6. Surviving the Storm
In October of 2012 a dreadful storm hit the eastern United States. It lasted several days and caused more damage than can be counted. After the storm most people found themselves with at least some minor damage that had to be dealt with. Others had a lot of damage. Many had power outages that lasted for weeks. Some lost their homes entirely. Some lost their lives.
What you want to do in the time preceding a storm is prepare for safety above all else. This is basic prepping for the future, and everyone needs to be prepared! Your immediate goal is to do all that you can to make sure you and your family survive the storm without injury. Managing to survive comfortably during a storm is a bonus. The storm will end, and you want to be alive to help clean up the mess!
Weigh your options before a storm actually arrives. Carefully observe the normal storms or potential disasters in your area in your daily life, whether they are earthquakes and tusnamies, rain storms, hurricanes, snow storms, ice storms, or even dust or sand storms. What happens when you face a small storm? Is there something that bothers you in your home, you work place, your normal transportation route, or anything else? Is it something that would pose a big problem in a storm that is worse than usual? Consider how this would affect you and your family. Consider how you would manage if a storm or some other disaster prevented you from going through your day in the normal routine. If there is a possibility of an evacuation of your area then at least make mental preparations for how you would handle that. You need to have plan A, B, and C in place. You probably need plan D, E, and F if you have children who are scattered around at different schools or daycare. If work schedules or work locations vary then alternate plans may be required to coordinate with that.
Evacuation routes from your home may also work to get to your home if the roads you normally use are closed. Take an alternative route to or from town occasionally simply to become familiar with the roads.
Assemble everything you might need during a storm. You need to have flashlights handy. Food and water should be easily assessable. Coats, jackets, rain gear, and extra clothing should be where you can get to them easily. If you have to evacuate your home take what you can with you easily and quickly. Be ready to evacuate if necessary, but don’t go out into the storm unless it is absolutely necessary. Have your mind made up in advance about what you are going to do in certain circumstances.
Obviously you will want your doors and windows closed. You also want drapes and curtains closed. A curtain or drape wouldn’t prevent that tree limb or actual tree from flying through your window but it could help contain flying glass. If there are large trees in your yard or area you need to be aware that one of them might wind up falling on your house! (Remember to trim those trees long before a storm is on the way.) Take a look at the house; decide where the tree would hit if it blew over; and avoid that area of the house. Some people nail plywood over windows and doors before a storm. That is usually extreme and expensive. If you are going to have to ride out a bad storm that is an option.
Identify the room in your home that you common sense tells you will be the safest and set up to stay in that area most of the time. Keep in mind that you are not moving into cramped quarters permanently. You are just riding out a storm.
Stay alert during the storm. If it is a storm of unprecedented magnitude such as the one mentioned already then you really don’t know what is going to happen. In all likelihood nothing to horrible will happen, but that doesn’t change the fact that really horrible things do happen during a storm. Levees break causing flooding in areas that were previously considered safe from flooding. Torrential rains can cause flash flooding in areas where flooding has never been recorded. A log jam on a river can cause flooding upstream when it has never happened before. Mud slides are even possible. You want to be aware of what is happening to the best of your ability. For instance if a levee is predicted to break then you want to make an effort to leave the area. If roads are predicted to flood that would leave you trapped in your home you want to consider how safe you will be in your home. If you are simply going to be trapped in your home until the flooding goes down then it is likely that your best plan will be to simply stay in your home and wait it out. At some point you will need to trust the news and weather reports if they tell you that your home is going to flood. If that is the case then you will need to leave the area while the roads are passable.
Families and friends should be able to band together in times like this. I would caution that those who do not use alcohol will not be able to stay with those who do use alcohol. Cigarettes are another problem. I personally grew up with a dad who was a heavy smoker. Most of our friends had at least one family member who smoked. No one in my family smokes now, and it is just wonderful. Now smokers often go outside to smoke. I would rather deal with a smoker than a drinker under any circumstances. Still, before you set up a family rendezvous during a storm or other disaster actual family compatibility needs to be considered.
Prior to the storm take the time to fill your gas tank. If you happen to have an extra five gallon gas can fill that up as well.
Do you have a way to hear or watch weather reports and warnings if the electricity is off? I admit that we count on the car radio. We have tried those hand crank radios, but we haven’t found one that actually works well.
By the way, if water is over a road when you are driving then you probably don’t want to try to drive through the water. In years past I watched my parents and grandparents go through flooded roads. If they were familiar with the road then they could make a judgment regarding how deep the water was, but they could not tell if the water had caused a hole in the road. I remember watching my granddad take a big walking stick and wade through water poking all around with the stick. Then my dad drove through the water when granddad motioned that it was safe. I have no idea why we just didn’t sit there and wait until the water went down. The point is that if for some reason you feel like you MUST cross a flooded section of road someone needs to walk it first – which could be incredibly dangerous in its self. That was in a flooded section of a dirt country road. It was not over a bridge submerged by a raging river.
Trees are wonderful for shade, beauty, and even good air quality. However in a storm they can be blown right over on your house! Keeping your trees trimmed prior to storms will make that less likely. It is probably not a good idea to rush out to trip your oak trees just before a storm unless you have time to properly dispose of the branches you trim. If you leave them laying in the yard they might just be the debris that is blown right through your windows! Low growing bushes or trees on the perimeter of your property can even be a wind break in some cases. They are not going to stop a tornado, but they could stop some of the flying debris.
Part of surviving a storm or disaster is to survive immediately after the event. There are a lot of unusual dangers that follow. For instance, there may be downed power lines that are actually live. You could get electrocuted if you assume they are not live.
Gas lines may be ruptured causing leaks. If you smell a rupture gas line then leave the area and notify 911 as soon as possible. There is an additional danger of fires. Obviously don’t smoke and don’t be bashful about telling someone else not to light up!
Flooding usually manages to mix with raw sewage at some point. There is disease in the sludge left by a flood. Be cautious with clean up!
Be cautious when entering a building that has been flooded. If you don’t have to go in then don’t go in. It may not be structurally sound. There may be gas leaks.
Flooding not only drives people from their homes, it drives wild animals from their homes as well. If you live in an area with poison snakes, watch out for them after a flood. Just like you, they are out of their comfort zone. They are hungry. They will bite.
Don’t assume you have a safe water supply just because water comes out when you turn on the faucet. It is safe for flushing the commode, but until you hear otherwise be sure to exercise caution with all water that is used for drinking, cooking, and hand washing. You can use water you stored in advance. You can boil water. You can use a variety of water purifiers. The most economical is simply a few drops of Clorox bleach per gallon of water. It tastes horrible, but it is better than getting typhoid or some other dreadful and potentially fatal disease. Recommended amounts of bleach per gallon vary.
Take disaster planning seriously. Put the most effort into planning for disaster types that are most likely to hit your area. If you live in the center of Kansas, USA it is not likely that you need to spend much time or money making plans for what to do if a tsunami hits your area. If you live in Nome, Alaska then you probably won’t want to spend much time working on a tornado storm shelter.
You can take disaster preparation seriously without letting it consume your life. I have known people who were so terrified of a tornado that the basically spent the entire tornado season with an emergency weather radio in their hands. They cut their sleep time by at least half so they could spend more time worrying about a tornado. That is no way to live. I have to admit that a loud clap of thunder right over the house is pretty nerve-wracking! When we lived in ‘tornado alley’ we were very respectful of storms. Only once did we think a tornado might be coming to our home. We were prepared to go to the center of the house which was the place that was structurally strongest in our home. We were careful not to terrify our kids because we didn’t want them to grow up being one of those people who so terrified of storms they really can’t function.
So, use common sense. Strike a balance between terror of the next unexpected event in your future and being reasonably prepared.