Prepare for, Survive and Live After a Hurricane

Prepare for, Survive,
and Live After a
Hurricane

The National Hurricane Center keeps a map of the
likelihood of hurricanes and storms.
How Likely Is A
Hurricane In Your
Area?

How Likely Is a Hurricane In Your
Area?

If it’s not secured, it can move.
In a change to a long-standing practice it is
recommended YOU DO NOT TAPE YOUR WINDOWS.
It just makes the shards larger and more dangerous
if they blow out.
Board windows. Plywood is easiest.
There are ways to protect windows long term.
In Boulder, Colorado, we had roll down steel
shutters facing the mountains because we would
get hundred mile an hour windows down off them.
Do not crack windows open to “relieve pressure.”
Preparing Your Home

Fasten your roof with tie down straps.
Turn off gas and/or propane.
Secure all outdoor furniture. Put in pool in you have
one.
Clear debris away that will become projectiles in
high wind.
Close garage doors.
Preparing Your Home

Your Home
Turn your freezer and refrigerator to their coldest
settings.
Pack any coolers with as much ice as possible and use
this first before opening fridge once power goes out.
Fill bathtubs with water.
Make sure all vehicles are topped off.
Know where the closest shelter for you and pets is.
Unplug everything.
Do not use tap water after a storm until certain it’s not
contaminated. This is why water is a priority as seen
later.

It’s too late to prepare once the hurricane is on you.
There will also be a huge run of panicked people
buying many of these same items, so get this now
so you have it ready.
This sounds trite, but after every hurricane,
everyone lists these following items as things they
wished they’d had on hand.
Not only for the hurricane itself, but as importantly,
for living afterwards in the chaos.
What To Have Ready
BEFORE!

Be ready to evacuate.
Besides your Grab-n-Go bag (link at end) here
are special considerations and advice from
those who’ve been affected by hurricanes.
-fuel your car and keep it topped off, even if
you think you are not under direct threat.
-it’s always good to have extra fuel. See my
presentation on what you need in your
automobile.
-make a video of everything in your house
and store it in the cloud, on a thumb drive,
Preparation

Pack enough supplies (Grab-n-Go) but water
is the most critical!
Keep receipts of everything you buy while
evacuated.
Preparation

Key things to pack:
Drivers license/photo ID/Passport
Social Security Card
Bank and credit cards
Health insurance card
Roadside assistance card
Cash
Extra fuel
WATER
Preparation

Key things to pack:
Phone charger
Deed for house
Insurance paperwork
Prescriptions
First aid kit
(a complete list is in Survival Guide)
Preparation

Have a secure, water
and fireproof lockbox
always packed
and ready
to be grabbed.
Also, uploading
the information
into the cloud
gives you
a backup.

Have enough for at least three days.
Minimum is one gallon per person, per day.
Double that for warm climates.
8 average 500ml water bottles is just over one
gallon.
A case of water (24 bottles) is the minimum three
days supply per person.
I recommend at least two cases per person.
If you evacuate take these supplies with you.
WATER

You must have a way of quickly filtering water for
your family. Assume all water you find in nature is
contaminated. Water supplies after a hurricane
are usually polluted due to flooding.
There is also a slightly more expensive system
that doesn’t require pumping and works via
gravity. Either one can be a lifesaver for your
family.

This Sawyer Products Squeeze Filter is
compact and useful in emergencies.
I carry this one in my daypack and is a
great choice for a GnG bag.
There are water bottles with the filter built
into the bottle which combines both filter
and water carrier— Survivemate bottle
filter on right.

If ordered to evacuate, do so.
This means you need to plan ahead.
Do you have a place to evacuate to? Motels and
hotels will fill up quickly.
Do you have family or friends you can stay with?
It’s too late to plan this once the order to evacuate is
announced.
Also, have an out of area emergency Point of
Contact that everyone in the family knows. This is
the person everyone contacts to assure they are all
right if they can’t get in contact with each other.
Make sure everyone has key phone numbers
WRITTEN DOWN in case their cell phone is lost or
runs out of power and they have to use someone
else’s or a landline.
EVACUATE

Know what the emergency broadcast stations are.
Below is a hand crank radio/flashlight combo I have
on hand and in all my grab-n-go bags.
Portable battery/hand crank radio.

Being able to see in the dark is key. Batteries tend to be
heavy and get used up but AA/AAA are light and small. Also,
with solar, you can use rechargeable lights. Consider the
following array:
Handcrank light (the one below also has window breaker,
seatbelt cutter, USB cell phone charger); an LED
rechargeable; a headlamp for moving and doing things in
camp; and a single AAA light I keep in a sheath with my
Leatherman
Light

Since I list a rechargeable lighter on the previous page,
power becomes an issue. I used to focus on using batteries
for power, because rechargeable requires, well, charging.
However, I’ve become a fan of solar, which allows a
renewable power source from nature.
This particular model is good because it has three charging
cables built in on the back.
Licorne Solar Charger 36800 mAh.
Power

There are plenty of prepared ones you can buy.
Below is one I have in my house and in my grab-n-
go bags.
Click on image for link.
Make sure you have medications to last a week.
Extra glasses, contacts, etc.
First Aid Kit

How to turn off the water coming into the house.
How to turn off the power.
Where the safe spots in the house are.
Where the family IRP— Immediate Rally Point— and
ERP- emergency rally point— where all will gather is.
Who the single out of area emergency point of
contact is for the entire family.
Everyone in your
household needs to
know:

The safest place is a basement.
Stay away from windows and doors.
The strongest room is often the bathroom or a walk
in closet, or closest to the center of the house.
In a two story house, the strongest wall is the
stairwell.
If no basement, stay on the first floor.
If a window or door is bowing from the wind DO
NOT push back on it. The wind is stronger than you.
Protect yourself.
Use flashlights, NOT candles! You do not want an
open flame, especially as there are often gas leaks.
During A Hurricane
If Indoors.

Remember that a tidal
surge can cause
flooding.
Storm Surge is VERTICAL!
We had a neighbor on Hilton Head Island
who thought it was horizontal.
Just saying.

Do not light a match.
Don’t move too much as you can cause further
collapse.
Tap on something, preferably a pipe, with
something hard, rather than yell as you could inhale
toxic dust.
If you can see light and have a path, crawl toward it.
If you encounter vertical rubble, check to see if it is
load bearing before moving anything.
Do not run a generator from inside your house or
garage even if you open the windows. Do not run
one on your balcony as you could be venting
exhaust into your neighbor’s.
During A Hurricane:
If trapped.

Generators are like car engines.
The more power you draw from them, the faster
they use fuel.
Turn off all non-essential items drawing power.
A portable generator must be vented. NEVER run
one inside your house or your garage.
Make sure the vent isn’t close to an intake in the
house.
Over half of the deaths in the last hurricane were
from people running generators in their houses
and near their houses that weren’t properly
ventilated— be careful!
Generators

Carbon monoxide can kill. Be very, very careful when using
a generator or even getting in your vehicle to run the
engine. Do not run your vehicle in your garage. Make sure
your generator is properly vented and outside. Don’t put
your generator in your garage.
I know a couple who died with a generator outside their
mobile home, but the vent was near a window they kept
open. They passed away in their sleep.
Do not bring gas grills indoors to ‘warm up’. It will make you
sick or kill you.
Over half of hurricane deaths are due to carbon monoxide
poisoning.
See my presentation on how to prepare for and deal with a
power outage.
CAVEAT!!!!!

More Free Information
I’ve put all the links to free apps, all gear mentioned
and web pages on my web site at
www.bobmayer.com
Go to the GEAR page
There are also free books on my web site, updated
daily.

New York Times bestselling author, a graduate of West
Point and former Green Beret. He commanded a Green
Beret A-Team and also served in a variety of other
positions.
He was a certified instructor at the JFK Special
Warfare Center & School which trains Green Berets
and also runs the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and
Escape (SERE) school.
www.bobmayer.com

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