Now is the time to prepare your family and home for Arthur before the store shelves are empty and conditions are dangerous. FLASH offers the following tips for residents to prepare for severe weather conditions.
Protect Your Home
1. Check your hurricane shutters to make sure they are working properly and fit securely to ensure proper protection.
2. Go Tapeless! Never use tape on windows. If you do not have shutters, install temporary, emergency plywood shutters. Learn how to properly measure and install them.
3. Secure or relocate outdoor items such as trash cans, grills, toys and potted plants. Remove any dead tree limbs carefully, if time permits.
4. Make sure all doors and windows are properly caulked and/or weather-stripped to reduce potential water intrusion, if time permits.
5. Replace rocks in your landscape with fire treated shredded mulch or other lightweight material, if time permits.
Prepare Your Family
6. Know if you are in a hurricane evacuation zone and have a plan. Hurricane evacuation boundaries are based on the threat of water, not wind, and nearly all evacuation orders are issued due to threat of inland flooding and storm surge.
7. Make sure your 72-hour emergency kit is complete. Some items you should include:
- Enough food and water for all members of the family, including pets
- Extra cash
- A battery powered NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards or download the FLASH Weather Alerts App
- First aid kit and toiletries
- Flashlights and extra batteries
- Blankets, pillows, extra clothes, toys and games to keep the family comfortable and occupied
- Special items for babies, pets and family members with special medical needs
8. Gather and store important paperwork like insurance and mortgage documents, and marriage certificates in waterproof containers. You can also scan copies and store them on a USB drive or take a photograph with your smartphone. Include these items in your emergency kit.
9. Fill your gas tank; gas stations rely on electricity to power pumps.
If You Lose Power
10. If you have space in your refrigerator or freezer, consider filling plastic containers with water leaving about an inch of space inside each one. This chilled or frozen water will help keep food cold if the power goes out.
11. Never use candles as they pose a fire hazard.
12. Don’t run a gas-powered generator inside a home or a garage – use only in well ventilated areas.
13. Connect only individual appliances to portable generators and never plug a into wall outlets. Plugging generators into the home’s electrical system can feed electricity back into the power lines and endanger both you and line workers.
For more information on protecting your home from hurricanes visit the FLASH hurricane page or Great Hurricane Blowout preparedness campaign.