Hurricane preparedness: Expert guidance on flooding, power outages and more

Life Kit

October 08, 2024 / 1:14 pm

A massive hurricane, Milton, is barreling toward Florida just two weeks after Helene made landfall and devastated a swath of the southeastern U.S. — and the Atlantic hurricane season isn't over yet.

Get ahead of the next storm with these emergency preparedness tips. Click on each link below to jump to the full story — or keep scrolling for quick guidance on on each topic.

— How to prepare for a hurricane
— How to pack a go bag
— How to deal with power outages
— What to do when your home is flooded
— How to handle a flash flood warning while driving

How to prepare for a hurricane

National Weather Service forecasters predicted that this year's Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, will be one of the most active on record.

If you haven't already, take action to protect yourself and your family from disaster, says emergency manager Chauncia Willis of Tampa, Fla. "Don't wait until the skies are gray. Think about what to do to survive right now."

Prepare an evacuation plan. Pay attention to weather forecasters and heed the advice from local emergency officials when they recommend an evacuation. Give yourself plenty of time to get out, and map your route in advance, giving yourself alternative routes in case roads are blocked. "The ideal plan would be to go to family and friends," says Willis. Public shelters should be your last option. "Shelters are a life raft," she says. "They're not a cruise ship."
Use a checklist to make sure you don't forget anything in the stress of the moment. "One of my favorite resources that has a great checklist is the American Red Cross," Willis says.Download and print the American Red Cross emergency preparedness checklist here. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is also a good resource for evacuation planning.
Have a family communication plan in case you get separated and can't reach one another. That might mean "calling Aunt Mabel and telling her, 'Hey, I made it to a safe location. And I just want you to know that our carload is fine. Have you heard from the others?' " Willis says.

For more tips on how to prepare for a hurricane, read the full story here.

How to pack a go bag

Have a bag or container full of all your essentials ready to go. Your go-kit should include "anything that would be deemed critical not only for survival but your everyday usage," says Willis.

Visit the Red Cross website for a full list of basics to have in your own go bag. These items include:

Water: 1 gallon per person, per day (3-day supply for evacuation)
Food: nonperishable, easy to prepare (3-day supply for evacuation)
First aid kit
Medications (7-day supply) and medical items
Copies of personal documents (medication list and pertinent medical information, proof of address, deed/lease to home, passports, birth certificates, insurance policies)
Family and emergency contact information

FEMA emphasizes that everybody will have a different list because everybody's needs are different. For more tips, read the full story here.

How to deal with power outages

To prepare for a potential power outage, make sure you have backup power sources and an emergency plan in the event of a prolonged blackout. And be aware of potential dangers like carbon monoxide poisoning when using a generator, experts say.

Know where you are in relation to essential services. If your power goes out, know where you can go to warm up. Find out how close you are to essential services like hospitals and rapid transit. They will often have "priority access" to power in the case of a major outage, says Ana-Marie Jones, who works in emergency management, public safety and community resilience for InterPro, a management consulting company.
Create a plan for your medical essentials. If you rely on medical devices that run on electricity, like a life-saving ventilator or a CPAP machine, or take medication that requires refrigeration, you'll need a plan to keep those devices running and your medication cold during an outage. For more guidance on how to protect medical devices in the event of a power outage, click here.
Stock up on water and nonperishable foods. To ensure you'll have food that's safe to eat, keep nonperishables like canned beans and power bars in your home. When it comes to water, store at least one gallon of water per person per day for several days.According to Ready.gov, "the refrigerator will keep food cold for about four hours. A full freezer will keep the temperature for about 48 hours." And if your fridge or freezer temperature reaches 40 degrees or higher, throw out the food.

For more guidance on how to handle power outages, read this story.

What to do when your home is flooded

The biggest threat in a hurricane isn’t the wind, it’s the water. Flooding from heavy rain can happen just about any time, anywhere, as climate change makes torrential downpours more common.

As the water recedes, the long, slow process of recovery begins. Here’s what you need to know to prepare for floodwaters, and how to start picking up the pieces when the water’s gone.

Turn off the electricity. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says the first thing you should do is check for things like damaged power and gas lines and cracks in the foundation to make sure it’s safe to go inside.If it is, and there’s no standing water in the house, go to the circuit breaker box and turn off the electricity. If you smell natural gas or propane, or hear a hissing sound, FEMA says to contact the fire department immediately. And put distance between you and the house.
Do not go in the floodwater. Floodwater is dangerous. It can electrocute you, and there’s often debris, sewage and toxic chemicals in it. So, if you can wait for the water to recede or for help to come, that’s your best bet, says Jennifer Horney, a professor at the University of Delaware who studies the public-health impacts of disasters.
Take photos. Use your cellphone to take a ton of pictures of the outside and the inside of your house. You’re documenting the damage and trying to show how high the water got. That’s important for making an insurance claim or applying for federal assistance.

For more tips on how to deal with a flooded home, including how to prevent flooding in the future, read this story.

How to handle a flash flood warning while driving

Floods kill more Americans than nearly any other weather hazard, with over half of those deaths happening on the roads. Mose Buchele, a reporter at KUT Radio, Austin's NPR Station, says flash floods can be particularly dangerous because the change in water levels happens fast.

Pay attention to public safety announcements. If officials are saying to stay off the road, follow the advice.
Turn around, don't drown. "Even if you see a little bit of water on the road, it might become dangerous. And it's just a much better policy to avoid it as long as you can, rather than try to risk it and go through," reports Buchele.
Keep a tool inside your car that can break glass. When water comes and starts pushing against your doors and your windows, it can be difficult to get out of your car. Having some type of device to break the glass can be lifesaving, says Buchele. Aim for the corner of your window. That's the weakest part of the glass. Then just start hammering away at it until you can shatter the glass.

For more tips on how to handle flash floods on the road, listen to the podcast episode.

For more strategies like these, on topics such as extreme heat, wildfires, earthquakes and more, check out Life Kit's emergency preparedness page.

The digital story was written by Malaka Gharib. The editor is Amy Morgan. The visual editor is Beck Harlan.

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