Hurricane updates and resources + free 58-pg preparedness ebook

It’s been several years since the U.S. has dealt with a major hurricane hitting our shores, but things are really starting to heat up esp. since we are in peak hurricane season.

As Texas and Louisiana continue to recover from the wrath of hurricane Harvey, an extremely powerful Hurricane Irma is barreling towards Florida and the southeastern U.S. Plus Irma’s little brother Jose is building strength as it follows her west.

Download a free 58-page PDF portion of our IT’S A DISASTER! book with tips about hurricanes, floods, evacuations, making a family plan, assembling disaster kits and more … and share ebook and this post with others ~ esp. those living along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

The U.S. First Responders Association‘s Disaster Preparedness forum has resources and updates about Hurricane Irma and Harvey recovery and the 2017 hurricane season in general, and follow the USFRA facebook page for breaking news and updates.

Stay safe out there and again – please download our free ebook and learn how to order the full 280-page ebook or paperbacks at www.fedhealth.net. j & B

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Should I stay or should I go? (Evacuation and sheltering tips when away from home)

Evacuations are quite common and happen for a number of reasons — fires, floods, mudflows, hurricanes, or chemical spills on the roads or railways. Most preparedness data for the general public focuses on things to do around your home before, during and after an evacuation.

But what if you are at work or school or traveling? Things can happen near your workplace that can force evacuations or sheltering-in-place as seen recently in Paris when terrorists were holed up at a business … or during active shooter incidents at workplaces or schools. And sometimes accidents happen when riding public transit like Washington DC and New York City experienced recently with fires at their train stations.

Whenever these types of emergencies or incidents happen hopefully people take a moment to reflect on some things like…

• Would you, your co-workers and loved ones know what to do and where you would go if you had to evacuate from work, daycare, school, nursing home, etc?
• What if you had to shelter-in-place for several hours or even days at work, school or someplace away from home?
• Have you done evacuation and shelter-in-place drills at work, school or home?
• Do you have meet up places established so you can rejoin your co-workers and family if you’re not able to go back to work or home?
• Have you discussed these things with your family members, neighbors and fellow workers?
• If not, why not?

People don’t need to live in fear but we all should take time to think about various scenarios that might impact your daily lives so you’ll know what to do if something happens. And when you are out in public or using mass transit, more of us should start making a habit of being more aware of our surroundings. You don’t have to be paranoid or obvious – just make a mental note of the EXITS when you go to places or ride public transit, and watch for things that look strange or out of place.

Many of us spend as much time at work or school as we do at home so we tend to get complacent and comfortable with our surroundings. Managers, owners and school administrators should develop plans for a “shelter-in-place” scenario as well as have an evacuation plan in place for employees, students, visitors and customers that may be in your facility during a crisis. And hopefully management and administrators are proactive about explaining these plans with staff and everyone participates in monthly or quarterly drills. If they don’t, encourage them to start doing it and below are some very basic tips to get the ball rolling.

Things to plan for if instructed to “Shelter-in-place” at work:

• Listen to local authorities and tune in radio or TV for updates.
• If possible, know who’s in the building if there is an emergency.
• Set up a warning system (and remember folks with hearing or vision disabilities or non-English speaking workers).
• Determine which room or area will be used for shelter for each type of disaster in advance (i.e. some emergencies require staying above ground – others may be best underground or in a sealed room). Discuss ideas with others in your building or complex or with First Responders.
• Calculate air requirements for sealed room in the event of a hazardous materials incident.
• Consider installing a safe room at your facility to provide protection from the high winds expected during hurricanes, tornadoes and from flying debris. Shelters built below ground provide the best protection, but could be flooded during heavy rains.
• Assign certain people to grab Kits, take headcounts, seal off room, etc. and have backups lined up in case someone’s off or injured.
• Take a headcount or have a checklist of people in shelter.
• Practice, practice, practice — make sure employees know shelter-in-place plans and be ready to explain procedures to newbies not familiar with your plans (like customers or suppliers who might be at your building when an event occurs).

Things to plan for when making an “Evacuation plan” at work:

• If possible, know who’s in the building if there is an emergency.
• Decide in advance who in your staff and your building has the authority to order an evacuation. And if local authorities tell you to leave – DO it!
• Determine who is in charge of shutting down critical operations and systems and locking doors (if possible) during evacuation.
• Draw a map of your shop or building and mark locations of exits, disaster and first aid kits, fire extinguishers and utility shut-off points. Plan at least two escape routes from different sections of facility. Post copies of maps so employees can find them easily and share copies with local First Responders.
• Set up a warning system (and remember folks with hearing or vision disabilities or non-English speaking workers).
• Have flashlights handy or install emergency lighting to help staff exit safely. (Note: never use lighters since there may be gas leaks.)
• Pick two meeting places (assembly sites) in advance for staff to go – one near the facility and one further away. Also discuss how employees should notify someone if they need to leave the site or aren’t able to reach one.
• Take a headcount or have a checklist of people at assembly site.
• Practice, practice, practice — make sure employees know evacuation plans and be ready to explain procedures to newbies not familiar with your plans (like customers or suppliers who might be at your building when an event occurs). Practice drills with other tenants or businesses in your complex and share plans and ideas.

Download a free portion of our customizable preparedness and first aid book and ebook (including things to do before, during and after evacuating your home), and funding programs at www.fedhealth.net in case this “tool” can help your agency, business, volunteer group, faith-based organization, school, family and/or community. Stay safe ~ j & B

Resources for those in the path of Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy is predicted to bring drenching rain, major storm surges (4 to 11 feet above ground level from Maryland to Rhode Island) and winds that could hit 80 mph along the east and northeast parts of the U.S.

Remember … 9 out of 10 hurricane deaths are due to storm surge so please pay attention to evacuation orders.

Weather.com is reporting the hurricane force winds may continue across multiple states for about 36 hours and the intensity of this massive storm is causing great concern. Plus you compound Sandy with two winter storms heading east and merging in with this tropical activity … thus you have the “Perfect Storm” (or “Frankenstorm” as NOAA forecaster Jim Cisco first labeled it).

Some suggested tips from Weather.com…

Everyone:

• Needs to complete preparations by sunset Sunday

• Needs to be prepared for extended period without power (we’ve heard up to 10 days or more)

Coast:

• Follow orders from local officials and know if you need to evacuate due to coastal flood threat

• Prepare your home/property for frequent hurricane gusts and flooding

Inland:

• Prepare your home/property for occasional hurricane gusts

• Know if you are in an area prone to flooding from rainfall

• Beware of the potential of lakeshore flooding on the southern end of the Great Lakes as far west as Chicago

Also download a 60-pg free ebook in PDF at with Emergency Plan Checklists (including tips for pets and livestock), suggestions about assembling Home, Car or Office kits and more. And please share this data with others.

Also visit your City or County web site to find a link to your Emergency Management, Emergency Services or Homeland Security office to stay current on latest updates. Some local and state offices offer text alerts or have Twitter accounts so you and your loved ones can stay current on warnings.

If you can’t find your local EM site, the following state offices along the east coast all had safety information about Hurricane Sandy as of Sunday 9am PDT 28-Oct-2012. Obviously other states not listed here have helpful data too and a complete list of State and Territorial Emergency Management agencies can be found on fema.gov.

Delaware Emergency Management Agency
(302) 659-3362 or Tollfree 1-877-SAY-DEMA
Hurricane Sandy Hotline – (800) 464-4357
www.dema.delaware.gov

District of Columbia Homeland Security & Emergency Management Agency (DC HSEMA)
(202) 727-6161
http://hsema.dc.gov FB http://www.facebook.com/HSEMADC

Connecticut Department of Emergency Management & Homeland Security
(860) 256-0800 or Tollfree 1-800-397-8876
http://www.ct.gov/demhs FB https://www.facebook.com/CTEMHS
Hurricane Sandy News & Information http://www.ct.gov/sandy

Maine Emergency Management Agency
(207) 624-4400
www.state.me.us/mema and www.maineprepares.com

Maryland Emergency Management Agency
(410) 517-3600 or Tollfree 1-877-MEMA-USA
www.mema.state.md.us FB http://facebook.com/mdmema

Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency
(508) 820-2000
http://www.mass.gov/mema FB https://www.facebook.com/MassachusettsEMA

New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management
(603) 271-2231
www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/hsem/ ReadyNH www.nh.gov/readynh/

New Jersey Office of Emergency Management
(609) 963-6900
http://www.ready.nj.gov FB https://www.facebook.com/READYNEWJERSEY

New York State Emergency Management Office
(518) 292-2200
www.dhses.ny.gov
New York City OEM http://www.nyc.gov/oem FB https://www.facebook.com/NYCemergencymanagement

North Carolina Emergency Management
(919) 733-3825
www.ncem.org Ready NC http://www.readync.org FB https://www.facebook.com/NCEmergencyManagement

Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency
(717) 651-2001
www.pema.state.pa.us and http://www.readypa.org/ FB https://www.facebook.com/pages/ReadyPAorg/120150131052

Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency
(401) 946-9996
www.riema.ri.gov

Vermont Emergency Management
(802) 244-8721
http://vem.vermont.gov/ FB https://www.facebook.com/vermontemergencymanagement

Virginia Dept of Emergency Management
(804) 897-6500
http://www.readyvirginia.gov/ FB https://www.facebook.com/VAemergency

Additional Resources:

National Hurricane Center  www.hurricanes.gov

Ready.gov Hurricanes pg  www.ready.gov/hurricanes

Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety Hurricane pg http://disastersafety.org/hurricane/

FEMA’s mobi page  or free app

American Red Cross www.redcross.org