Hurricane Preparedness - Preparing for Hurricane Irma
Charlotte County, FL – Hurricane Harvey and the subsequent storms and flooding across South Texas and Louisiana served as a reminder of the importance of reviewing your own preparedness. As warnings for Hurricane Irma begin, take action to stock your home and car with emergency supplies and think through your family’s disaster response plan to give yourself some peace of mind before the storm hits.
“Hospitals and our community’s first responders regularly conduct drills to prepare for disasters, and individuals and families can benefit from the same idea,” said Tim Cerullo, CEO, at Bayfront Health Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda. “It’s so much easier to think through the needed details while the weather is good so we’re well-prepared long before we’re in a storm’s path. We encourage our employees and all area residents to take steps now.”
Communications can be challenging during a weather crisis, so it’s important to think ahead. Write down emergency phone numbers and keep them near every phone in your house, program them into your cell phone and have every family member keep a printed copy in their wallet. Establish an emergency point of contact in a different town such as a friend or relative in case phone lines are busy during an emergency.
Know your community so you’re prepared to take action – find out where the nearest shelter is and the different routes you can take to get there. For online materials such as contact lists or maps, take time to print them now. Power outages around a storm can make accessing data online difficult.
Home emergency supplies can help keep you and your family safe and healthy. While store inventories are high and it’s easy to get to and from the store, make sure you have the following basics on hand:
Food and Medicine
- Water – at least 5 gallons per person
- Food supply for 3 to 5 days (like granola bars and canned foods)
- Baby food or formula
- Prescription medicines
Safety Items
- First aid kit and instructions
- Fire extinguisher
- Battery-powered radio
- Flashlights
- Extra batteries
- Sleeping bags or extra blankets
- Supplies to make drinking water safe (like iodine tablets or chlorine bleach)
Personal Care Products
- Hand sanitizer
- Wet cleaning cloths (like baby wipes)
- Soap
- Tampons and pads
- Diapers
Your car’s emergency kit should include:
- Food that doesn’t go bad (like canned food)
- Flares
- Jumper cables
- Maps and/or GPS in your car or on your smartphone
- Roadside emergency kit
- First aid kit
- Fire extinguisher
- Blankets or sleeping bags
- Flashlight and extra batteries
Heed Public Guidance Monitor what the Mayor and other community leaders are saying in relation to potential storms and be prepared to follow their guidance, whether it’s to evacuate or shelter in place. Our community’s disaster response office has access to the very latest forecasts and they work in concert with state level officials to support and protect our community.
To learn more about our community’s hurricane preparedness, visit www.CharlotteCountyFL.gov and under ‘Departments’ select ‘Emergency Management’.
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