Are You Prepared for a Natural Disaster?

It's hurricane season. 

Let me start by saying that I hope everyone in Florida is safe. This post is being written before we know the exact places where Hurricane Irma will land.

And this, for me is why hurricanes are so scary.

Honestly, as a person who has never lived in a place that has to annually prepare for hurricane season, hurricanes seem like madness.

Anytime I talk to people about natural disasters, because I'm from California, people always shudder in fear at the thought of earthquakes. 

And earthquakes are scary. Having the earth move erratically beneath your feet is frightening.

But big earthquakes that actually cause disruption to everyday life are rare. Most earthquakes are unnoticeable. And the ones we do feel are kind of like feeling a bug bite. Yes, it's surprising, but it's over by the time you notice it. What was that? Was that an earthquake? And then we go back to doing whatever we were doing.

Am I aware of earthquakes? Yes. Do I think about anchoring large furniture items to the walls? Sometimes. Do I think they're scary? No.

I think I don't find earthquakes scary because we don't know when they're coming. We don't get earthquake forecasts. We don't have time to stock up on water and board up our windows.

Hurricanes are a different story.

They make landfall with alarming regularity and you have to be prepared for the worst.

My first adult awareness of a major hurricane was Katrina in 2005.

And much like my experience after September 11th, my sense of security in the world eroded after witnessing the aftermath of Katrina. 

Perhaps it was because I was a mother with a toddler. Perhaps it was because it was the age of cable news. Whatever it was, Katrina devastated me emotionally.

Prior to Katrina I didn't know what a storm surge was. Prior to Katrina, I didn't understand that the real danger of hurricanes is not the storm itself, but the days, sometimes weeks, of rising floodwaters that follow it.

Prior to Katrina, I just did not realize that literally drowning inside your home from storm flooding was a possibility. 

I mean I knew it was possible, I just didn't think it actually happened. 

Then watching the government struggle to respond to the horrific aftermath of the storm was another shock. Watching people literally dying on the streets of New Orleans from dehydration and exposure seemed unreal.

As a result, after Katrina, I went a little crazy preparing for a natural disaster. 

I filled our garage with water supplies. I put together backpacks with supplies like radios, extra clothes, batteries, medical kits, dog food, cat food, etc. I filled our pantry with canned goods. I bought candles and made sure there were flashlights and glow sticks placed throughout the house.

And then, as happens with everything, life goes on. The panic subsides. 

The water supplies in the garage started leaking and I eventually got rid of them. The food in the emergency packs went bad. The batteries corroded, and the clothing I had packed for my daughter no longer fit her. 

And eventually I just forgot to be panicked.

Then Harvey hit Texas this year, and many of the feelings I had experienced in 2005 returned. Not to the degree that I had experienced during Katrina, but I was reminded of the panic. I was reminded of the need for emergency preparedness. And I took stock of what remained of all my previous preparations.

Here's what I still have prepared:

—An easily accessible bag with all our important papers like passports, social security cards, old driver's licenses, and proof of our street address. (If I only grab one thing as I run out of the house, that is what I would grab.)

—Digital copies of all these documents in several secure places online in case hard copies are destroyed.

—Several large candles with matches and lighters.

—Glowsticks.

—Several cases of bottled water in the house at all times.

—Approximately a week's worth of food in the form of canned goods or granola bars at all times.

—Several portable batteries for our cell phones that are charged at all times.

—A large box of batteries for flashlights or radios.

—Cash in the form of some small bills in case stores cannot take credit cards.

And I know that I'm not as prepared as I could be. What I discovered after Katrina was that it seemed as if no amount of preparedness felt like enough. And I could spend every minute of my life worrying about what might happen.

So I had to let some of the worry go. 

But I am more prepared than I used to be. If someone tells me that I have to evacuate my house, I know what I need to grab. If we suddenly find ourselves without power, we will be okay for a few days.

We sincerely hope anyone affected by Hurricane Harvey or Irma are safe! We send you our prayers!

I asked my mom some questions about her disaster preparedness.

Is there anything you’d add to my list?

Your list is impressive. I've taken notes so I can add to what we have! 

I only have one thing to add, even though your dad and I have to work on it ourselves. Sheltering in place is one thing, but I would have a plan for if you have to leave or evacuate and the three of you aren’t together. Think about how you’d find each other if cell phones and the internet were out. Maybe have a set meet up place. This is easier said than done, obviously, because where you want to meet up depends on where the source of the disaster is. This is something your dad and I need to think about, too.

Do you and Dad have an emergency evacuation plan?

We have what you have—a "go bag" with essentials in it—but we haven’t discussed where we’d go. Obviously, we’d head away from the disaster. 

If your dad weren’t home and I had to evacuate on my own, I’d grab the “go bag” (and Scout) and try to connect with your dad by phone or over the internet. I need to find a site online that will give me good information on how to decide where to meet up if you’re separated and phones, etc. aren’t working.

Do you have emergency supplies in case the power goes out?

We have a fireplace, but we don’t use it because it tends to make the living room too hot while the rest of the house gets very cold. Even though we don’t use the fireplace, we have a large pile of chopped wood in back in case the power goes out in winter.

That pile of wood is there because a few years ago we were not prepared when a big storm hit and our power was out for three days. It was so cold in the house—even with jackets on. And we had no firewood. Thankfully, at some point, our neighbor down the block at the time, Nhi, let us use a bunch of her firewood. And now we have our own.

I also have this crazy plan in case the power goes out during one of our blazing hot summer days. I bought two battery operated fans and some cheese cloth. I read that if you wet the cheese cloth and put it over the fan, you’ve, in effect, made a little swamp cooler. That would take the edge off the heat.

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What about you? Have you thought about what you would do if you were stuck without power for a week? Do you have an emergency preparedness plan?

Cars on a flooded street on the island of Saint-Martin after Irma hit