Editorial

The best hurricane season advice? Be prepared.

Posted

Hurricane season in the Atlantic began June 1 and lasts until Nov. 30. If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to make sure you’re prepared.

Learn the risk in your area for storm surge and flooding. Your insurance agent and government agencies like the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management can provide that information. Pay attention to alerts announced by the weather services. A hurricane watch means conditions are favorable for the development of a serious storm, so you should be aware of the threat and prepare for action. A warning means the threat is imminent.

Watches are usually issued 48 hours before a storm. Experts at the National Hurricane Center advise evacuating damage-prone areas when the first watches are issued. For a major storm, like Hurricane Sandy was, they advise leaving five days before it is predicted to hit.

The Red Cross and the county OEM recommend that you take the time now to determine where you and your family will go in the event of a storm. If you plan to stay with friends or relatives, establish an evacuation timetable with them, and plan your getaway route.

Designate someone outside the area to act as communications coordinator. If possible, have every family member check in with that person instead of trying to reach one another. Phones — landlines and cells — may not work once the storm hits, so be sure to alert your contact person before you begin your evacuation.

Because a call to evacuate could come when you are at work and your children are in school, one contingency you should plan is for sheltering in different places. Storm shelter locations are determined once a storm is announced.

Take clear photos of the contents of every room in your home for insurance purposes. Post pictures of important documents, such as insurance forms, deeds, birth certificates and passport ID pages, to a “cloud” service, if you have one, or put them on a flash drive and mail that or hard copies to someone outside the hurricane zone. Include any prescriptions as well; don’t assume a pharmacy will have access to them. You can do all of this now.

Make a “go bag” for an evacuation, and keep it stocked and up to date. It should contain extra sets of house and car keys, bottled water and non-perishable food such as granola bars, a flashlight and extra batteries, a radio, lightweight rain gear, a blanket, at least one change of clothes per person, waterproof matches and candles. Pack extra cash, too, because without electricity, banks won’t be open and ATMs won’t work.

If you’re not in a flood zone and you’re staying home, you should have a supply of at least one gallon of water per person per day, and to be safe, plan for as long as 10 days. Stock up on canned food, and make sure you have a non-electric can opener. Check your flashlights and batteries, and keep a battery-operated radio. Turn refrigerators and freezers to the coldest setting as a storm approaches, with the expectation that you will lose power. If you have pets, remember that they’ll need to eat, too.

Gas up and move your vehicles to high ground. Thousands of our neighbors in Long Beach and other low-lying areas of Nassau County learned both lessons the hard way in a matter of hours before and after Sandy’s peak. A generator can supply power for light, heat and cooking, but it must be out of the reach of storm surge and never used indoors.

Trim any overhanging tree branches. Move as many belongings as you can out of your basement or crawl space, but keep in mind that high winds may damage or destroy your roof, so don’t store them in the attic. Bring in anything that could be picked up and thrown by the wind, like deck or lawn furniture.

Back up the contents of your computer to the cloud, and unplug it, your TV and other appliances. Turn off your house’s main breaker, and the gas. After the storm, document the damage with photos.

The No. 1 thing many Sandy survivors say they would do in the event of another potentially catastrophic storm is leave. At the very least, parents say, they would take their children away from the trauma and stress of such intense weather. But the more prepared you are now, the fewer stories of that trauma you’ll have to recount in the next storm’s aftermath.