Are You Prepared For Hurricane Season?

*Here’s a list of things to do & buy.

-Restock your family’s Emergency Disaster Kit. (flashlights and NOT candles, canned food, water, batteries)

-Review and list your medical prescriptions. Assess the need to refill.

-Collect insurance papers, take photos of your home, make household inventory.

-Purchase battery powered NOAA weather radio or AM/FM radio – extra batteries.

-Keep trees and shrubbery trimmed. Remove any debris or loose items in your yard. Clear loose and clogged rain gutters and downspouts.

-Utilize permanent hurricane shutters or install anchors for plywood (marine plywood is best) and pre-drill holes in precut half-inch outdoor plywood boards so that you can cover the windows of your home quickly.  Taping windows will NOT work.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A STORM:

-Fill bathtub with water, it will be a great help in flushing toilets.

 -Get cash, especially on the islands, if power goes out you won’t be able to use a credit card.

-Gas up cars and only drive when absolutely necessary.

-Stay away from windows, if things get really bad you can use a mattress in a room/closet and put it over you for protection of falling debris.

-Do not do what Anderson is doing in the photo, downed power lines in standing water CAN kill you. Let the media be your eyes and ears on what is going on in your community.

-The following persons should prepare to evacuate to a shelter before tropical storm force winds:

Persons living in a mobile or manufactured homes
Persons living in flood prone areas
Persons with Special / Medical Needs

-Emergency crews will be busy call only when absolutely necessary.

-TY Rob Moody for this tip:

If you evacuate turn the power breakers off. You are going to lose power anyway, this allows first responders a safe way to check your home and after the storm & when the power is turned back on you run a far less risk of a fire from allowing power back into a damaged home especially if you are not there when its restored.

*Part of this list is courtesy Seminole County, Florida & my own experience covering too many storms.