Hurricane preparedness: The top 5 tips many people don't know

Hurricane season begins on June 1 and lasts until November 30. Start a conversation with your family now and develop a plan. To ensure you have everything you need before tropical activity begins, now is the time to think about your natural disaster preparedness kits. 

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1: Keep disaster preparedness kits at home, work and in your vehicle

• You don’t want to get stranded on the road without items to help you get out of a bind. If you’re planning an out-of-town vacation during hurricane season, make sure to pack some disaster preparedness items in your suitcase.  When tropical cyclones form close to the coast, there is not much time to prepare. 
• Some businesses keep disaster & first aid kits at the office. Talk to your boss and find out what’s already there.  

If you already have disaster preparedness kits – great!  Go through the items you have and replace any items that are expired.  

2: Check expiration dates on the items in your disaster preparedness kits

• While non-perishable foods, bottled water and over-the-counter medications last a long time, they have expiration dates.  Dispose of expired products and replace.
• Batteries have expiration dates on them. Examine all the batteries in your kits and replace any expired batteries. If you use batteries after their expiration dates, they will only work with minor performance. 
• Also replace expired personal hygiene products (toothpaste, moist towelettes, etc.), old light sticks and medical tape/bandages.

Once you’ve replaced expired items, make sure your kits are fully stocked. Here are the items I recommend.

An important item that I recommend everyone have is a NOAA weather radio. Hurricanes frequently spawn tornadoes and receiving emergency alerts is crucial.  While tornado warning alerts are sent to our cell phones, what happens if your phone battery dies and you don’t receive the warning? 

3: Have a backup source to ensure you receive weather warnings

• Set your NOAA weather radio to “alert” and check to make sure its batteries are not expired.
• Most NOAA weather radios can be customized and programmed to only receive the certain types of notifications you choose, for your selected cities/counties. 

If a warning is issued for your area, please take it seriously.  During a hurricane, voluntary and mandatory evacuation orders may be issued. Now is the time to determine where you could go; and if you do leave, always take your pets with you.  Make sure your pet is vaccinated, you have a photo of you and your pet together, and that your pet is microchipped.  If your pet is microchipped, do you know if your microchip information is up-to-date?  If not, it will be difficult to reunite you and your pet. 

4: Update your pet’s microchip information

• If you’ve recently moved, make sure you update your pets’ microchip information.
• If you’ve recently adopted a pet, make sure the pet’s microchip information is correct.
• Easily register or update your pet’s microchip information at https://www.foundanimals.org/.

Hopefully you’ll never get separated from your pet, but it’s best to always be prepared. If a hurricane threatens your area and you decide to stay home with your pets, make sure you’re prepared for a power outage. Following a disaster, power could be out for days, weeks or longer.

5: Have a source of back-up power

• Having a home standby generator, like the Cummins Quiet Connect Series, means all the power in your house can be restored, automatically - even when you’re not home.
• The Cummins Quiet Connect is hooked up by a professional to your natural gas line or propane tank. 
• Having a home stand-by generator ensures you and your family no power interruption and peace-of-mind.