Welcome to my Hurricane Page
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• Before a hurrucane, planning is essential. Hurricanes can strike quickly and without warning. They can force you to evacuate your neighborhood or confine you to your home. What would you do if basic services - water, gas, electricity, or telephones - were cut off? Where will your family be when a hurricane strikes? They could be anywhere - at work, at school, or in the car. How will you find each other? Will you know if your children are safe? By taking these steps, you can earn some peace of mind.
Step 1: Find out what could happen to you!
• Contact your local emergency management or civil defense office and American Red Cross chapter - be prepared to take notes.
• Learn about your communities warning signals: what they sound like and what you should do when you hear them.
• Ask about animal care after a hurricane. Animals may not be allowed inside emergency shelters due to health regulations.
• Find out how to help elderly or disabled persons, if needed.
• Next, find out about the hurricane plans at your workplace, your children's school, or daycare center and other places where your family spends time.
Step 2: Create a Hurricane Plan
• Meet with your family and discuss why you need to prepare for a hurricane. Explain the dangers of severe weather for children. Plan to share responsibilities and work together as a team.
• Ask an out-of-state friend to be your "family contact". After a hurricane, it is often easier to call long distance. Other family members should call this person and tell him/her where they are. Everyone must know your contact's phone number.
• Discuss what to do in an evacuation. Plan how to take care of your pets.
Step 3: Complete this Checklist
• Post emergency telephone numbers by phones (fire, police, ambulance, etc.)
• Teach children how and when to call 911 or your local Emergency Medical Services number for emergency help.
• Show each family member how and when to turn off the water, gas, and electricity at the main switches.
• Check if you have adequate insurance coverage.
• Teach each family member how to use the fire extinguisher (ABC type) and know where it is kept.
• Install smoke detectors on each level of your home, especially near bedrooms.
• Conduct a home hazard hunt.
• Stock emergency supplies and assemble a hurricane supply kit.
• Determine the best escape routes from your home. Find two ways out of each room.
Step 4: Practice and Maintain Plan
• Quiz your children every six months so they remember what to do.
• Conduct fire and emergency evacuation drills.
• Replace stored water every three months and stored food every six months.
• Test and recharge your finre extinguisher(s) according to manufacturer's instructions.
• Test your smoke detectors monthly and change the batteries at least once a year.
Step 5: Create a Hurricane Supply Kit
• Include:
• A three-day supply of water (one gallon per person per day) that won't spoil.
• One change of clothing and footwear per person, and one blanket or sleeping bag per person.
• A first-aid kit that includes your family's prescription medications.
• Emergency tools including a battery-powered radio, flashlight, and plenty of extra batteries.
• An extra set of car keys and a credit card, cash, or traveler's checks.
• Sanitation supplies.
• Special items for infant, elderly, or disabled family members.
• An extra pair of glasses.
• Keep important family documents in a waterproof container. Keep a smaller kit in the trunk of your car.
For more information, contact your local or state Office on Emergency Management and your local American Red Cross chapter. Ask for "Your Family Disaster Plan" and the "Emergency Preparedness Checklist". Or, write to: FEMA, P.O. Box 70274, Washington, DC 20024.
• Tropical Wave
This is a tropical system out over the ocean that has no circulation. Hundreds of these travel across the Atlantic Ocean during each tropical season. They pose no real threat to life or property, however, they can cause heavy rain over some places if they are slowly moving. These systems are closely watched by meteorologists for circulation. Once a circulation can be found, a tropical wave becomes classified as a tropical depression.
• Tropical Depression
A tropical depression is a tropical system with a closed circulation that contains sustained winds of less than 37 mph. The biggest problem associated with a tropical depression is usually the rainfall. Slow moving systems have the potential to drop a lot of rain, especially if it comes on shore in an area with a large orographic rise. These systems do not receive a name.
• Tropical Storm
When a tropical depression strengthens to the point where sustained winds around the system reach at least 37 mph, the depression receives a name and is classified as a tropical storm. Tropical storms have sustained winds ranging from 37 to 73 mph. When a tropical storm makes landfall, flooding is usually the biggest problem. A slight storm surge can result from a strong tropical storm, but usually storm surge flooding will be restricted to locations very near the beach. Winds may also cause damage to small branches and lawn furniture, but that is usually about it.
• Category 1 Hurricane (Minimal)
• Sustained Winds: 74 to 95 mph
• Storm Surge: 4-5 Feet
• Damage primarily restricted to shrubbery, trees, and unanchored mobile homes; no substantial damage to other structures; some damage to poorly constructed signs. Low lying roads inundated; minor damage to piers; small craft in exposed anchorages torn from moorings.
• Category 2 Hurricane (Moderate)
• Sustained Winds: 96 to 110 mph
• Storm Surge: 6-8 Feet
• Considerable damage to shrubbery and tree foliage, some trees blown down; major damage to exposed mobile homes; extensive damage to poorly constructed signs and some damage to windows, doors and roofing materials of buildings, but no major destruction to buildings. Coastal roads and low lying escape routes inland cut off by rising water about 2 to 4 hours before landfall; considerable damage to piers and marinas flooded; small craft in protected anchorage torn from moorings. Evacuation of some shoreline residences and low lying areas required.
• Category 3 Hurricane (Extensive)
• Sustained Winds: 111-130 mph
• Storm Surge: 9-12 Feet
• Foliage torn from trees; large trees blown down; poorly constructed signs blown down; some damage to roofing, windows, and doors; some structural damage to small buildings; mobile homes destroyed. Serious flooding along the coast; many small structures near the coast destroyed; larger coastal structures damaged by battering waves and floating debris. Low lying escape routes inland cut off by rising water about 3 to 5 hours before landfall; flat terrain 5 feet or less above sea level flooded up to 8 or more miles inland. Evacuation of low lying residences within several blocks of shoreline may be required.
• Category 4 Hurricane (Extreme)
• Sustained Winds: 131-155 mph
• Storm Surge: 13-18 Feet
• Shrubs, trees, and all signs blown down; extensive damage to roofs, windows, and doors, with complete failure of roofs on many smaller residences; mobile homes demolished. Flat terrain 10 feet or less above sea level flooded inland as far as 6 miles; flooding and battering by waves and floating debris cause major damage to lower floors of structures near the shore; low lying escape routes inland cut off by rising water about 3 to 5 hours before landfall; major erosion of beaches. Massive evacuation of all residences within 500 yards of the shore may be required, as well as of single story residences in low ground within 2 miles of the shore.
• Category 5 Hurricane (Catastrophic)
• Sustained Winds: 156 mph and greater
• Storm Surge: 18 Feet and higher
• Trees, shrubs, and all signs blown down; considerable damage to roofs of buildings, with very severe and extensive damage to windows and doors; complete failure on many roofs of residences and industrial buildings; extensive shattering of glass in windows and doors; complete buildings destroyed; small building overturned or blown away; mobile homes demolished. Major damage to lower floors of all structures less than 15 feet above sea level within 1500 feet of the shore. Low lying escape routes inland cut off by rising water about 3 to 5 hours before landfall; major erosion of beaches. Massive evacuation of residential areas on low ground within 5 to 10 miles of the shore may be required.
• Tropical Storm Watch - tropical storm conditions with winds sustained between 39 and 73 mph are possible within the next 36 hours
• Tropical Storm Warning - tropical storm conditions are expected within the next 24 hours
• Hurricane Watch - hurricane conditions with winds greater than 74 mph are possible within the next 36 hours
• Hurricane Warning - hurricane conditions are expected within the next 24 hours
• National Hurricane Center - The official site of the National Hurricane Center. Provides up to date satellites, radars, and advisories for current storms, as well as historical data from past storms.