When cold temperatures and dangerous winter conditions occur, it’s important to be prepared. Understanding the weather terms and preparing for the impact will help you, your family, pets, and property get through the storm safely.
Storm-Ready Home
Disaster Safety for People with Disabilities
If you have a disability or special need, you may have to take additional steps to protect yourself in an emergency. If you have family, friends or neighbors with special needs, help them with these extra precautions.
Emergency Board-Up
The following basic recommendations can be used in extreme emergencies to add temporary plywood shutters to doors and windows.
Flood Damage Cleanup
When you are preparing to clean after a flood, start with safety. Here are tips to ridding your home of moisture safely.
Flood Insurance Facts
Flooding causes more than 90 percent of all disaster-related property damage in the United States but most homeowner policies do not cover flood damage. Because of this, homeowners need flood insurance—a special policy backed by the federal government, with cooperation from local communities and private insurance companies.
Mobile and Manufactured Homes
Manufactured homeowners can be vulnerable to the threats of high winds from severe storms, tornadoes or a hurricane. Use the following safety tips to bolster home safety and help resist the threat of high winds.
A Hurricane Overview
A hurricane is a powerful tropical storm that measures several hundred miles in diameter. Hurricanes have two main parts. The first is the eye of the hurricane, which is a calm area in the center of the storm. Usually, the eye of a hurricane measures about 20 miles in diameter, and has very few clouds. The second part is the wall of clouds that surrounds the calm eye. This is where the hurricane’s strongest winds and heaviest rain occur.
Understanding Hurricane Ratings
The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is used to rate a hurricane’s present intensity. The scale ranges from one to five and uses sustained wind speed to estimate the potential property damage and flooding from a hurricane landfall.
Assembling Your Disaster Kit
When assembling a disaster kit in preparation for storms or emergencies, it is important to consider all eventualities. Make plans now for food, medicine, money and essentials so that you won’t be caught short in an emergency.
Building a Safe Room
A safe room, or storm shelter, provides the highest degree of protection for you and your family from the dangerous forces of extreme winds and debris impacts. Consider the following information for building or installing a safe room