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Article Series: Hurricanes
Hurricane Facts, Tips and Safety Protocols
How
To Create a Hurricane Family Plan
A
hurricane is a frightening event, and depending where in
the United States you live, it is a grim reality of
life. For this reason it is vital that you and your family
have a hurricane family plan that will help each member of
the family to not only understand the dangers she or he is
likely to encounter, but also what to do in such an eventuality.
Lives are lost and precious time is wasted because family members
are waiting for loved ones who had already taken off for the
safety of higher ground, only then later to leave the safety
of the shelter again in search of the other family members
who kept their vigil at their homes. Do not be caught unaware,
but follow the plan you are setting up now.
Here are some helpful hints for creating a hurricane family
plan.
Understand the nature of a hurricane and make sure your family
does the same. Hurricanes bring with them storm surges, inland
flooding, high winds, and also tornadoes. Every member of the
family needs to understand these separate dangers that are
facing them.
If you live in a mobile
home or manufactured home, make sure
that everyone understands that these dwellings will most likely
be destroyed very soon after landfall of the hurricane, and
for this reason provide no safety whatsoever. Instead, identify
a safe building nearby and alert each family member where the
building is located, how to get there, and once in the building,
where to meet up.
If you have pets, make sure you have small transportation
carriers available to bring them to safety with you. Nobody
should be tempted to go back in search of Fluffy.
Practice getting to the safe places you have designated as
meeting spots. When you do so, practice getting there on foot,
at night, as well as during the daylight.
If you live in a home that is designated safe to remain in,
create a safe room. This room should be without windows, and
without a door to the outside. Make sure your survival packs
with batteries, flashlights, extra clothes, drinking water,
and food are inside these rooms. Train your older children
how to turn off the water, electricity and gas to the home.
When you receive the call to enter your safe room, turn off
all the utilities to your house and enter the room immediately.
Do not rely on telephone access to be working right away,
but just in case have a list of numbers of individuals who
live outside the state, so that you can leave messages with
a friend outside the state for your other family members to
retrieve.
If you and your children are separated before the hurricane
hits, make sure that the children know where to go and what
to do, so they will not try to find you. If they know that
they are to go right away to a shelter and if they know that
they need to stay there until you come to pick them up, you
will be able to focus on your own survival rather than trying
to leave during the most dangerous phase of the storm in search
of them.
Similarly, warn your children to never ever play anywhere
near the flood waters. A small child can be swept away by just
a few inches of running water.
As you can see, the survival of you and your family depend
largely on your ability to pull together a feasible hurricane
family plan that every member of the family understands and
is able to follow on her or his own in the event of such an
emergency.
Emergencies and disasters can happen anytime, anywhere without warning. Protect yourself and your family. Click to see valuable emergency preparedness supplies and information. Be ready. Be prepared. I love this website. It's my SolveYourProblem recommendation.
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by SolveYourProblem.com
: 2007
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