CHAPTER ONE

HURRICANES

NOAA satellite of Hurricanes Katia, Irma, and José.

As we write this, we are witnessing the most astounding hurricane season in our history. There are three active hurricanes in the Atlantic at one time: Katia, Irma, and José. Irma is the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic. Two weeks prior, Hurricane Harvey caused some $160 billion in damage, becoming the costliest hurricane on record, and caused the worst flooding hurricane in contiguous America’s history with just under fifty-two inches of rain.

In an average year, North America and the Caribbean see twelve named tropical storms, six of which go on to become hurricanes. Three of those hurricanes will typically reach Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. In 2017, we saw seventeen named storms, ten of which strengthened into hurricanes and six of which reached Category 3 or stronger. While it was not a record-setting season in terms of the number of storms, it will likely be remembered as the one of the most intense, destructive, and costliest seasons in United States history. From Harvey’s historic flooding of southeastern Texas, to the Irma-hammered Florida Keys and Maria’s destruction in Puerto Rico, this series of major hurricanes wreaked havoc that will be felt for a decade.

Hurricane Irma. Credit: Eastern IMT.

In one month’s time, two Category 4 hurricanes, Harvey and Irma, made landfall, a rare occurrence. This was the first time two storms of such magnitude hit the American mainland in the same season since the early 1960s. Irma cut a swath through the Caribbean, smashing island after island on its course with Florida. Its width of four hundred-plus miles was bigger than the entirety of Florida itself. What most people will remember will be the second half of the season beginning with Franklin (August 6–10), Gert (August 13–17), Harvey (August 17–31), Irma (August 30-September 12), José (September 5–22), Katia (September 5–9), Lee (September 15–30), Maria (September 16–30), Nate (October 4–9), and Ophelia (October 9–15). Harvey, Irma and Maria were all major hurricanes, meaning they reached Category 3 or higher.

The trio of major hurricanes that crashed into America this year caused what could be the most expensive hurricane season ever, with damage estimates ranging up to $300 to $475 billion. By comparison, the damage from Katrina (2005), which had been the costliest hurricane in US history, was $108 billion.

Franklin was the first of a record-setting streak of ten consecutive hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, a feat we have not seen unseen since weather satellites usage starting in the 1960s. (Records for the hurricanes in the Atlantic do go back to the 1800s, but there is a great likelihood that some storms went unnoticed back then.) Only three Category 5 hurricanes have ever made landfall in the US, and 2017 saw two of them (Irma and Maria.) Irma and Maria reached the apex of the scale and made landfall as Category 5 storms. Harvey and José peaked as Category 4 storms. Fueled by warmer water, one storm, Hurricane Ophelia, bizarrely even spiraled as far east as Ireland, the farthest east a hurricane has traveled in modern history.

Hurricane Harvey dumped so much rain over Texas and Louisiana during a week of unending rains that some areas got over four feet of water, the most rainfall amount from a single storm ever recorded in the continental United States.

In the 2017 Atlantic season, Irma was the ninth named storm, the fourth hurricane, the second major hurricane, and the first Category 5 hurricane. Irma was a long and catastrophic hurricane that wreaked havoc over its path and caused calamitous, particularly in the northeastern Caribbean and the Florida Keys.

Only a week later, José and Maria were bearing down on the Caribbean. Maria, a Category 5 hurricane, destroyed the island of Dominica, recovered, and continued with 160-mile per hour winds and made a direct strike on Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico was beaten down by high winds and flooding and resulted in a reported fifty-five deaths (that’s the lowest estimate; it could be many times that, according to Puerto Rican officials.) Want to know the site of the largest blackout in US history? Puerto Rico. About 61 percent of the power has been restored but at one time, three to four million people were without power on the island. The cataclysmic damage to Puerto Rico was such that six months later, much of the island has struggled to restore water and power and what was already a tenuous infrastructure is teetering on collapse.

After Hurricane Harvey in Port Arthur, Texas, August 31, 2017.

Harvey and other so-called five-hundred-year floods seem to be happening far more often than that number designation would imply. Some experts are now calling the Harvey floods a thousand-year flood. With all the historic flooding and epic severe weather, we as a society have to ask if these events are really once-in-a-lifetime events? Harvey caused such historic rainfall that entire neighborhoods became submerged. The rainfall totals far exceeded five-hundred-year levels. Harvey was the third storm in three years in Houston to bring so-called five-hundred-year rain to the Bayou City. America has experienced at least twenty-four of these five-hundred-year rain events since 2010.

So what is a five-hundred-year flood? The five-hundred-year term is a risk assessment tool used for flood insurance but does not mean that the event happens only once every five hundred years (like we mistakenly thought). What it does mean is that there is a one in five hundred chance that this amount of flooding will occur in a single year. A hundred-year event has a one in one hundred chance of occurring. What experts tell us is that these large storms and resultant events are happening more often. Why?

This hurricane season brought a warmer Atlantic, and a cooler Pacific. But are we in a new era of hurricanes? Will they continue to be this powerful? Will they become more powerful? Will there be an increase in frequency? Are we prepared? Are you prepared?

Harvey was a potent enough hurricane but it degraded to a tropical cyclone over land. The system spent 117 hours over land, all the while dropping the tremendous amount of rainfall. We have not seen a hurricane, ever, with Irma’s brute strength. She held tight to a Category 5 status for three consecutive days while in the Atlantic but even more impressive was that she maintained peak intensity—185 miles per hour—for thirty-seven hours, a world record. Irma smashed into the island of Barbuda in the eastern Caribbean with a direct strike and brought those sustained winds of 185 miles per hour, torrential rain and destructive waves. At least 95 percent of the island’s structures—including hospitals, schools, homes and docks—were damaged or destroyed. As of late 2017, the island is virtually de-populated. These are powerful, intense, and record-setting hurricanes. If you believe that our climate continues to warm, that our Atlantic continues to heat up, then it is reasonable to assume that what used to be rare events could even become the norm.

What is a hurricane?

Hurricanes are spiraling, gigantic tropical storms whose wind speeds range from a sustained 74 to 160 miles per hour. Hurricanes gain heat and energy through contact with the warm moist ocean waters. Hurricanes generate “energy” by condensing water vapor and through a process called “heat of condensation.” This heat is released into the upper atmosphere....not by precipitation. In fact, hurricanes are like ventilation turbines on homes that release attic heat. They take the excess heat from ocean water and release it into the upper atmosphere through the condensation process of making rain.

Satellite image of Hurricane Hugo.

The center of the storm is called the eye and it is the calmest component, with light winds and fair weather. The eye is surrounded by the eye wall, which is a direct contrast to the calm eye. The eye wall is a violent circle of winds and rain that spiral inward at speeds as high as 200 miles per hour. The entire hurricane can be can be as wide as five hundred to six hundred miles across, while the eye is usually about ten miles across.. In the Northern Hemisphere, hurricanes rotate in a counterclockwise direction around the eye of the storm and in a clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere. An Atlantic hurricane usually lasts for a week or more, generally traveling across the ocean at about 10 to 20 miles per hour.

Hurricanes begin over warm ocean water of 80 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer and typically form between 5 to 15 degrees latitude north and south of the equator. The Coriolis force is an inertial energy that acts on objects in motion relative to a rotating reference frame and this force is needed to create the initial spin of the potential hurricane. The spin of the Earth causes objects in the northern hemisphere to turn “to the right.” In the Southern Hemisphere, this force causes objects to turn “to the left.” For hurricanes, along the Equator and about 5 to 15 degrees north of it, the Coriolis Force is zero or close to it. The Coriolis Force is needed to get that initial group of showers and thunderstorms in the Atlantic or Pacific to start “spinning” and cause a tropical depression to form. The Coriolis force is weakest near the equator, so hurricanes simply never form there. Most hurricanes never make landfall and eventually just peter out harmlessly in the sea.

Some Hurricane Facts

• The Atlantic basin includes the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. The Eastern Pacific basin extends to 140°W.

• By the beginning of September in an average year we would expect to have had four named systems, two of which would be hurricanes and one of which would be of Category 3 or greater in strength.

• Don’t think hurricanes can’t hit the northeast; 1954 alone saw three strike the east coast, and in 2012, Superstorm Sandy devastated the Tri-State Area.

• Hurricanes lose strength as they move over land.

• Coastal regions are most at danger from hurricanes but that doesn’t mean inland locales can’t suffer as the hurricane continues across land.

• In addition to violent winds and heavy rain, hurricanes can also create tornadoes, high waves and widespread flooding.

• Hurricanes are regions of low atmospheric pressure (known as depressions).

• Slow-moving hurricanes produce more rainfall and can cause more damage from flooding than faster-moving, more powerful hurricanes.

• The Atlantic hurricane season is from June 1 to November 30, but most hurricanes occur during the fall months. The Eastern Pacific hurricane season is from May 15 to November 30.

• The 1970 Bhola Cyclone that struck Bangladesh killed over 300,000 people. In 2005 Hurricane Katrina killed over eighteen hundred people in the United States and caused around $80 billion dollars’ worth of property damage. Hurricane Floyd was barely a Category 1 hurricane, but still managed to knock down nearly twenty million trees and caused over a billion dollars in damage.

• Experts estimate that large hurricanes release the energy of ten atomic bombs. Every second. Think about that kind of power for a minute.

Hurricane winds in Florida. Credit: Pixabay

The Spanish mariner-explorers felt the wrath of hurricanes and so the word they gave to these storms was huracán, which means evil spirits and weather gods. The same type of storm, a rotating tropical storm with winds at 74 miles per hour or more, has three different names depending on where they originate.

Hurricane is the name used when these storms develop over the Atlantic or eastern Pacific Oceans.

Cyclones are the same storms when they form over the Bay of Bengal and the northern Indian Ocean.

Typhoons are the name for these storms that develop in the western Pacific. (As an extra value added: Australians call hurricanes willy-willies.) The International Date Line is dividing line between the designation of hurricane and tropical storm. Many hurricanes have developed as far West as Hawaii, but become typhoons once they cross the IDL to the west.

The Saffir-Simpson Scale

When a storm’s maximum sustained winds reach 74 miles per hour, it is called a hurricane. The National Hurricane Center’s official measurement is guided by the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which is a 1 to 5 rating, or category, based on a hurricane’s maximum sustained winds. The higher the category, the greater the hurricane’s potential for property damage. From the wind speed, meteorologists use the Saffir-Simpson Scale to determine the potential damage a hurricane can do. It was first used in hurricane advisories in 1975. Hurricanes are often defined and categorized by their wind speed, but the real danger comes not from furious winds but from the sudden, often fatal rise of the sea or the inundation and subsequent flooding from heavy or continued rains. There is more loss of life through drowning than any other of the various deadly hazards posed by these tropical storms.

Several forces inflict damage on property and life. When a hurricane makes landfall, the storm often produces a devastating storm surge that can reach twenty feet high and extend nearly a hundred miles. The majority of all hurricane deaths are the result of storm surges. The other destructive forces include high winds, tornadoes, torrential rains, and resultant flooding.

Ratings of the Saffir-Simpson Scale

Category 1: 74 to 95 Miles per Hour

• Minimal damage.

• No major damage to properly built structures.

• Damage to unanchored shrubs and trees.

• Evacuations may be ordered for areas immediately adjacent to water.

Category 2: 96 to 100 Miles per Hour

• Moderate damage.

• Some roof, door, and window damage to buildings.

• Considerable damage to shrubs and trees with some trees being blown down.

• Coastal and low lying areas flood two to four hours before arrival of the hurricane’s center.

• Evacuations may be ordered for areas near the water.

Category 3: 101 to 130 Miles per Hour

• Extensive damage.

• Structural damage to residences is likely.

• Damage to shrubs and trees with foliage blown off. Large trees are blown down.

• Mobile homes and signs are destroyed.

• Low lying areas flood three to five hours before arrival of the hurricane’s center.

• Small structures near coast are destroyed with larger structures being heavily damaged.

• Evacuations will be likely ordered for areas prone to storm-surge flooding.

Category 4: 131 to 155 Miles per Hour

• Extreme damage.

• Complete roofs blown off some residences. Extensive exterior damages to large buildings.

• Shrubs, trees, and all signs are blown down.

• Complete destruction of mobile homes.

• Major damage to lower floors of structures near the store.

• Some coastal buildings may be washed away.

• Evacuations will be likely ordered for areas prone to storm-surge flooding.

Category 5: 155 Miles per Hour or Greater

• Catastrophic damage.

• Complete roof failure on many residences and prefabricated buildings.

• Extensive damage to exposed glass on all large buildings.

• Some complete building failures.

• All shrubs, trees, and signs are blown down.

• Complete destruction of mobile homes.

• Total destruction of all structures near the shoreline.

• Winds from a hurricane can destroy buildings and manufactured homes. Signs, roofing material, and other items left outside can become flying missiles during hurricanes.

• Dangerous waves produced by a tropical cyclone’s strong winds can pose a significant hazard to coastal residents and mariners. These waves can cause deadly rip currents, significant beach erosion, and damage to structures along the coastline, even when the storm is more than a thousand miles offshore.

Aerial view of Hurricane Maria’s destruction. Credit: NOAA.

Hurricane Names

If you’re over a certain age, you remember when hurricanes only had female names. Hurricanes now have male and female names. Hurricanes are the only weather disasters that have officially been given their own names. In a weird twist, the first government we know of to provide names to hurricanes? Puerto Rico.

The first hurricane of each year is given a name beginning with the letter “A.” In the early 1950s, Atlantic hurricanes identified by the phonetic alphabet, with monikers such as Able-Baker-Charlie. In 1953, the US Weather Bureau made the switch to women’s names. Naming rights now go by the World Meteorological Organization, which uses different sets of names that depend on the geographic location of the storm. Until 1979, American hurricanes were only named for women. Since then, the list alternates with men’s names too. If a hurricane causes significant damage, that name is retired and replaced with another.

Forces in Hurricanes

Storm surges are almost always the most devastating force of a hurricane. A storm surge occurs when the hurricane’s spiraling winds push water forward. When that water hits land, it has nowhere to go as it piles up, so it crashes ashore, sometimes for several miles inland. If you have a storm heading north and you are on the northeast side of the eye of the hurricane, the wind is pushing water toward the shore in advance of the storm, bringing lots of extra water. The lay of the ocean floor nearer the land will influence the rise of storm surge as well. Once you are on the southern side of the storm, the water will recede as it is being pulled away from shore, and will return to normal rather quickly.

So storm surge is water that is the height of the water above the normal tide. Storm surge sometimes reaches as wide as one hundred miles wide and as high as twenty feet high and often brings along with it never-ending, pounding waves.

Storm tide differs from storm surge in that it is the rise in water level during a storm due to the combination of storm surge and the lunar tide. The combination of storm tide with storm surge can bring ashore so much water that the flooding can cause loss of life, destroy homes and buildings, erode beaches, damage roads, and wipe out bridges. Hurricane Katrina (2005) was one of America’s most devastating storms in our history. Even though she was a big storm, Katrina was only a Category 3 storm. What made Katrina so deadly was her twenty-eight-foot storm surge. When the hurricane slammed into New Orleans, which sits below sea level, when the levees broke, the city found itself underwater, and around eighteen hundred people lost their lives in the storm, most from drowning. Since most coastal communities on the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico are no more than ten feet above sea level, storm surge is the major deadly element of any hurricane that makes landfall.

Bird’s eye view of Hurricane Katrina’s impact. Credit: NOAA.

Prediction Models

Think to the times you’ve watched weather experts on television showing the possible paths of the hurricane heading toward land. The map will have bouncing tennis balls on five to ten differing paths. Some show it will hit directly where you live, some show it turning at the last minute and flailing back out to sea. These predictive models show how difficult and complex it is to properly gauge the route of any hurricane.

Some hurricanes bounce around out at sea, others move turtle-like, and others still surprise all the experts with whopping gains in wind speeds. Every hurricane has its own personality, idiosyncrasies, and potential dangers. Some are simply powerful with less rain but lots of destructive wind (Hurricane Carla, 1961), some are heavy with water (Harvey 2017), some, like Hurricane Andrew (1992), make a direct hit on. Hurricanes move erratically; they zig and zag, diminish and grow, and are often capricious in nature. Every hurricane is different from any other in its unpredictability, growth rates, tracking, and wind to water ratio.

Two models predict hurricane paths, the European model or ECMWF, and the American GFS model. Both models have had histories of success, but in the last few years, they have at times differed greatly in predicting where a hurricane will make landfall. The most notable was Superstorm Sandy. The European model was correct in both the time and area of landfall. The two models are amazingly accurate, all things considered.

If you’re interested, you can track each hurricane’s path across the ocean, choosing from as many as six apps on your smartphone and several websites. Some of the apps cost a few bucks; some are free.

Types of Hurricanes

• Tropical Depression: A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 38 miles per hour (33 knots) or less.

• Tropical Storm: A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 39 to 73 miles per hour (34 to 63 knots).

• Hurricane: A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 74 miles per hour (64 knots) or higher. In the western North Pacific, hurricanes are called typhoons; similar storms in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean are called cyclones.

• Major Hurricane: A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 111 miles per hour (96 knots) or higher, corresponding to a Category 3, 4, or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

Hurricane Levels

Tropical Storm Watch: Tropical Storm conditions with sustained winds from 39 to 74 miles per hour are possible in your area within the next thirty-six hours.

Tropical Storm Warning: Tropical Storm conditions are expected in your area within the next twenty-four hours.

Hurricane Watch: Hurricane conditions with sustained winds of 74 miles per hour or greater are possible in your area within the next thirty-six hours. This watch should trigger your family’s disaster plan, and protective measures should be initiated. If you need to leave the area, secure a boat, or exit an island, this is the time to do so.

Hurricane Warning: Hurricane conditions are expected in your area within twenty-four hours. Once this warning has been issued, your family should be in the process of completing emergency actions and deciding the safest location to be during the storm.

Coastal Flood Watch: The possibility exists for the inundation of land areas along the coast within the next twelve to thirty-six hours.

Coastal Flood Warning: Land areas along the coast are expected to become, or have become, inundated by sea-water above the typical tide action.

Small Craft Advisory: A small craft advisory is a type of warning issued by the National Weather Service, most frequently in coastal areas. It is issued when winds have reached, or are expected to reach within twelve hours, a speed marginally less than that which is considered gale force, usually 25 to 38 miles per hour.

Hurricanes are of course the biggest threat to property and life, but don’t overlook the devastation that tropical storms or tropical depressions can bring. These lesser storms can still cause storm surge flooding, inland flooding from heavy rains, destructive winds, tornadoes, and high surf and rip currents.

We have to add a quick note about a cyclone we’d never, ever heard about before, the 2018 bomb cyclone. A monster storm has developed off the eastern seaboard and will hammer coastal locations all along the western Atlantic and US East Coast with ice, snow, and high winds—in essence, a winter hurricane. Meteorologists called this event a bomb cyclone because its pressure is predicted to fall rapidly, a marker of explosive strengthening and typical of hurricanes—a low pressure rotating storm system with winds as high as 74 miles per hour. In winter! Blizzard conditions were reached quickly. The storm was big and powerful and had a gigantic circulation that pulled in the polar vortex, that frigid air zone that circles the North Pole.

Preparation

Hurricanes are the weather disasters that provide the longest lead time in terms of preparation. So you have plenty of time to get ready. No excuses. So ask yourself—do you live in a storm surge and hurricane evacuation zone? If so, you need to prepare. If you live in the South within a couple of hours of the coast, prepare. If you live on the East Coast, prepare. If you live in the Caribbean, well, you really need to prepare.

Warning fatigue is a major problem for community safety. If you are advised to leave but you stay anyway, and things get rough, some emergency personnel might have to get out in the thick of bad weather to rescue you. Warning fatigue is the affliction that occurs to people who choose, against information, expertise, and common sense, to ignore the experts’ warnings. Warning fatigue, or hurricane fatigue, is when you say out loud “hurricanes have been predicted to hit but passed by us before” or a “hurricane hit before and it wasn’t as bad as they said or we are tough, so let’s drink and bring in the hurricane,” etc. Just because you haven’t felt the entire wrath of a hurricane before, doesn’t mean that this time it won’t put you and your property in much worse danger.

The time to prepare for a hurricane is before the season begins, when you have the time and are not under pressure. If you wait until a hurricane is pounding the beaches near your house, you’ve waited too late and you put your family and property in danger. Start preparing for an eventual hurricane by making your home more hurricane-resistant, creating an emergency management plan, and prepare by putting together supplies, a hurricane getaway bag, house survival kit.

Atlantic hurricane season begins on June 1 and officially ends November 30 although hurricanes have been known to happen well into December. You’ll want to prepare your home and survival kit well before that date. You need to understand your home’s vulnerability to storm surge, flooding, and wind. Trim limbs and remove damaged trees near your house because hurricane winds can knock them down and damage your property. Tighten up any loose rain gutters and downspouts. Remove any clogged areas or debris to prevent backflooding and water damage to your property. Install hurricane window shutters. Retrofit your windows and doors, your garage doors, and your roof. If you are really serious about hurricane safety, and have the extra money, think about building an above-flood-level FEMA safe room storm shelter designed for protection from high winds. If you can afford it, you can install plywood hurricane shutters.

If you own a boat, you won’t want to leave it tied up at the dock. Decide where to move your vessel if the hurricane is headed your way. Review your insurance policy and add flood coverage if you can. Take videos or photos of your property because it’s easier and more complete than taking inventory on a notepad. And make sure you have insurance on that boat.

Planning

Sit down with your family members and take the time now to write down your hurricane plan. Think about the possible places you would stay during a hurricane, under what circumstances you would leave (short of an evacuation demand), and what supplies you will need. Decide how you will get in contact with each other, where you will go, and what you will do to make sure you are all safe in an emergency. Keep a copy of this plan as a document in your computer and cloud, as a paper copy in your emergency supplies kit, with each person in your house and in another safe place where you can access it in the event of a hurricane and/or flood.

Determine safe evacuation routes moving inland and have second and third options if hotels fill up along the way. Learn the locations of official shelters. Make emergency plans for pets. Coordinate where to meet up if you won’t be in the same place or same car when you leave. Determine whom each of you will contact to let the others know you are safe.

You need to check your home and determine its vulnerability to storm surge, flooding, and wind. You need to know your surroundings and learn your community hurricane evacuation routes and how to find and get to higher ground. Write down or print out emergency contacts, keep them handy, and also put them in every family member’s smartphone. It’s a great idea, albeit difficult to get motivation to do so, but your family should take first-aid, CPR, and disaster-preparedness classes.

Since the supplies you really need will be gone by the time you can run to the grocery store or building supply house, it makes sense to buy some of these and store them ahead of time. If a hurricane gets mentioned on the news as possibly heading your way, count on gas shortages, traffic on major highways, as well as a run on groceries, plywood, generators, and water. Sometimes you can find plywood and other supplies at distribution centers but it’ll be crowded. So you need to have a ready supply of essentials beforehand. If you are prepared before a hurricane heads for your home, you have made the odds in your favor that you will be a successful hurricane survivor.

You need to check your home and determine the vulnerability to storm, surge, flooding and wind. You need to know your surroundings and learn your community hurricane evacuation routes and how to find and get to higher ground. You and your family should plan escape routes from your home, but most importantly places to meet.

Call your insurance agent and ask for an insurance checkup. You want to ensure you have enough homeowners’ insurance to repair or replace your home, if necessary. Don’t forget coverage for your car or boat. Since standard homeowners’ insurance doesn’t cover flooding, you’ll need a separate policy for it, and it should be available through your agent or the National Flood Insurance Program at www.floodsmart.gov. Act now as flood insurance requires a thirty-day waiting period.

Have plywood in your shed so you can board up windows and doors in case of an emergency. In high winds trees and shrubs can be lifted up, so rid yourself of any rotted ones, and trim your trees and shrubs from iffy limbs so you will have less tree debris in your yard after the storm.

Learn the elevation level and flood risk of your property. Make sure you have cleared loose and clogged rain gutters and downspouts so you don’t create a water drainage problem for yourself. If your area floods frequently, your local hardware stores probably sell empty bags for DIY sandbags. Stack the bags on a waterproof tarp to create a barrier against mild flooding.

Supplies

Redundancy is good in this case. Having two of everything is a good idea. In case one goes out, breaks, doesn’t work, or gets wet, having a backup is sensible. So where do you even start?

Start with food and water. Buy food that will keep and buy lots of drinking water in bottles and jugs. You may need to survive on your own after an emergency. This means having your own food, water, and other supplies in sufficient quantity to last for at least seventy-two hours, maybe more. You’re going to need supplies; not just to get through the storm but for the potentially lengthy and unpleasant aftermath. Have enough non-perishable food, water, and medicine to last each person in your family a minimum of one week. Electricity and water could be out for at least that long. Check emergency equipment, such as flashlights, generators, and storm shutters.

• Drinking water. At a minimum, have enough for three days. If you can, store enough water for three weeks. Also, if you get stranded and have to find alternative water sources, have iodine tablets or a filtration system (backpacker style) on hand.

• Canned and dry food. You might investigate backpacker food—just add boiling water.

• Propane camp stove. (You probably won’t have electricity.)

• Generator and gasoline. If the power goes out, and the chances are good it will, you can keep the power with a generator. See a professional about what generator best meets your needs.

• Battery-operated weather radio; or even better, a secondary hand-crank radio in case the batteries lose charge.

• Portable alarm clock.

• Manual can opener.

• Paper plates, plastic ware, or metal eating utensils.

• Extra batteries.

• Trash bags.

• Flashlights. You need several, including a head lamp.

• Extension cords.

• Rope or nylon cord.

• Waders. Simply buy some chest waders, like those that hunters and anglers use.

• Map of the area, including an agreed-upon meeting spot in case of separation and the nearest safe shelter.

• Shoes. We’re fisherman and have used lightweight sandals designed for wading. They are lightweight, have grip, and are ideal for the kit. Flip-flops won’t work in flood conditions—they will come off, leaving your feet exposed to underwater dangers, but shoes designed for wading will keep you better protected. A pair of old canvas slip-on tennis shoes with a thick rubber sole would work too.

• Rain gear.

• Duct tape.

• Sleeping bags and pillows.

• Blankets.

• Tarp.

• Mosquito repellant.

• Candles.

• Matches, lighters.

• Water jugs and water purification tablets.

• Change or two of clothes, underwear, rain jacket, sturdy flat shoes.

• Prescription medicine, pain reliever, antibiotic, anti-diarrhea, etc.

• First-aid kit. You can use one you purchase off the shelf but if you do, add more to it that fits your needs.

• Cash and change, as ATMs and banks probably won’t be working.

• A sheet and markers to make banners for a roof sign.

Tools for after the storm, including:

Hammer and nails

Shovel

Hand saw

Broom

Screwdrivers

Crescent wrench

Pipe wrench

Pliers

Limb Saw

Utility knife

Machete

Vise Grips

Work Gloves

A couple of sheets of plywood, preferably 2x4s, in case you need to leave the house and not leave it open to vandalism or looting

Ziplock bags of all sizes because it’ll be wet everywhere and you don’t want your phone getting fried. Put your important papers in ziplock baggies.

Power backups such as a generator. You may not have either electricity or cell phone service for a while. Use all safety procedures for generators. Have written instructions for turning off.

Pet food, bowls for water and food, medicines they need, and leash. If you have to take them with you, make sure the motels or the hotels from your list are pet friendly.

Additionally, have a basic grab-n-go bag ready for each family member: It should include clothes, sleeping gear (if you plan to go to a temporary shelter or stay in a hotel/motel out of harm’s way), food and water, and some form of leisure (small board game, a book, or the like.)

Smartphones

The smartphones in your family are probably your second most important resource (behind food/water). Keep them dry by using waterproof phones, waterproof cases, or ziplock baggies. Carry your chargers with you but consider adding a portable battery pack. You can often get an hour or two extra charge out of these. One great battery booster for your phone is a hand-crank booster; there several models available online. If you have your vehicle during the hurricane event, you can plug your devices into your car’s cigarette lighter.

You might not know that you do not need to have an active phone plan to call 911 from any smartphone. If you have cell service, send out text messages and emails, and post notifications to Facebook and Twitter about your whereabouts and immediate needs. Facebook Check-In has proven easy and useful in emergencies. In the event you have power and Wi-Fi, but no cellular, there are apps that let you make video and audio calls for help. By using apps like Facebook Messenger, Google Duo, Viber, and others, you can still make free phone calls over Wi-Fi even if there’s no cell service. Some may require you setting this up ahead of time. Skype is also free to another Skype user.

Download maps to access offline. This way, your mapping function will still work on your smartphone just like the old standalone GPS navigation units. You are limited and the smartphone is less accurate, won’t have real time traffic or info, but it can still help you get from point A to point B without cell service through the GPS sensor.

When a hurricane threatens your home and community, be prepared to evacuate. Allow enough time to pack and inform friends and family if you need to leave your home. You do have a week to prepare—boarding up the house, moving stuff up to highest point or putting in storage, gassing up car, having survival kits in the car or house, having a plan, batteries and radio, common sense and listening to authorities, escape routes, boats, and waders.

Boarded windows during Hurricane Matthew. Credit: USDA of Edisto Beach, Edisto Island, South Carolina.

Cover all of your home’s windows. Permanent storm shutters offer the best protection for windows. A second option is to board up windows with 5/8-inch exterior grade or marine plywood. Experts say that taping your windows in preparation for a hurricane is a waste of time and money. Tape does not strengthen glass at all and debris will smash a taped window as if the tape wasn’t there.

Check the websites of your local National Weather Service office and local government/emergency management office. Find out what type of emergencies could occur and how you should respond. Listen to NOAA Weather Radio or other radio or TV stations for the latest storm news. Follow instructions issued by local officials. Leave immediately if ordered.

Survival

Most folks have at one point in their lives witnessed wind gusts exceeding 70 miles per hour, perhaps even 80 miles per hour. But when winds gusting to nearly 140 miles per hour are expected, how can we compare? An important thing to note is that there is an exponential increase in damage and force as speed ticks up. In other words, 140 mile per hour winds won’t be twice as strong, but rather four times as strong as winds of 70 miles per hour.

If you’re safe from surge but find yourself facing extreme winds, seek shelter in the most interior room on the lowest floor of your home or business, and avoid windows; a basement would be preferable. This only applies to site-built homes. Outbuildings, mobile homes, vehicles, and any other unanchored structures will not suffice, and the consequences could be deadly. Mobile homes will disintegrate in extreme winds, with shrapnel acting as lethal projectiles, jeopardizing the lives of anyone nearby.

Hurricane watch = conditions possible within the next forty-eight hours.

Steps to take:

• Review your evacuation route(s) and listen to local officials.

• Review the items in your disaster supply kit and add items to meet the household needs for children, parents, individuals with disabilities or other access and functional needs, and pets.

Hurricane warning = conditions are expected within thirty-six hours.

• Follow evacuation orders from local officials, if given.

• Check in with family and friends by texting or using social media.

• Follow the hurricane timeline preparedness checklist, depending on when the storm is anticipated to hit and the impact that is projected for your location.

What to do when a hurricane is one to six hours from arriving:

• If you have not been ordered to evacuate, stay at home, and let friends and family know where you are.

• Last minute boarding of windows, positioning of sand bags. If you installed storm shutters, shut them and stay away from windows.

• Turn your refrigerator or freezer to the coldest setting and open only when necessary. Freeze jugs of water and leave them in the freezer to maintain cold if the power goes off. If you have a thermometer to check fridge and freezer temperature, have it handy. You don’t want to eat spoiled food.

• Turn on your television and your NOAA. Go back and forth between the Weather Channel and your local stations. Check your city/county website every thirty minutes in order to get the latest weather updates and emergency instructions.

• Revisit your supplies, move valuables to a higher floor or place them in watertight tubs or bags, fill up the tub with water, get into survival mode. Use water in bathtubs for cleaning and flushing only. Do NOT drink it.

• Turn off propane tanks. Unplug small appliances.

What to do when a hurricane is six to eighteen hours from arriving

• Maintain ongoing awareness with your TV/radio, checking your city or county website every thirty minutes in order to get the latest weather updates and emergency instructions.

• Have a meeting with family and revisit evacuation and emergency plans.

• Charge your cell phones so you will have a full battery in case you lose power.

What to do when a hurricane is eighteen to thirty hours from arriving

• Pull up your city or county website for quick access to storm updates and emergency instructions.

• Remove lightweight objects outside and inside that could become missiles in high winds such as (e.g., patio furniture, folding chairs, trash cans.)

• Cover all of your home’s windows with plywood. Screws rather than nails. If you have permanent storm shutters, close them and cover your windows. A second option is to board up windows with 5/8-inch exterior grade or marine plywood, cut to fit and ready to install.

What to do when a hurricane is three days or more from arriving

• Turn on your TV and radio to get the latest weather updates and emergency instructions.

• Build or restock your emergency preparedness kit. You might stand in some lines but you’re still three days out so it might not be too bad. Include food and water sufficient for at least seventy-two hours or more, medicine, flashlights, batteries, cash, and first-aid supplies.

• If you have not put together an emergency plan, do it now. Sit down with everyone in your household and plan how to communicate with each if you lose power or are in different places in town. Review your evacuation plan with your family. You may have to leave quickly so plan ahead.

• Fill your gas tank, stock your vehicle with emergency supplies, and have your grab bags handy.

If there is an evacuation order for your region, don’t consider being one of the crazies you see on the news who stay despite all warnings. Sometimes you’ll see these locals who are at the beach bar drinking Mai Tais at a hurricane party and celebrating their lunacy of beating back the storm. If the experts have determined your community should evacuate, then evacuate. If you stay, you not only put yourself in danger, but also first responders who have to come save you. Some people won’t or can’t leave even if an evacuation order is given. Some can’t get out due to disabilities. Others aren’t locked into monitoring social media and rarely watch the news so they just don’t know the severe risk.

Some people don’t want to board their pets or feel they can’t take them with them (we all have that aunt with sixteen cats), so they are reluctant to leave their pets behind. Some won’t leave from fear of their home being damaged or thieves looting their property. Some who won’t leave remember the last few hurricane warnings and how they weathered the storm successfully.

If your home is close to sea level or in a flood-prone location, leave early to minimize the risk of getting stuck in traffic or missing the window of safely exiting. As you travel during evacuation, know that you will likely encounter heavy traffic. Go slow, drive smart, and monitor the news.

If you are forced to remain, storm safety rules are the same: Remain inside a secure shelter and stay away from windows. Even when it seems like the hurricane has calmed, stay in a safe place; you could simply be in the eye of the storm, which provides a brief lull. Make sure you learn the location of shelters in your area in advance.

Plan to evacuate if you live in a mobile or manufactured home. These types of unstable construction are simply unsafe in high winds no matter if fastened to the ground or not. Evacuate if you live right on a coastline, on an offshore island, or near a river or floodplain. You will be enduring not only high winds, but flooding from storm surge waves and other flooding. Evacuate if you live in a high-rise. Hurricane winds can knock out electricity to elevators and break windows. The winds are worse the higher you go.

You’ll see this posted on Facebook every disaster and it rings true, ought to be true, but it’s not: The gist of the fake news is that hotels must accommodate pets belonging to evacuees and if they claim otherwise, call FEMA or threaten them with FEMA. It’s just not true. Hotels must only accept service animals. They are not required to take in pets, so evacuees with pets should check hotel policy. Some hotels and motels do accept pets but most don’t. Emergency shelters are required to take both the pets and service animals of evacuees.

So you are in the midst of evacuating. Stay alert to storm advisories by using your NOAA weather radio. Enact your family emergency plan. Map out your route using travel routes specified by local authorities. Bring your grab-n-go kits. Make sure you included your important documents. In the trunk, store enough food and water for at three days, just in case you get stranded or there’s a shortage where you are going. Notify your family and friends of your plans.

If You’re Not Evacuating

When the hurricane is an hour or two away.

• Blow out candles or any other open flames (fireplace).

• Use the stairs, not the elevator.

• Alert your emergency contacts and family/friends of your status.

• Stay away from unprotected windows. It’s going to be hard not to take periodic peeks out your window to see what’s going on but don’t do it. The wind speeds can gust and break out windows.

• Check your fridge and re-locate any food you’re planning on eating during the storm to coolers with ice.

• Think about which trees in your yard may fall and what part of the house they would crush. Don’t situate yourself there.

• Closely monitor radio, TV, or NOAA Weather Radio.

• Close storm shutters.

If you’re riding out the storm in a high rise, it is especially important that you stay away from the windows. If something flies off a neighboring building, it can smash windows downwind. Besides that, the wind is stronger because you’re higher in the air, and the air gets squeezed between the tall buildings. The high wind stresses the glass, and makes it break more violently if something hits it.

The hurricane is upon you:

• Stay away from low-lying and flood-prone areas.

• Take shelter in a small interior room, closet, or hallway on the lowest level during the storm. Put as many walls between you and the outside as you can.

• Stay low wherever you are.

• Always stay indoors during a hurricane, because strong winds blow loose items around. If you go outside, you put yourself in harm’s way.

• If you have a basement, get there quickly. But if you don’t have a basement? The advice still holds: get as low to the ground as you can, in the lowest part of your house. After the worst passes and you see flooding in the basement, get back up to ground level.

• If you can tell things outside are getting bad, go to a central bathroom, drag a mattress inside, and use it to cover yourself and any family members. Bathrooms are usually the most stable rooms due to the complex web of pipework woven into the walls.

• Use a mattress as an extra line of defense no matter where you are in your house.

• Stay away from windows, skylights, and glass doors.

• If the eye of the storm passes over your area, there will be a short period of calm, but at the other side of the eye, the wind speed rapidly increases to hurricane force winds coming from the opposite direction.

• If this is a slow-moving hurricane, you might be riding this out for as much as six to twelve hours so get comfortable and safe.

Aftermath

Submerged homes in Port Arthur, Texas. Credit: South Carolina National Guard.

The hurricane might have taken a last-minute turn and missed your community entirely. But don’t get too excited because you’re not out of the woods yet. Tornadoes often form in the front-right quadrant of a hurricane as the storm hits land and decays, tornadoes are spawned. They are often numerous but usually less powerful than your normal tornado. Because they come from less powerful cells, they are less observable on radar, less predictable, and have much less thunder and lightning than normal storms. Nevertheless, these brief but plentiful tornadoes can do damage even though the worst of the hurricane seems over.

A storm surge could have left standing water that has flooded homes, caused creeks to swell, and forced evacuations. Winds could have damaged trees and utility poles, impaled objects through into your house, damaged your car, broken windows in buildings, and so much more.

The most dangerous post-landfall force of any hurricane are the heavy rains that deluge any community in its landward path. Hurricane Harvey’s main force hit well south of Houston but set up in a whirling constant deluge as it moved slowly east and up the Texas Coast, especially over the Houston area.

Harvey’s flooding resulted in one of the worst weather disasters in US history; the cost will amount to billions of dollars. An estimated 70 percent of Harris County, Texas was flooded by at least 1.5 feet of water. There was an estimated 136,000 flooded structures in the county alone.

The top rainfall total from Harvey was a record-setting 60.58 inches in Nederland, Texas over a period from August 24 to September 1. Groves, Texas, also received more than sixty inches during that same time period. Both of these amounts topped the previous tropical hurricane rainfall record. This rainfall total was more than the forty-eight-inch storm total in Medina, Texas, from Tropical Storm Amelia in 1978.

Rooftop SOS, Puerto Rico, 2017. Credit: US Customs and Border Protection.

A roof rescue during Hurricane Harvey. Credit: Petty Officer 3rd Class Johanna Strickland, US Coast Guard.

What can happen after the hurricane passes? Flooding, power loss, refrigeration loss, lack of cell service, no food or clean water, no gasoline, blocked roads, destroyed airplane runways, interrupted city infrastructure, police and fire overload, no access to medical help can all happen. And that’s not all of it.

So the aftermath of hurricanes can be as deadly as the main thrust. The hurricane you just survived could have ended up being much worse than you thought; might’ve surpassed the critical prognostications of the weather experts. So now what?

Think of Katrina in New Orleans, Harvey in Houston, and Irma in Puerto Rico. Think of how flooded things were—houses underwater, water so deep on freeways that the water nearly touched the big green off-ramp signs, bayous swollen like huge lakes. Remember how Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands after Irma and Maria looked like war zones in the aftermath. FEMA, the National Guard, and Red Cross were there after each hurricane on the mainland and on the islands to provide aid but what stands out were the citizens in action, those in their own boats rescuing those in peril, those wading through chest-deep water to save a dog, locate victims held hostage by the storm. Many responders came from all parts of the country. It was rewarding to witness so many risking their lives for others.

If a hurricane plows through a community, it becomes a survival endeavor, and each time, the community steps up. Many individuals take food and water to stranded victims, cooking for them and providing shelter. Churches also step up and are often instrumental in aftermath safety. If it happens to you, you may want to be a responder. If the worst has happened and your community got hit by high winds or terrible flooding and government and service charities are overwhelmed and cannot fully help, you may want to be part of the solution. The best advice is not to wait until the hurricane hits, but get involved with your community and its emergency planning beforehand.

Thousands of water rescues occurred in the Houston metro area as many homes and businesses were swamped by floodwaters. People were stranded on the roofs of their homes. Storm surges and heavy rain can cause such terrible flooding that you may be driven to your roof. Here’s a key—be ready for it. Have the tools to cut out or knock out or axe out a passage to roof. Have supplies stored (waterproofed) up in the attic. Food and water are the two main resources to have for survival in the attic or on the roof. First responders need to find you. How can you help them help you? Do you have some way to signal them?

Some victims eventually decide they need to leave the roof for various reasons. They often use taped-up coolers, life vests, or even pool floaties to get away. If you do this, watch for submerged dangers and take a waterproofed survival kit.

The danger has passed, you might think, but it’s only just beginning. The inundation of water will drive snakes to find dry space which means they may be swimming in the water in which you are wading, or finding dry shelter in your house. One of the dangers in the Harvey aftermath were swarms of fire ants pushed out by the waters. Flood water is often contaminated with chemicals, sewage, and other contaminants. You may find road closures and detours, power outages, no running water, unstable houses and buildings, degraded bridges and roads, gas leaks, and looting. Yes, looting does happen after disasters when a handful of people take advantage of the vulnerability of a community but it’s overrated. The Houston area only had two hundred arrests after Harvey but this was in a city with five-plus million people. So yes, be worried about looting, but not overly so.

Observe road closures. Credit: US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Watch for closed roads. If you come upon a barricade or a flooded road, then turn around, don’t drown! Avoid weakened bridges and washed out roads. Stay on firm ground. If the water is moving, don’t wade through it. Moving water only six inches deep can sweep you off your feet. Watch out for flooding, which can happen after a hurricane. Stay away from standing water. It may be electrically charged from underground or downed power lines. The chapter on floods in this book has great advice on how to deal with post-hurricane flooding.

As you wade through murky water, submerged dangers exist that can cut and stick you. E-coli can be present in dirty floodwater. Simply, buy some chest waders. You may have to help neighbors, become a first responder, go out for food, supplies, or medicine, or move from your house to shelter. Stay dry while keeping your legs and feet safe from cuts and contaminated water. If you have to wade, there are dangers—snakes and other animals, chemicals and sewage in floodwater, sharp objects underwater, electrical cables, and water that can sweep you away or trap you underneath.

Obtaining fresh water and food, as well as medicine and medical attention, will be difficult to impossible. Cell service may be interrupted, so even locating open shelters or paths out to safety may not be an option. You may be on your own for a good bit. If you evacuated, you may not be able to get back home for a few days, a week, or depending on the damage, much longer. And when you do get back, what will you find?

Once home, check gas, water, and electrical lines and appliances for damage. Use a flashlight to inspect for damage. Never use candles and other open flames indoors. Do not drink or prepare food with tap water until officials give the thumbs up. Stay indoors until it is safe to come out. Check for injured or trapped people, without putting yourself in danger.

• Listen to local officials for updates and instructions.

• Check-in with family and friends by texting or using social media.

• Return home only when authorities indicate it is safe.

• Watch out for debris and downed power lines.

• Avoid walking or driving through floodwaters. Just six inches of moving water can knock you down, and one foot of fast-moving water can sweep your vehicle away.

• Avoid floodwater as it may be electrically charged from underground or downed power lines and may hide dangerous debris or places where the ground is washed away.

• Photograph the damage to your property in order to assist in filing an insurance claim.

• Do what you can to prevent further damage to your property (e.g., putting a tarp on a damaged roof), as insurance may not cover additional damage that occurs after the storm.

• Continue listening to a NOAA Weather Radio or the local news for the latest updates. If you have evacuated, return home only when officials say it is safe.

• Once home, drive only if necessary and avoid flooded roads and washed-out bridges. If you must go out, watch for fallen objects in the road, downed electrical wires, and weakened walls, bridges, roads, and sidewalks that might collapse.

• Walk carefully around the outside of your home to check for loose power lines, gas leaks, and structural damage.

• Stay out of any building if you smell gas, if floodwaters remain around the building, if the building or home was damaged by fire, or if the authorities have not declared it safe.

• Carbon monoxide poisoning is one of the leading causes of death after storms in areas dealing with power outages. Never use a portable generator inside your home or garage.

• Use battery-powered flashlights. Do not use candles. Turn on your flashlight before entering a vacated building. The battery could produce a spark that could ignite leaking gas, if present.

If you have to go to a shelter:

You will encounter a true picture of who comprises your community, mingle with an intimate collection of all kinds of people from your town, folks from all walks of life, all kinds of hygiene choices, sleeping arrangements, and clothing options. It can feel intimidating and weird. But you have no choice, so make the best of it. You and your family are no more (or no less) important than anyone else in the shelter.

Follow the rules. You are in public, with others who have volunteered their time to help out hundreds or thousands. This is not the volunteer’s full-time job, they’re not getting paid and they’re doing the best they can. This is no time to be rebellious. Fit in. Help out. Help with the trash, help an older person, or comfort someone crying. Observe lights-out time. This is a stressful situation so don’t make it more stressful for them.

Take only the minimum with you. Whatever can fit into a small backpack or bag. No alcohol, cigarettes or vapes, or illegal drugs. The shelter will be basic, likely a gym or auditorium; it will probably be crowded, and definitely nothing fancy. Be on good behavior. Don’t cuss and don’t talk about politics or religion. Be aware if you are a loud-talker (non-whisperer) that your voice may carry. Be self-aware.

Don’t bring any guns. Period. But a pocketknife? Your call. We would. We wouldn’t flash it, wouldn’t pull it out to show any aggressive behavior but, hey, you might need it for practical utility reasons anyway.

Bring your own pillow and sheets if you can, but if not, stay dressed at all times, and sleep in your clothes too. You can fit a small throw blanket in your backpack to use. You don’t want to have to worry about changing into pajamas and back again. Just sleep in loose-fitting warm clothes that can wrinkle.

Don’t forget medicine and hygiene items. You don’t know how long you are going to be at the shelter, so bring enough for a week at least. Bring your own toothbrush, soap, toothpaste, deodorant, towels, diapers, and washrag.

Take care of your pets. If you’re at a pet-friendly shelter, make sure your pets are supervised, are on a leash, and don’t intrude on others. Bring their food and medicine, toys and leashes.

Things could get boring. Be ready to entertain yourself and your family. Bring toys, books, magazines, crosswords, iPad, and your cellphone. Remember that if you are showy with snacks or games, others may see and invade your privacy and ask, “You don’t happen to have an extra Coke? Can I see that magazine after you?” Show compassion, but perhaps be less showy too.

The bathroom and shower situations can be tricky. You may be faced with a group shower. Depending on how funky you smell, we recommend not taking a shower for a day or two until you get a vibe on how the shower cycle works and how much privacy you can be afforded. The toilets will hopefully be private, but they may not be. You may have to deal with lower water pressure and lots of people using the facilities. You shouldn’t use your normal toilet time habits either. Get in and get out. Use hand wipes to clean the toilet seat and your hands. Toilet paper is at a premium in public toilets and it’s often thin and cheap. Bring your own.

What to Bring to the Shelter

• Flashlights, one per person

• Extra batteries

• A blanket or sleeping bag for each person

• Identification

• Valuable papers such as insurance policies

• Cash and credit card

• First aid kit

• Medicine

• Sanitary hand gel

• Baby food and diapers

• Cards, games, books, music players with headphones

• Toiletries, hand wipes, and a roll of toilet paper

• Battery-powered radio, cell phone, and charger

• Snacks

Emergency and damage assessment officials generally make the first survey of land areas affected by the hurricane in order to identify priority areas for cleanup. They will determine a financial loss evaluation which in turn determines the need for a disaster declaration. If the local government is unable to financially recover from the destruction caused by a hurricane, state and/or federal government officials will request an “official” declaration. Once declared as an official disaster, additional state and federal agencies will come to the aid of local government.

Clean-up and recovery operations will begin in the following priority:

1. Search and rescue for disaster victims

2. Clear roadways used by emergency vehicles. Ensure the integrity of the water systems

3. Restore sewer systems operations

4. Restore communications

5. Restore power

6. Remove debris

All clean-up and recovery activities will be coordinated with other assisting agencies and utility companies.

Boat rescue in Houston after Hurricane Harvey. Credit: Lance Corporal Niles Lee, US Marine Corps.

Returning Home

Discover if local authorities have declared your neighborhood safe. Officials may close certain roads due to flooding or suspected road damage but as you drive, keep an eye out for road hazards like debris and sinkholes. Authorities may have established specific routes so follow those. It’s a good idea to return home during daylight hours so you won’t need to turn on the lights. Stay in touch with family and friends. Alert others of your status and plans to return home. Remain aware. Keep your radio tuned to local news and emergency broadcasts for updated information. Check the apps and text alerts.

Do not drive through any water. You don’t know what’s under the water and standing water might be hiding large sinkholes or road damage. You might stall your vehicle if it’s deeper than you estimated which puts you in a more dangerous situation.

Be aware of fallen electrical power lines. Do not drive over them or through any water that may contain downed lines. If power lines fall upon your vehicle while driving, continue to drive away from the danger. Wait for emergency rescue personnel and warn other bystanders away from your vehicle and potential danger.

Just because buildings and homes look undamaged does not mean that they don’t have hidden dangers of flood damage. Don’t work in or around any building until it has been examined and certified safe by professional engineers or architects. Leave the area immediately if you feel the building shifting or if you hear unusual noises that may signal a possible collapse.

Don’t turn on any lights, smoke, light matches, or do anything that could cause a spark. Do not return to your house until you are told it is safe to do so. Do you smell gas? If you smell gas or suspect a leak, turn off the main valve, open the windows, and leave the building immediately. Alert your local gas company, as well as local police and fire departments.

If you see frayed wiring, sparks from wires, or smell something burning but see no evidence of fire, you may have electrical damage. You need to shut off the electric system at your home’s main circuit breaker or fuse box.

Clean up Safely

Wear proper protective clothing before you get started cleaning up your house. Put on heavy-duty work gloves, sturdy shoes or boots, a long-sleeved shirt, and thick pants. Think about wearing a hard hat because things could fall upon your head and potentially cause a concussion.

Be cautious of contamination and chemicals. Floodwaters and high winds may have put things into the soil or the water. Be alert for animal dangers. Wild or stray domestic pets will be disoriented just like humans after a natural disaster. Wild animals like snakes, alligators, or rats can be in your yard or house because they were driven there by high water. As you pick up debris from piles, know that these are hiding places for these kinds of animals. Call your local Animal Control office to deal with strays and disoriented pets. Contact Animal Control authorities for information on how to dispose of dead animals found on your property.

Katy, Texas, post-Hurricane Harvey.

Don’t wade into the water if you aren’t wearing chest waders. Standing floodwater on your property may hide a host of dangers including live electrical lines and fecal matter from overflowed sewage lines. Do not let children play in any water or touch objects that may have been exposed to possibly contaminated water. Be prepared for fire hazards. Always have at least two fire extinguishers at the cleanup site.

Beware of spoiled food. Check all food for mold and other signs of spoilage. If in doubt, throw it out. Use only bottled water for eating and drinking until local authorities verify that the public tap water system is safe to use again. You can purify water by boiling it vigorously—it should be bubbling and rolling for at least one minute. If you can’t boil water, add six drops of ordinary, unscented household bleach per gallon of contaminated water and stir well. Let the water stand for thirty minutes before use. Bleach alone will not kill parasitic organisms or make the water potable.