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Hurricane preparedness includes actions taken before a tropical cyclone strikes to mitigate the damage and personal danger such storms can cause. Personal preparedness consists of actions that individuals can take, anywhere from hours to months before a storm may strike, that minimizes the damage a cyclone can do to their possessions and improves their chances of coming through the storm safely. Hurricane mitigation is a term referring to the policies enforced by government and followed by manufacturers that make buildings and other property more resistant to the effects of tropical cyclones.

Personal preparedness

Before the hurricane season begins

  • Plan an evacuation route.
    • Contact the local emergency management office or American Red Cross chapter, and ask for the community hurricane preparedness plan. This plan should include information on the safest evacuation routes and nearby shelters.

  • Learn safe routes inland.
    • Be ready to drive 20 to 50 miles inland to locate a safe place.
    • Have disaster supplies on hand, such as
    • Flashlight and extra batteries
    • Portable, battery-operated radio and extra batteries
    • First aid kit and manual
    • Emergency food and water. Develop an understanding of food rationing. Non-perishable food, which is easy to transport.
    • Non-electric can opener
    • Essential medicines
    • Cash and credit cards
    • Sturdy shoes
    • Pack a backpack for each member of the family including, but not limited to: Essential survival items plus minimal personal things for each person.
All should have bottles of water, underwear, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb/brush. Some types of non-perishable food, snacks.
      • Infants; diapers, premixed formula, medical and toiletry supplies, blankets, baby wipes, baby food
      • Young children: favourite toy, crayons and colouring books, books
      • Youths: music players, card games, snacks peanut butter, hard candy, books
      • Elderly; nutritious drinks, sweater, coat and/or blanket, books
    • The entire family must be trained on the family's evacuation plan, including knowledge of whom to contact in the event of becoming separated.

  • Make arrangements for pets.
    • Pets may not be allowed into emergency shelters for health and space reasons.
    • Contact your local humane society for information on local animal shelters.
  • Make sure that all family members know how to respond after a hurricane.
    • Teach family members how and when to turn off gas, electricity, and water.
    • Teach children how and when to call 9-1-1, police, or fire department and which radio station to tune to for emergency information.
  • Consider Protective Storm Mitigation Measures For Your Whole Home, see below.
    • In case family members are separated from one another during a disaster (a real possibility during the day when adults are at work and children are at school), have a plan for getting back together.
    • Ask an out-of-state relative or friend to serve as the "family contact." After a disaster, it's often easier to call long distance. Make sure everyone in the family knows the name, address, and phone number of the contact person.
  • Develop an emergency communication plan.

During a hurricane watch

(A Hurricane Watch is issued when there is a threat of hurricane conditions within 24-36 hours.)

  • Listen to a battery-operated radio or television for hurricane progress reports.
  • Check emergency supplies.
  • Fuel car.
  • Bring in outdoor objects such as lawn furniture, toys, and garden tools and anchor objects that cannot be brought inside.
  • Secure buildings by closing and boarding up windows. Remove outside antennas.
  • Turn refrigerator and freezer to coldest settings. Open only when absolutely necessary and close quickly.
  • Store drinking water in clean bathtubs, jugs, bottles, and cooking utensils.
  • Store valuables and personal papers in a waterproof container on the highest level of your home.
  • Review evacuation plan.
  • Moor boat securely or move it to a designated safe place. Use rope or chain to secure boat to trailer. Use tie downs to anchor trailer to the ground or house.

During a hurricane warning

(A Hurricane Warning is issued when hurricane conditions (winds of 74 miles per hour or greater, or dangerously high water and rough seas) are expected in 24 hours or less.)

  • Listen constantly to a battery-operated radio or television for official instructions.
  • If in a mobile home, check tie-downs and evacuate immediately.
  • Avoid elevators.
  • If at home:
    • Stay inside, away from windows, skylights, and glass doors.
    • Keep a supply of flashlights and extra batteries handy. Avoid open flames, such as candles and kerosene lamps, as a source of light.
    • If power is lost, turn off major appliances to reduce power "surge" when electricity is restored.
  • If officials indicate evacuation is necessary:
    • Leave as soon as possible. Avoid flooded roads and watch for washed-out bridges.
    • Secure your home by unplugging appliances and turning off electricity and the main water valve.
    • Tell someone outside of the storm area where you are going and the route you are likely to take.
    • If time permits, and you live in an identified surge zone, elevate furniture to protect it from flooding or better yet, move it to a higher floor.
    • Take pre-assembled emergency supplies, warm protective clothing, blankets and sleeping bags to shelter.
    • Lock up home and leave.

After the storm

  • Stay tuned to local radio for information.

  • Help injured or trapped persons.

  • Give first aid where appropriate.

  • Do not move seriously injured persons unless they are in immediate danger of further injury. Call for help.

  • Return home only after authorities advise that it is safe to do so.

  • Avoid loose or dangling power lines and report them immediately to the power company, police, or fire department.

  • Open windows and doors to ventilate and dry your home.

  • Check refrigerated foods for spoilage.

  • Take pictures of the damage, both to the house and its contents for insurance claims.

  • Drive only if absolutely necessary and avoid flooded roads and washed-out bridges.

  • Use telephone only for emergency calls.

Inspecting utilities in a damaged home

  • Check for gas leaks--If you smell gas or hear blowing or hissing noise, open a window and quickly leave the building. Turn off the gas at the outside main valve if you can and call the gas company from a neighbour's home. If you turn off the gas for any reason, a professional must turn it back on.

  • Look for electrical system damage--If you see sparks, broken or frayed wires, or if you smell hot insulation (smouldering cable jackets), turn off the electricity at the main fuse box or circuit breaker.
If you have to step in water to get to the fuse box or circuit breaker, call an electrician first for advice.
  • Check for sewage and water lines damage--If you suspect sewage lines are damaged, avoid using the toilets and call a plumber. If water pipes are damaged, contact the water company and avoid the water from the tap. You can obtain safe water by melting ice cubes.

Hurricane mitigation

Hurricane or Tropical cyclone or even Tornado Mitigation concerns measures and products designed to lower the likelihood of damage to buildings, structures, facilities, assets and contents as a result of strong wind.

The whole idea behind these mitigation measures and products is to increase the likelihood of having a home to come back to, after the storm. There is no iron-clad guarantee that these measures will safeguard any home against any kind of storm and the projectiles that may come with a storm. If ordered to evacuate: LEAVE.

However, it is in one’s interest to have the home prepared to the maximum possible extent, well in advance of a storm season.

History

Recent increases in strong wind activity in the United States in particular, has focused interest in measures that can be used to lower the likelihood of damage to structures.

Billions of dollars of damages have resulted from such strong winds, their recent increase and the manner in which particularly combustible structures have been built in the affected areas in the United States. Unlike in Europe, residential buildings in North America are rather insubstantial. This is owing to the history of construction in North America. Although Europe had early beginnings of decrees and building codes that mandated more non-combustible materials, especially staying away from thatched roofs, having led to city-wide conflagrations that wiped out entire communities, early settlers to North America needed to quickly build shelters to survive and timber was abundant, unlike cement and concrete plants or steel mills. The habit of combustible construction has lasted through until today, at the peril of fire safety and, more recently the destructive potential of strong winds, including tornados, twisters and tropical cyclones.

Recognising this fact, a small, Florida based trade association has formed to represent the interests of manufacturers who aim to supply hurricane mitigation products - primarily window shutter systems. Like most US regional trade associations, it includes the word international: The International Hurricane Protection Association *. The following article includes a discussion on the topic: http://www.allbusiness.com/periodicals/article/838226-1.html.

While the above mentioned industry appears to focus mainly on providing hurricane shutters, made of aluminium, with and without automated shutting systems, there are still home-made means that one can use, through materials available from common building supply stores. An example is this:

To Protect Your Windows: Use 1/2 inch plywood - marine plywood is best - cut to fit each window. Remember to mark which board fits which window.

    • Drill holes every 18 inches for screws. Do this long before the storm. Be aware that when you fasten through the building envelope, there may be consequences, for which you are assuming full responsibility.
  • Trim back dead or weak branches from trees.

Unlike earthquake design and fire protection measures, there is very little in the way of official standard and certification work being done, as this is, as yet, a very new field.

Hurricane mitigation measures are not subject to fire codes, which are the only regulations in existence that govern conduct in and maintenance of existing structures. Building codes, on the other hand, are beginning to address mitigation measures, particularly in the State of Florida. The work that has led to the changes in the Florida Building Code was influenced by scientific observations and lessons learned by an Institute of the Florida International University *." target="_blank" >In particular, the work of one Dr. Forrest Masters [http://web.eng.fiu.edu/~mastersf/, was pivotal in determining the exact nature and forces and distribution of strong winds with destructive potential.

The subject of the effects of strong wind of course first arose in the study of aerodynamics. Whether a plane or missile is flying through fairly still wind at high speed or a building has to survive the kinetic energy of wind, the topic is very much related. It is a matter of air particle impact. In order to be able to study the effect of wind on anything, it is prudent to construct a facility and then to create the wind within it. The oldest institution to have done this is the Langley Full Scale Tunnel Over many decades, it has been conducting aerodynamic testing. There is also a wind tunnel located at The Western University of Ontario *." target="_blank" >While most test tunnels can run wind speeds up to 100 mph, the NRC/IAR Mach 3. The problem for any potential submittor of hurricane mitigation products to aerodynamic testing tunnels is that the laboratories that operate these tunnels, including both the NRC/IAR*" target="_blank" >and the Langley Full Scale Tunnel [http://www.lfst.com/ are reluctant to test building products, let alone entire buildings, as these can come apart during testing and the resulting impacts could damage the test equipment.

Commercial wind testing for wind mitigation or wind resisting products

has existed for decades. Underwriters Laboratories and a variety of other laboratories have conducted wind uplift testing on asphalt roof shingles for some time. An example of such a test is UL580 *." target="_blank" >Also spray Fireproofing and other commercially available insulations made of made of man-made-mineral-fibres [http://www.geocities.com/astximw/mmmf.html have been tested for resistance to wind from HVAC systems in buildings.

Product certification and Bounding

The problem is that since hardly any codes make the use of hurricane mitigation products mandatory, and since the field is rather new to construction, very few standards exist to address the uniform testing, let alone product certification and bounding of any product installations.

A regional exception to this is the efforts put forth by Miami-Dade County, and in particular, the expert guidance offered by its Mr. Jaime Gascon *, an expert in the field. Mr. Gascon's department has achieved something few other municipalities have striven to do, which is to become an accreditor and a certifier of building products for the State of Florida. As such, he can point to a variety of wind and impact standards that specifically address purpose-made Window shutters, which is a logical beginning. It has been widely reported, that oftentimes the storms push in windows. Once the wind enters and has a foothold in a house, the roof can be forced off and the house quickly becomes a total loss.

Also, since lessons learned through the efforts of Dr. Forrest Masters * have been incorporated into the Florida Building Code, designs have changed and are reported to have stood up fairly well to Hurricane Katrina.

However, the majority of houses now have not been built to the new code. Miami-Dade County's jurisdiction does not exceed its boundaries and no building code or fire code forces homeowners to retrofit existing buildings with any hurricane mitigation measures.

There is no test standard in existence to qualify a product to protect an entire building and as yet, no facility exists to test such a thing, nor small portions of a building to the speed and dynamic movement of anything akin to Hurricane Katrina. The closest we can come to such a facility is in Australia. It is called the Cyclone Testing Station Hurricane Katrina had a top speed of 175mph. Hurricane Larry had a top speed of 180mph. The fastest commercial testing in the United States reaches only 110mph. The Australian Cyclone Testing Station [http://eng.jcu.edu.au/cts/welcome.htm cannot immerse an entire house in realistic wind. It can apply known forces, pull and tug here and there and come up with the best science and experience has to offer to date. But, the best testing is still in the planning stages and it is not in Australia, it is with Dr. Forrest Masters and his "Wall of Wind", a contemplated apparatus and facility that can be used to expose an entire house to realistic winds - not just static, synthetic winds like most everyone else, but changes in direction, rain and all the real experiences learned over time, while testing and quantifying what really occurs in hurricanes that have made landfall in Florida. This is unique in the world today. The contemplated gear involves a bank of fans, baffles and water jets, all run by a computer program that was written on the basis of real hurricane experience, from Dr. Masters and his staff, who drove into the wind and measured everything and then compiled, and collated the data to then write the software that will run the apparatus, which will simulate hurricanes for the purpose of product and system evaluations. Funding is being applied for with the government.

While this is an encouraging step in the right direction, what is really needed is for this information to be translated into a standard, to be issued by an organisation that is nationally accredited to write standards. Next, whoever does testing of products and systems needs to use a laboratory that is nationally accredited for testing AND certification, so that certification listings can result, which can then be used to verify bounding for installed configurations of hurricane mitigation products and systems. Bounding is the cornerstone, not only of any code compliance, but also of qualifying for insurance, as this, along with experience, enables underwriters to perform risk assessment calculations.

Insurance

Generally, read your policies very carefully – not just the literature about the policies, but the policy texts themselves. Take your time about that before you sign a policy and check into your existing policies before renewing them. Many people have discovered after disasters, that what they were covered for was not identical to what they thought they were covered for. Remember the changes to bankruptcy laws in the United States, as you contemplate the complete loss of your home and its contents and the consequences that would come with such a catastrophic event.

  • Check into flood insurance.
    • You can find out about the National Flood Insurance Program through your local insurance agent or emergency management office. There is normally a 30-day waiting period before a new policy becomes effective.
    • Homeowners polices do not cover damage from the flooding that accompanies a hurricane.

As far as hurricane insurance is concerned, building owners are very much on their own, as of the year 2006. While many claims were paid as a result of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, not everybody received adequate or any compensation. Regardless of what one’s hurricane insurance was like during and before the year 2005, hurricane insurance for 2006 appears to be entirely unavailable, which is a very grave concern. If one’s building is damaged or completely destroyed during 2006, there can be no expectations of coverage, which is likely to drive a homeowner into economic underground, particularly considering mortgage payments still being owed and recent changes to bankruptcy laws for individuals, as opposed to companies.

There has been a great deal of press coverage on the insurance coverage of homes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. The Hurricane Insurance Information Center contains a lot of information about coverage. According to the following article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8544466/, twenty-five years ago, the average price of a new home in the US was $76,400.00, according to the National Association of Home Builders[http://www.nahb.org/. By 2005, the price had shot up to $274,500.00. When you add the value of house contents as well as the personal value attached to both a home and its contents, you can gather that hurricane mitigation must be an important topic for each homeowner who lives in an area that is likely to be affected by hurricanes, as well as tornados. While not everyone has received all the claims asked for from the effects of the 2005 hurricane season, there is the matter of those who did not have hurricane insurance and, moreover, the ranks of those without hurricane insurance have just swelled to include everybody for the 2006 hurricane season.

How can homes become insurable against storm damage again?

In order for any insurance company to be able to calculate the risk potential of a home or building with or without hurricane mitigation features, it is necessary for Dr. Masters' "Wall of Wind" to be operational, a national standard to be written and duly accredited and an organisation accredited nationally for testing and certification to offer testing of products and systems for hurricane mitigation. This must have a national basis, not a regional one, as the storms impact not only the State of Florida and or Miami-Dade County, but the entire Eastern seaboard and more.

Action required By The U.S. government regarding insurability

While relief efforts are needed and admirable, The "Wall of Wind Research" Project of Dr. Forrest Masters * ‘’’must assume a national character’’’. The facility needs to be constructed and available on a national basis. A standard ‘’’must immediately be authored and accredited’’’ for the running of the facility, to enable nationally accredited product certification and. Most importantly: bounding. Bounded installations are the cornerstone of code compliance and insurance coverage. Once ‘’’bounding’’’ becomes available for mitigation products and systems, the insurance industry can and will measure their effects and can then consider the calculations which are the fundamental basis of coverage.

Meanwhile it would be prudent to ‘’’reconsider general building methods’’’, and to ‘’’avoid lightweight, combustible structures’’’, in favour of steel re-enforced concrete, as well as appropriately qualified and bounded shutters. The less combustible and the more substantial one’s building materials are, the better. Concrete should replace lightweight systems wherever possible, for new buildings.

See also

External links

Disaster preparedness | Emergency services | Tropical cyclone meteorology

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Hurricane preparedness".

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