Additional Emergency Preparation Considerations

Example of Community Hurricane Preparation – Tampa Bay Times

Tampa Bay Times provides readers with very thorough guidance on hurricane preparation:

These two articles cover hurricane preparation – including protecting property and preparing for evacuation. The article covering protecting homes and businesses makes some very important points relevant to any hurricane season, but particularly relevant to 2020, with the extra complication of the COVID-19 pandemic. It emphasizes the importance of planning ahead and making preparations such as purchasing supplies for securing homes and businesses (generators, plywood, storage bins, etc.) early in the hurricane season, and not waiting until a storm threatens.

It also details important tips on storing important documents in waterproof containers ready for evacuation and having a supply of prescription medications on hand for the event of a long period without pharmacy service. The importance of these details may easily be overlooked until the event. Many New Orleanians can attest to this, having neglected to prepare ahead of time and protect essential documents like birth certificates and medical records, which had to be replaced after Katrina. Another really important tip is to have cash on hand. Without power, normal methods of card payment and bank ATM machines and the like do not work. Without cell phone service and power, the ability to access information and to do online banking and shopping is severely curtailed.

In addition, the importance of preparing digital copies of important documents cannot be overemphasized. But this also brings up the importance of taking care of computers and other digital devices and office equipment. File backup onto portable hard drives is essential and once this is completed, if a storm is threatening your area, desktop computers, larger devices, and machines should be powered down and unplugged. All valuables should be moved to the highest points of homes, such as upstairs, if possible. Tablets, phones, etc. should also be backed up but they should be included in the to-go list. It’s important to remember that although you hope you will be able to return in a couple of days after evacuation, this may not be possible. So, preparing for at least one week is important. After Hurricane Katrina, most New Orleans residents could not return for 6 weeks or longer and returned only to survey destroyed properties.

Learning Check Point

This activity will not be graded, but the Module Summative Assessment requires you to have the skills and knowledge it applies. Please take a few minutes to think about what you just learned and answer the questions below.