With Hurricane season approaching, it is a good time to start reviewing and getting familiar with some of the common safety and preparedness facts to keep you safe!
Before the Hurricane Season
- Determine safe evacuation routes inland.
- Learn location of official shelters.
- Make emergency plans for pets. Check emergency equipment, such as flashlights, generators and battery-powered NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards and cell phones.
- Buy food that will keep and store drinking water.
- Buy plywood or other material to protect your home.
- Clear loose and clogged rain gutters and downspouts.
- Trim trees and shrubbery.
- Decide where to move your boat in an emergency. Review your insurance policy.
During the Storm
When in a Watch area…
- Listen frequently to radio, TV or NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards for bulletins of a storm’s progress.
- Fuel and service your vehicles.
- Inspect and secure mobile home tie-downs.
- Board up windows in case the storm moves quickly and you have to evacuate.
- Stock up on batteries, food that will keep, first aid supplies, drinking water and medications.
- Store lawn furniture and other loose, light-weight objects, such as garbage cans and garden tools.
- Have cash on hand in case power goes out and ATMs
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Close storm shutters.
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Follow instructions issued by local officials. Leave immediately if ordered!
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If evacuating, leave as soon as possible. Stay with friends or relatives, at a low-rise inland motel or at a designated public shelter outside the flood zone.
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DO NOT stay in a mobile or manufactured home.
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Notify neighbors and a family member outside of the warned area of your evacuation plans.
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Take pets with you if possible, but remember, most public shelters do not allow pets other than those used by the handicapped. Identify pet-friendly motels along your evacuation route.
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