Hurricane Planning

**Chris** · 01-19-2010, 12:50 PM

When doing the forum reorganization I struggled to think of additional subforums for the Emergency Planning section.

Well, what do people think about having a subforum specifically to discuss hurricane preparation?

It obviously not be useful to those of us who live outside of a hurricane area, but for people who do live in such coastal areas, hurricanes are a sure thing, more or less. It isn't a matter of if you get hit, but when. They're fairly predictable annual events, unlike most other disasters.

**Pal334** · 01-19-2010, 01:57 PM

I would "vote " for it. Even though as you say not all members are in a hurricane zone, I would guess enough are to make it worth while

**trax** · 01-19-2010, 02:37 PM

Well I can't be much safer from hurricanes than I am given my location but I say what the heck, if it's going to help people, let's do it. We tend to run threads on and on about various natural disasters, perhaps we should group them because there is going to be a lot of commonality in how to respond to various emergencies (finding fresh water, medical aid, protecting one's self and family from looters). I've been getting a heck of an education because of the disaster in Haiti and the high points of that education have come from what people here are saying.

I suppose all that should exist in emergency preparedness though, but I've just noticed so many threads or comments popping up in general chat etc on these subjects

**Old GI** · 01-19-2010, 03:09 PM

Having done the hurricane thing as a resident and as an EM Director. I have since moved to the Rockies and reinforce my previous observation, there are many common issues in emergency planning for any situation, e.g. no electric, no potable water, etc. The hurricane thread will benefit all assembled here, IMHO.

**Rick** · 01-19-2010, 03:43 PM

I would think the three top ones would be hurricane, tornadoes and earthquakes. Nearly everyone in the U.S. is vulnerable to at least one if not two.

**trax** · 01-19-2010, 04:30 PM

Tornadoes and ice storms.

**crashdive123** · 01-19-2010, 05:41 PM

Rather than a section dedicated to hurricane preparation, maybe a section on weather related preps?

**Chris** · 01-19-2010, 06:07 PM

Well, my thinking is, hurricane preparation is so unique. Because you CAN prepare for it. You know it is coming days out (yet for some reason your idiot self decides to stay put... but that is another thread).

A tornado just pops up, you can't prepare, really, you can't fortify your house or buy bottled water, you can just run to the storm shelter (and hope there is bottled water there).

But hurricanes give ample warning. So Joe Smith hears a hurricane is barreling down on his south florida home and what does he do? He goes online, google.com, and types in "hurricane preparation" or somesuch, and..... maybe he finds a listing for this site.

Joe isn't going to search for weather protection, but hurricane protection. So that is why making a subforum specifically for hurricanes would be preferable to one for all weather types.

But then, why not one for each natural disaster? Well, possibly (Volcano Survival Subforum anyone?) but because they all occur without warning it'd all be the same information for all of them "have extra food and water on hand, make sure your home is built correctly to the appropriate local building codes, keep a battery powered radio and flashlights where you can quickly find them" Just reactionary topics.

Whereas with hurricanes, you can have proactive topics. "How best to barricade my windows" etc.

**crashdive123** · 01-19-2010, 06:27 PM

Cool. I understand where you are coming from. http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...blog.php?b=226

**trax** · 01-20-2010, 01:56 PM

good points Chris.

**hunter63** · 01-20-2010, 06:44 PM

So, lets do it?
DD and SIL are in the heavy rain, possible high wind area.
Katrina did blow enough to flood roads, blow off shingles, lose of power etc.

Lot of preps could be extended to flooding as a lot of flooding does also come with warning.

**crashdive123** · 01-20-2010, 07:32 PM

Thinking a bit more about this - while a tornado or a flash flood can be sudden and catastrophic events - Planning for them is important if you are living or traveling in areas that are prone to them.

What every yo decide will certainly be a benefit to the forum and members.

**trax** · 01-20-2010, 10:32 PM

OK, here we go:

1. Large body of water, preferably an ocean or at least a sea
2. Wind, a lot of wind, like really really lots of wind
3. Several consecutive major rainstorms, storms you know...of Biblical proportions as they say
4. Direct wind and water towards nearest land.
5. Start with land that has a lot of overcrowding and substandard housing
6. Move on to land that has no flood protection because of zealous overdevelopment.

I think I'm getting the hang of this "hurricane planning" I've got the basics for my first hurricane down.

**your_comforting_company** · 01-21-2010, 08:14 AM

tornadoes were rampant last night and one touched down not 20 miles from here this morning. Tornadoes aren't unpredictable. You know at least a day ahead of time if severe weather is coming and have ample time to make preparations. At the first sign of one headed my way, I've got the bob ready, food and clothes in the truck, and a full tank of gas.
A few years ago one came straight down the road I live on and it made a turn just about 1/4 mile from here.. knocked down my antenna and broke a few limbs, but we just barely got missed and I realized right then that tornado prep was very important. the storm tore down 100 or so houses, littered roads with cotton pickers and peanut combines and center-pivot irrigation systems. some of these items were found miles away from their original locations. I didn't get a picture of the carnage (bad mojo) but there was a Bicycle playing card stuck in a light pole...
I cleared 3 miles of road BY MYSELF so that SAR teams could get into the area just about 1/2 a mile north of my house and beyond where the destruction was the worst. I didn't have to do it, but the people needed help and the ambulances, etc. couldn't get in.
imagine the power it took to lift a peanut picker off the ground and throw it 2 miles away from where it was... it's still sitting there.

I think that weather preparedness is very important and that hurricane preparedness alone is just too specific. right now we are under tornado warning, areal flood warning, and widespread flood watch. they expect us to get enough rain out of this one storm to fill our monthly rainfall quota. I think a General Weather Preparedness forum with more specific subforums would be a really good idea. It is surprising how many of those folks affected by the tornado mentioned above were totally unprepared, even though we all knew many hours ahead of time that the storm was coming.

**your_comforting_company** · 01-21-2010, 08:15 AM

Oh yeah, we all slept fully dressed last night with shoes on in case we needed to leave in a hurry.

**Rick** · 01-21-2010, 08:20 AM

I do have to agree with that. I've lived my whole life in tornado alley and they seldom appear out of the blue. You generally have at least a day's notice that conditions will be right for them to appear. Sometimes much longer. Even when they have formed you often have several hours as a line of thunderstorms containing tornado cells advances.

A search for "tornado preparedness" yields 476,000 hits.

A search for "hurricane preparedness" yields 552,000 hits.

Both on Google.

**crashdive123** · 01-21-2010, 08:34 AM

Zactly - Tornado watch just went up for my area. Being aware of potential hazards affords us the opportunity to better prepare for them.

**your_comforting_company** · 01-21-2010, 08:54 AM

wouldn't it be sweet if WSF was on the top of that list!

**Ken** · 01-21-2010, 10:14 AM

Chris,

perhaps we could name the subforum "Natural Disaster Planning."

Like Old GI, I was a local EMA Director and an Assistant State EMA Director some years back.

In my southeast New England coastal area, the most common threats we face are hurricanes and winter storms. Nonetheless, we are also at risk (much lower probability) for floods, earthquakes, tornados, drought, heat-waves, and tsunamis.

As a local director and/or state official during the "Blizzard of '78", and a couple of hurricanes, and then as chief elected officer in my community during "Perfect Storm," I prepared three levels of plans for a variety of threats, both natural and man made. The levels were for state response, local response, and individual (household and family) planning and preparedness. Many of the plans contained similar or identical sections applicable to virtually all disasters, as well as specific plans depanding on the nature of the threat.

My suggestion is that the sub-forum have sections that address any and all natural disaster threats that we could potentially face, regardless of where we live.