Every week, WeatherNation brings you weather information to help keep you safe. Every week, John Van Pelt has our ‘Tip of the Week’ to help get you prepared long before bad weather strikes.
This week, we’re getting you prepared for hurricane season.
Question 1: John, we’re into hurricane season now and it’s time to finish our preparations, if we haven’t already. What’s the first thing we need to do to be ready for storms?
Answer 1: That’s a great question, and we have a great person to answer. Director Ken Graham from the National Hurricane center says, “The first step is to know your risks. If you are in an evacuation zone, on the coast with risk of storm surge, or even inland you can have all sorts of impacts from heavy rain- are you near a river or near trees that could fall on your house? It’s all about knowing your risk- with that risk, you can write a plan to be safe. Now is the time to do it.”
Question 2: After we have our plan, next comes the supply kit. What do we absolutely need to have in our kit to be ready?
Answer 2: This is important. John Cangialosi, hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center has this answer. Cangialosi says, “Bottled water, canned food, know to fuel up the car as a hurricane approaches. If you do all this ahead of time, even if you just write it down and have it there, the anxiety goes away.” You need at least:
-1 gallon of water per day per person…have enough for at least 3 days
-Flashlight
-Batteries
-Battery powered or crank radio
-First aid kit
-Pet or baby supplies if needed for you
Click here to see FEMA’s full list of recommended essential supplies
Question 3: If we are threatened by a storm this season, what are the most important things to keep in mind as a storm approaches?
Answer 3: Aside from the immediate effects like storm surge and wind at the coast, one of the big problems can occur hundred of miles inland from the coast. Dan Brown of the National Hurricane Center explains more on this. “In 2001, we had a tropical storm named Allison, very minimal tropical storm, just barely reaching the threshold to be named. Yet, dumped over 30 inches of rain on the greater Houston area. It costs a lot of lives, produced a lot of flooding- so we have to take every storm seriously,” explains Brown
The key to staying safer during these storms in preparation, and the time to do that is BEFORE a storm strikes.
You can learn much more about hurricanes, preparedness, and knowing your risks HERE to revisit WeatherNation’s Hurricane Prep Week .
Watch every week for a new Tip of The Week, only on WeatherNation.