When the storm first threatens:
- Move quickly without panicking. Start monitoring the news.
- DON'T be misled by landfall predictions; strong winds could arrive
hours before official landfall.
- DON'T heed or spread rumors.
- Review emergency plans with your family. Practice where to go
in the house as the hurricane intensifies.
- Get supplies. Follow instructions in this guide for food and water.
- If you plan to leave, start packing.
- Limit traveling to necessary trips.
- Refill any special medications.
- Fill up your car's fuel tank. Make sure you have a spare tire;
buy aerosol kits that fix and inflate flats.
- DON'T fill gasoline cans; they are a fire hazard.
- Check battery, water and oil.
- Check flashlight and radio batteries and have extra on hand.
- Charge rechargeable cellular phones, drills, flashlights, lanterns,
and batteries.
- Get cash.
- If time allows, get key important documents - passports, wills,
contracts, insurance papers, car titles, deeds, leases and tax information
into safe deposit box. If not, put them in a home safe or other
safe, dry place.
When warning is issued:
- Secure your boat; have aircraft flown out or secured.
- Get shutters, siding or plywood in place on windows. If you haven't
sunk sockets, nail wood in with masonry nails.
- DON'T tape windows; tape can create daggers of glass and bake
onto panes.
- Move vehicles out of flood-prone areas and into garages if possible.
If not, park cars away from trees and close to homes or buildings.
- Move grills, patio furniture and potted plants into house or garage.
- Clear yard of loose objects. If you want to do any last-minute
pruning, you must take the clippings inside; trash pickup will have
been suspended and you'll be creating a nice pile of missiles.
- Remove swings, and tarps from swing sets. Tie down anything you
can't bring in. Check again for loose rain gutters, or moldings.
- Prepare your pool.
- Prepare patio screening. It is built to sustain 75 mph winds but
as it fills with wind it can separate from the frame. Officials
recommend you remove a 6-foot panel on each side to let wind pass
through. Pull out the tubing that holds screening in frame to remove
screen.
- Remove roof antenna; unplug antenna wire from set first.
- Remove roof turbines and cap the holes with screw-on turbine caps.
Unsecured turbines can fly off and create large hole for rain to
pour through.
- Secure anything inside your home that can be thrown around. Tape
or tie cabinets. Remove items from counter and tabletops. Close
closet doors.
- DON'T turn off your natural gas at the main meter. Only emergency
or utility people should do that.
When the storm is hours
away:
It is now too late to do most of what needs to be done. There is
still time to --
- Put on your medic-alert tag.
- Fill your tub and bottles with water.
- Prepare food and water according to rules in this guide.
- Shut your water at the meter to prevent contamination.
- Secure and brace external doors, especially double doors.
- Move as many valuables as possible off the floor to limit flooding
damage.
- Move furniture away from windows or cover with plastic.
- Continue to listen to radio and television for instructions.
- Stay off the roads. It's too late to get supplies, and you'll
be
competing with people trying to flee unsafe homes.
- Stay inside. Conditions will deteriorate rapidly, sometimes hours
before landfall and often at night.
During the storm:
- Stay inside!
- Stay away from windows and doors.
- DON'T use telephone or electrical appliances.
- If storm becomes intense, retreat to designated interior hurricane
safe room.
- If you fear your house will come down around you, get into a bathtub
and place a mattress over you.
After the storm:
- DON'T leave your home or shelter until emergency officials tell
you it's safe. You may only be in the eye, with half the storm -
sometimes the stronger half - still to come.
- If you're not at home, don't return until you get the all-clear.
Roads may be blocked by debris. Wait to learn from broadcast reports
or shelter officials which roads are passable.
- Driving with be treacherous. Traffic lights will be out and streets
filled with debris and downed power lines.
- If your neighborhood floods during the storm, listen to the radio
for instructions. Rising water may require you to leave even after
the storm has passed.
- Watch and listen for reports of storm-spawned tornadoes.
- DON'T call police, emergency or utility officials unless you have
a life-threatening emergency.
- If you must call loved ones to let them know you're all right,
be brief to free lines for others.
- DON'T touch power lines. Watch for downed lines. Assume all lines
are live unless told otherwise.
- Watch your step. The area will be covered with broken glass and
other debris. Parts of your home, your porch, tree limbs and bridges
may be weakened and could collapse.
- Watch for insects, snakes and other animals - even alligators
- driven out by high water.
- Puddles may conceal dangerous debris or contain sewage or chemicals.
The day after:
- DON'T sightsee. Roads will be clogged.
- You may have to show proof of residency before allowed back into
your neighborhood.
- Use cell phones sparingly; they may be the only working phones,
and only a limited number of cells will be operating. Battery use
is limited. Also, many cellular phone towers may be down and cell
phones may not work.
