Preparing For Natural Disasters
In some cases, you will have warning and alerts of a pending disaster, such as a hurricane, tornado, blizzard or ice storm. In the case of a hurricane, experts can track them by satellite, and with a great deal of accuracy, predict when and where the storm will make landfall. What cannot be forecasted or predicted however, is how destructive the storm will be once it makes landfall.
Along with hurricanes comes the possibility of storm surges that can create devastating flooding in coastal areas. The three stages to any disaster are the days leading up to it, the disaster itself and then the aftermath, in which people are left to deal with the affects of the storm such as flooding, power outages, damaged homes and limited supplies. In the case of the most recent disaster along the Eastern seaboard, families and individuals were displaced from their homes and forced to erect emergency shelters sometimes in the streets. The storm was of such a magnitude that disaster relief agencies could not get emergency personnel on the ground in the hardest hit areas.
Be prepared to be on your own in the days and possibly weeks following a disaster.
To determine your storm surge risk please visit
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/surge/risk/
For information on your city or state emergency preparedness, please visit
http://www.fema.gov/regional-operations/state-offices-and-agencies-emergency-management
