The yearly Atlantic hurricane season starts on June 1st and ends on November 30th. To help you prepare for the hurricane season, CES has created a list of activities focused on developing your hurricane plan. Check out our hurricane preparedness activities below. |
Create a space to assemble your hurricane plan. It can be binder where you write notes and store printouts of important documents OR it can be an electronic folder on your computer or in the cloud. The goal is to create a system that works best for you!
In the following tasks, you will print documents to store in your binder or save in a folder on your computer.
Below is a list of recommended Hurricane Supplies. Take inventory of your supplies and purchase any items that you are missing.
You can use this
Word document
as a starting point to customize your supply list. This is by no means a complete list. Print the Word document and add it to your Hurricane Plan binder or save it to your Hurricane Plan folder on your computer.
Hurricane Supply Inventory and Sample Hurricane Supply List:
Experts suggest that you have two quarts (half gallon) of water each day per person in your household. People in hot environments, children, nursing mothers, and ill people will require more water. Visit the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website for guidance on preparing food and water in an emergency at www.fema.gov/pdf/library/f&web.pdf.
Visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website for steps to create and store an emergency water supply at
www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/creating-storing-emergency-water-supply.html
.
Visit
www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/making-water-safe.html
to learn how to make water safe in an emergency (including clear safety instructions on boiling, disinfecting, filtering, distilling, and other methods). Add these instructions to your Hurricane Plan binder or folder on your computer.
Print this "Adult First Aid/CPR/AED" document to put in your Hurricane Plan binder or folder on your computer:
www.redcross.org/content/dam/redcross/Health-Safety-Services/Adult_RRC.pdf.
Then visit
www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/anatomy-of-a-first-aid-kit.html
to get a list of suggested items for a first aid kit and tailor the list to fit your household's needs so that you are prepared for any unexpected emergencies. Add the items to your Hurricane Supply List.
Learn how to safely prepare, evacuate, and shelter for hurricane season during the COVID-19 pandemic. Visit the CDC website at
www.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/covid-19/prepare-for-hurricane.html
for advice from public health and emergency response professionals on Covid-19 supplies to include on your Hurricane Supply List.
Stock up on items to pass the time and entertain yourself and any children in your household during a storm. Be prepared in case you are inside your home for hours on end with shuttered windows and no electricity. Think about the personalities, hobbies, and special interests of your household members when you prepare these supplies.
Perhaps your "Fun Kit" will be stocked with games, books, magazines, arts and crafts supplies, and fitness equipment suitable for indoors (jump ropes, hula hoops, foam balls). Also include a flashlight(s) and/or lantern(s) to see what you are doing if the power is out! Look up suggestions for indoor games and activities to do with kids now so that you will be prepared if you need to shelter in place.
Step 1: Click OK on the Welcome Screen.
Step 2: Enter your address, click on the search icon, and wait for the layers to load.
Step 3: Note the color of the shading for your areas: none, light orange, or blue.
Step 4: If you live in a blue-shaded area, note your zone and elevation (EL).
You'll want enough food, water, and supplies for your pets and animals for several days. Make sure that you have enough pet carriers for each pet If you have to evacuate. Make sure that you have any pet medications that you may need. Print photos of your pets in the event that they get lost in the storm and keep them to your Hurricane Plan Binder. For more info regarding preparing your animals (including livestock if you have livestock where you live) visit www.ready.gov/pets.
Step 1: Scroll to the section on the page titled Evacuation Route and Zone Maps.
Step 2: Find your county listed in the section below that title.
Step 3: Open the PDF for your county and print it.
If you have a vehicle(s), plan how to protect it during a storm, including figuring out where you could park on higher ground where you live and away from wind shear. Don’t forget to fill up your gas tank before the lines get long. If you take a bus, sign up for alerts regarding routes. As a reminder, never walk or drive on flooded roads or through floodwaters. For more info visit www.fdot.gov/emergencymanagement/documents.shtm.
Visit
www.ready.gov/power-outages
for guidelines on how to prepare NOW for potential power outages, how to survive DURING a power outage, and how to be safe AFTER a power outage. This site includes a printable power outage information sheet, information for individuals with disabilities and others with access and functional needs, and information about food safety, generator safety, and dealing with extreme temperatures.
If you have a generator, make sure that it is working properly. Remember, never run your generator indoors, in a garage, or near windows.
When a hurricane is predicted to make landfall in your area within the next 2-3 days, it is time to take the final actions of your hurricane plan:
We provided numerous links for helpful resources in the lists above. For your convenience, we’ve consolidated all of those links in the the list below: