A complete hurricane preparedness list may guarantee your survival during a natural disaster. Having a list to guide you helps you prepare in the right direction, ensuring you do not forget anything in the nerve-wracking situation before a hurricane.
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The Only Hurricane Preparedness List You Will Need to Survive
1. Be Informed
- Familiar yourself with the terminology to differentiate between hurricanes, tropical storms, and tropical depressions.
- Follow news reports and evacuation warnings.
- Get yourself a weather alert radio so you’re always up to date.
2. Stay Safe at Home
While hurricanes will more often than not lead to evacuation, you need to bear in mind that you have to ensure safety at home first.
- Use storm shutters to cover your windows.
- Stay away from windows when the winds are blowing, even when they are boarded up.
- Stay indoors throughout the storm. Do not go outside even when the storm passes over and it seems calm. Winds can pick up at any time, and therefore danger still lurks in the calm.
- Stay downwind at all times. This is the side of the house the wind is not directly hitting.
- Prepare an evacuation plan even if you don’t seem to need one.
3. In Case Of Evacuation
As a hurricane preparedness measure, consider informing your family and friends on where you are evacuating to. This way, they will be less worried should you lose contact.
When preparing for an evacuation, consider keeping bug-out bags packed with water, food, warm clothing, and any other essential supplies you may need. Also, start packing all your essentials into your car if a hurricane forecast touches your area. Giving yourself enough time ensures that you do not leave necessary items behind.
Tips
- Getting a road atlas of your region is an excellent backup for GPS
- Please fill up your vehicle’s tank and don’t allow it to go below half
- Familiarize yourself with evacuation routes and depart early to avoid traffic and road closures
- Plan for pets by packing their necessities too
- Make plans to stay with friends and family outside danger zones
4. Mitigation Measures
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Whether you are being evacuated or not, mitigation measures will ensure you still have a home to come back to after the hurricane. Besides fastening plywood over windows, sandbags will help dispel water if you live in a low area.
What’s more, move all your outdoor furniture indoors and lock your doors and windows for safety as this will keep the winds from blowing them open. Also, consider placing storm shutters over your glass doors and windows, including anchored mobile homes.
Prune shrubs and trees as loose plants and limbs are likely to be flying around when the wind picks up, which can be dangerous.
Tips:
- Be keen to turn off utilities like power, water, and gas before you evacuate
- Ensure you have backup batteries for carbon monoxide and smoke detectors should you experience a power outage
- Clothesline ropes and tarps will come in handy to prevent further damage after the hurricane until you can do repairs
- Fill your sanitized bathtub with water for surplus water supply should you get hit by a hurricane
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5. Food and Water
Another important thing in the hurricane preparedness list is food and water. How much food and water do you need when preparing? Well, have more than you think you will need to be safe. Remember that there will likely be power outages, so base your food choices around that.
Canned foods are easy to prepare and do not require refrigeration making them the ideal choice. Don’t forget to stock up on baby food, formula, and other baby essentials too.
And if you have pets, prepare their supplies as well.
Tips:
- Fill your BBQ grill propane tank or stoves in preparation to cook without electricity
- Load up your ice chest with dry ice before and after the storm to keep your food cold. Alternatively, wrap your chest freezer with extra blankets to keep it colder for longer
- Storms will more often than not lead to spilled sewages or flooded wells. It, therefore, helps to be on the lookout for “boil water” alerts. Countertop water filters will also serve the purpose
6. General Supplies
Besides food and water, general supplies are also an essential addition to your hurricane preparedness list. This entails stocking up on:
- Towels
- Toilet paper
- Soap
- Toothpaste
- Other personal hygiene items before they run out in the stores.
In addition to toiletries, stock up on at least two weeks’ worth of prescription medication. Pack these in a ziplock plastic bag and label well. Remember that credit cards and ATMs may not work during and after a storm hence the need to have as much liquid cash as you can to survive through the hurricane.
Other general supplies to stock up on include a battery-operated radio to stay updated with weather forecasts and warning alerts when on the go. Also, keep a couple of LED lanterns, flashlights, and a general First Aid Kit in your house and vehicle.
Tips
- Stockpile on batteries for your emergency radio and flashlights in preparation for several weeks without electricity
- Avoid using candles, especially if you have children around
7. Power Blackout Preparation
Power blackouts are inevitable during hurricanes. Having a portable generator for backup is a great idea. However, ensure that you or someone else knows how to power it to avoid accidents.
As with generators, consider using your gas grills outside as they both carry the risk of carbon monoxide. Lastly, steer clear of any downed power lines as they may still have electricity running through them. Instead, keep a copy of energy company contacts so that you can report outages and fallen power lines.
Tip: Have a realistic expectation of power restoration times. It may take up to a week, and therefore having enough food and water is genius.
8. Documentation
Keep a hard copy of all emergency contacts and phone numbers as a backup because your phone can go off or get lost during an evacuation altogether. Also, scanning through your documents to prioritize the most important documents like wills, deeds, passports, and birth certificates will ensure you carry what matters.
Tips:
- Besides keeping hard copies of valuable documents, scanning and storing them in a USB thumb drive is another convenient alternative
- Taking a video of your belongings provides excellent insurance claims
- Your driver’s license will help you prove residence should you be evacuated
9. Entertainment
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Whether you get evacuated or not, you will need some entertainment to keep yourselves occupied when the power goes out. Board and card games are enjoyable for both children and adults.
Alternatively, you can opt for books to keep busy when there is no internet or TV. However, you can use this time to get to know each other better. It helps ease stress, especially in children.
Lastly, playing with pets is mutually beneficial as it relieves stress in the animals and yourself.
Watch this video by Bemyguestwithdenise Denise Cooper on DIY hurricane preparedness checklist supplies + money saving hacks:
There you go, preppers. More often than not, natural disasters are beyond our control. As such, the much we can do is prepare ourselves adequately to survive. No list is complete or perfect, but this hurricane preparedness list narrows down the large array of survival items you need into smaller manageable categories. That way, you are sure that you will get everything you need. Stay safe!
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Any tips you’d like us to add to this hurricane preparedness list? Let us know in the comment section below!
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