Hurricane season in the southeastern United States runs from June 1st through November 30th, but peaks from mid-late August through September. These intense storms can cause massive damage to roadways, homes and nature. They are also commonly known for causing power outages that can make it very difficult to charge important medical devices such as a portable oxygen concentrators.
The best way to prepare for hurricanes is to always plan ahead! If you or a family member relies on oxygen or has a lung problem or a related condition, please read ahead:
- Do not wait for an emergency to start planning. Start one today.
- Coordinate this plan with your healthcare providers, homecare company, nursing service, and medical equipment company.
- Develop a basic family emergency plan. Make sure each family member has gone through the plan and everyone knows what to do incase of an emergency.
- Get together an emergency kit
Basic Needs to Have in your Emergency Kit:
- Water — one gallon per person, per day (3-day supply for evacuation and 2-week supply for home)
- Food — it is a good idea to include foods that do not need cooking (canned, dried, etc.) (3-day supply for evacuation and 2-week supply for home)
- Battery-operated or hand-crank radio
- First aid kit and manual
- Flashlights
- Batteries
- Medications (7-day supply) and medical items
- Generator that you can use if you lose power - this is a must if you will need to charge your batteries for your POC.
You will mostly likely have a few days to a week to prepare for these big storms and hurricanes. It's great to use this time to prepare sand bags to put in front of any doors to block water from coming into your home, shopping for your emergency supplies, making sure your generator is fully charged, and preparing your home in any way possible to minimize as much damage as possible, like boarding up your windows.
Make sure all your communication devices are fully charged, new batteries are in your flashlights, filing any bathtubs with clean water and moving any heavy hanging furniture (like a tv or big picture frames) off the walls and away from windows.
Stick to following these tips and preparing a plan to keep yourself and all of your family safe this season.
Additional Resources:
American Red Cross
https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/hurricane.html
National Hurricane Preparedness from NWS
https://www.211.org/
Centers for Disease Control
https://emergency.cdc.gov/
