How to Prepare For a Hurricane

High winds, heavy rain, storm surges, flooding and sometimes even tornadoes are the signatures of a hurricane, one of the most destructive natural hazards known from the Caribbean to the Canadian Maritimes. How can you prepare your home and family?

1. During the hurricane season, listen to local news and weather for advance warning.

Irene Hurricane

2. Once a warning has been issued, become more vigilant in listening for updates while you prepare your home.

3. Bring all your lawn furniture and movable objects like planters and barbeques into the garage

4. Watch out for any damaged trees or branches and deal with them before exposing them to hurricane winds.

5. Make sure that any basement or ground floor windows or doors are sealed to prevent flooding in your home

6. Be prepared to evacuate, this will be more likely if you live in a mobile home or are located in a coastal or low
lying area.

7. If you have livestock you need to decide where they will be safer, outside or in. That will depend on the
strength of their shelter and the type of livestock.

8. If given the order to evacuate, do so sooner rather than later.

9. Before you go, secure your windows with storm shutters or 5/8" plywood.

10. Use straps or clips connected to the frame of your house to give your roof extra stability

11. Make sure that your family emergency kit is complete and ready to go when you are.

12. Fill your tubs and some buckets with water.

13. If you're at home during the storm be sure to keep all the doors and windows closed and take steps that will keep them that way for the duration.

14. Stay in an interior room in your home on the main floor or in the basement and preferably with a heavy table or other object close at hand under which you can take shelter if necessary.

15. Bring your family emergency kit with you

16. Don't be fooled by the eye of the hurricane. It's not over.

17. After the storm carefully inspect your home for any structural damage and if you do see signs of it don't go in the home or allow anyone in your family to go in either.

18. If you turned your power off, don't turn it on until you've been told its OK and don't drink the local water until it too has been cleared.

19. If parts of your home were flooded you will need to discard anything that you can't thoroughly clean and disinfect to avoid the possibility of keeping a long term health hazard in your home.

None of these steps are complicated and every one of them is important. If you live anywhere near a hurricane region keep a copy of this information close at hand.

How to Prepare For a Hurricane