Hurricane Preparedness Tips: How To Prep For The Storm

As Hurricane Irene inches closer and closer to the U.S., officials up and down the East Coast are bracing for a possible hit from the storm this weekend.

Irene continued to pound the Bahamas with heavy rains Thursday morning and is expected to make landfall in North Carolina Saturday and parts of the Northeast on Sunday. New York and other Northeastern states haven't been faced with a hurricane since 1985. New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said he would announce Friday if a mandatory evacuation was necessary for parts of the city.

Irene's projected path might not be set in stone, but it never hurts to have a plan in place in case the storm makes landfall.

Here are some tips from the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to ensure safety before and after the storm.

UPDATED:
Some of our readers have been offering helpful tips in the comments section below. We've added the best advice to our slideshow.

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Water is a priority

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The NOAA recommends having at least 1 gallon per person, per day, for about 3-7 days in case your residence loses access to clean water.

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The NOAA recommends having at least 1 gallon per person, per day, for about 3-7 days in case your residence loses access to clean water.

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Comments

[Bad Actor]

04:51 PM on 08/27/2011

DON'T FORGET TO SHOOT ALL LOOTERS ON SIGHT.

[Susan Orlins]

11:56 AM on 08/27/2011

Know what to do if a tree hits your house. You will probably need a public adjuster and a restoration company. Your roof will need a tarp as soon as possible. Read more at http://bit.ly/nnwbDO

[sattara]

11:47 AM on 08/27/2011

Disaster Ideas:

Turn off water, gas and electricity.
Charger for car for phone.
Windup flashlight
First aid kit, pain killers, sprinting supplies
Medications
Hammers and crowbars
Meeting and contact point
Visual signal for help – can of paint
Non water clean up supplies
Paper goods
Gravity filtration system and tablets
Radio
Walkie talkies with batteries
Shut down computer
Fill car with gasoline
Scrub tub and fill with water
Propane stove
Bottled water or stored tap water, 1 gallon per person per day for drinking
To disinfect water, boil for 3-5 minutes
Pick up possible projectiles from yard and patio
Trim trees
Move valuables to higher levels of house or room
Copies of documents in plastic
Video or pictures of valuables for insurance
Plywood for windows
Cash in small bills
Hard copy of contact information
Boredom fighters
Get the laundry done
Pet supplies and carrier
Food that doesn’t need to be heated and manual can opener
Waste disposal in case the sewage system is backed up.
Maps
Contact, medical, allergy and personal information on each person
Photos, mementos and re-identification
Turn up freezer and add water in containers
Fill up camping cooler with ice
Help your neighbors
72hours.org is a good site

Good luck!

[Cold in Michigan]

04:28 AM on 08/27/2011

It's too late for a simple suggestion this time, but please, it you know anyone this may apply to make sure they are prepared for the next time.

After Katrina there were a lot on interviews of the NO survivors. Several said they didn't have the money to leave, their check hadn't come yet and they didn't want to leave without it. Automatice deposit would have spared them a lot of grief, and I am wondering how many of the elderly are sitting home or in shelters because they are in the same situation.

It seems such a simple thing to do, but many of the elderly do not trust that the money will be there, and want to hold that check in their hands. So, please, if you live anyway near a coast line, please make sure your elderly loved ones know to have their Social Secuity automaticlay deposited and that the know how to use their debit cards.

[drjoann]

01:48 AM on 08/27/2011

For Ike, one of our local Houston TV stations put up a hurricane message board. It quickly self organized with individual threads for each neighborhood. We were very lucky to have power when we came back, but the rest of the neighborhood was spotty. I took it upon myself to walk the neighborhood twice a day (once in the evening so I could tell where there was power) and reported back to the thread on conditions on a daily basis. This helped folks figure out when to come back.

I don't know how well this would work for the NYC media market, but might elsewhere. The point is that you might be able to get very useful, detailed information about where you live from such a message board rather than a TV/Radio station that has to cover the entire tri-state area.

[TexasEllen]

01:42 AM on 08/27/2011

A few years ago, a couple of Gulf Coast sheriffs began handing out toe tags and taking next of kin info from those who refused to evacuate. It seemed to reduce the number of recalcitrants.

[drjoann]

01:39 AM on 08/27/2011

We did not turn off our electricity for Rita or Ike & were lucky not to lose power. If you want to know if there is power at your house, call into your answering machine. If it picks up, you have power.

We took it a bit further for Ike & made sure our slingbox was running. If we could log into our slingbox, we knew we had power & internet.

[OdinsEye]

12:44 PM on 08/27/2011

Actually if you are evacuating, you should turn off your power (along with the gas and water). This reduces the chances of a fire or of being electrocuted upon returning home.

[drjoann]

01:32 AM on 08/27/2011

If you are evacuating in two (or more cars) have walkie talkies to keep in communication about needing to make stops or changes in route or if you lose visual contact with each other. The cell service tends to get overloaded, but the walkie talkie work fine. (Lesson learned from Rita that served us well in evacuating for Ike).

Also, text may get through when voice does not.

Try to plan out routes that use back roads which will have much less traffic & make sure each car has a set of maps with the planned route & alternates. It may seem like it will take longer to get to your evacuation point, but likely to be less time consuming that sitting on the freeway with all the other evacuees. However, YMMV. This may work out better in TX than the Eastern Seaboard.

[XxDisfngustedxX]

08:28 PM on 08/26/2011

I am soooooooo unprepared. And now I'm starting to freak out.

[SevenUPtheUNCOOLA]

10:02 AM on 08/27/2011

your best bet is to evacuate if you have no preparedness kit. get somewhere safe where you can buy everything you need.

[TexasEllen]

06:54 PM on 08/26/2011

Paper plates, plastic forks, and paper towels. Twice as many baby diapers as you think you need for a week. Trash bags. Anbtibacterial gel (you will find your hands get nasty) Babywipes. Spare glasses.

Freeze your drinking water before the electricity goes out. That will extend the life of you refrigerator items and cool water is lots better than tepid. Fill any and all bathtubs, washtubs, muckbuckets, etc. with water to use to flush your toilet. You will need a bucket.

If you use a generator, do NOT run it in your garage or other enclosed space. After the storm is over is when you can drag it out and start it up on the patio/porch/yard. Carbon monoxide is deadly. Do lay in about twenty gallons of gas to run the sucker. You will also need oil. Nice, long, heavy extention cords to connect the outside and inside.

Bug spray for mosquito/wasp and for ants/roaches.

[OdinsEye]

05:20 PM on 08/26/2011

Another very important thing:

Know how and where in your house to turn off your water, gas, and power. If you are evacuating, TURN THEM OFF. If you are not evacuating, be prepared to turn them off anyway.

[Cat Harris]

04:50 PM on 08/26/2011

Anyone mention first aid supplies? Not one of those cheap little $5.00 ones. Alcohol, Peroxide, Band Aids, Antibiotic Ointment, Cortisone Ointment (bug bites), gauze, tape, OTC pain meds, etc.

[SevenUPtheUNCOOLA]

10:01 AM on 08/27/2011

i also keep latex gloves and face masks in there as well. oh, and moleskin.

[OdinsEye]

12:05 PM on 08/27/2011

I'd use nitrile instead of latex. They are thin, but very tough and do not cause reactions like latex can. Most decent emergency 1st Aid kits these days come with nitrile gloves, but you can buy them by the box or individual pairs at most medical supply places.

[OdinsEye]

04:48 PM on 08/26/2011

On these slides:

1) Water: A gravity filtration system and some purification tablets offer a way to reduce the amount of clean water you need to stockpile.

5) Have a car charger for cell phones and USB powered devices. If you can run your vehicle, you can charge a lot of items. Also, have some FRS/GMRS radios. If cell service goes down, these radios can be used to keep in touch over short distances.

Additionally, make sure that relatives know how to get in touch with you and what your plans are.

Keep some hand tools handy like hammers and crowbars.

Have some way of visually signaling if you need help. A can of florescent spray paint, a VS-17 or similar signaling panel, or even a good old singaling mirror are all great.

Have a 1st Aid kit and know how to use it. You want to make sure you have some life-saving supplies -- let's face it, if a tree falls on your house, and you get several cut by glass or a broken leg, a Sponge Bob Squarepants bandaid is not going to help. You want Quickclot, splinting material, large sterile dressings, bandage materials, etc..

[OdinsEye]

05:05 PM on 08/26/2011

NOTE: With dual FRS/GMRS radios, you generally need a license to operate in the GMRS bands or at the higher power levels, but the FCC makes exceptions for some emergency use. A GMRS license costs $75, there is no test, is good for 5 years, and can be used by the entire family.

[leucippe]

04:09 PM on 08/26/2011

Just remember you can charge your cell phone with a charger in your car that won't be affected by loss of electricity....and don't take chances. SHUT DOWN YOUR DESKTOP COMPUTER.

[SevenUPtheUNCOOLA]

09:59 AM on 08/27/2011

anything can be powered up in the car cigarette lighter, i have an inverter that goes in it and anything can be plugged into it. a good idea to run the engine every now and then even though it has an auto shutoff switch if the battery gets drained i dont take any chances.

[OdinsEye]

12:46 PM on 08/27/2011

I'll second the power inverter recommendation. Kind of an inexpensive alternative to a small generator.

[FTAC 2001]

02:43 PM on 08/26/2011

The name of the band is COWBOY MOUTH! Lock it down and turn it up!