
• Extra batteries
• Matches and candles, Hurricane lamps
• Bleach and other cleaners
• First Aid Kit: petroleum jelly, aspirin, eye wash, bandages, cotton, diarrhoea medication, antacid , laxative
• Tissue, soap, sanitary napkins
• Disposable cups, plates, utensils
• Can opener
• Large plastic trash bags
• Containers for water and fuel storage
• Coal or oil stove, barbeque grill
• Cooking utensils
• Portable cooler
• 100 feet of rope, Tape
• Needle and thread, scissors
• Blankets and towels
• Mosquito repellent
• Tarpailin (canvas or plastic)

Storage tips for water and food

• Store enough water to last 2 weeks for each person in your household. A normal active person requires a minimum of 1 litre of water per day for drinking and food preparation.
• Water should be stored in clean, well covered containers.
• Label the containers with the current date and renew your drinking supply each month.
• Store emergency food in waterproof containers.
• Arrange items so that those stored first will be used first.
• Observe expiration dates on packaged foods.
• Wrap bread, cookies and crackers, dry good in plastic bags and keep in tight containers.
• Your storage area should be dry, cool and free from contamination by insects, poisons and other chemicals.
• Several utility poles were uprooted and their wires and equipment left dangling on the roads after Hurricane Gilbert.

Evacuation and shelters

A shelter provides temporary housing for persons unable to continue their living arrangements in separate family units, as a result of an emergency incident such as flood, earthquake or hurricane.

It is advised to evacuate your home if:

• In an area that continually floods, near the coastline or a stream likely to overflow, in a low-lying area,
• you feel that your home will not offer adequate protection
• advised by authorities
• Take your own supplies to the shelter including food, change of clothes, medicine, sanitary need, battery-operated radio and flashlight important papers.
  Do not take alcoholic beverages, weapons or pets to shelters.

Parish Disaster Co-ordinators

All Research by Heather Kong The Gleaner
Source: ODPEM
Published The Gleaner August 3, 2001

Related:
For more tips vist

Go-Local Hurricane 411 section