Emergency Preparations for Your Home
The path of Hurricane Dorian is difficult to predict, but there is a good chance that we could experience some power interruptions and flooding late next week.
There has been no call from authorities to prepare for and an emergency, but it’s always a good idea to be prepared.
If you are an ARES volunteer, make sure you take care of those at home before you rush out.
I don’t expect any problems but, if we experience flash flooding and power failures, we will activate the Eastern Pennsylvania Emergency Phone and Traffic Net (EPAEPTN) on 3917 KHz.
Stay in touch with your county Emergency Coordinator for the latest news for your specific area. Be ready to activate your local VHF net. Don’t forget Skywarn. If severe weather is occurring, get on your local Skywarn Repeater. Don’t wait to be call. If the net isn’t active, call your local National Weather Service office.
Presently, it appears Hurricane Dorian will move along the southeast coast and make landfall in South Carolina. What happens after that is hard to prepare for.
Now’s the time to prepare for potential problems. I’m not going to write about preparing an emergency kit. If you are active in your counties ARES program, you should have prepared a “Go Bag”. Instead I’m going to talk about what you should have in your home in case of an extended period when travel is curtailed.
I’m not a Prepper, and I’m not suggesting you become one. However, you should always have necessities on hand to last seven days in the event of an emergency.
In an emergency you need shelter, water and food to survive.
Here’s some suggested steps to take.
- Make sure your batteries are fully charged and ready to go. There’s nothing worse than picking up a dead flashlight when the power fails. Pick up some spare batteries to keep on hand.
- If you have a “Go Bag”, check that everything is in working order and ready for use.
- Check your radios and antennas so you have emergency communications. That cell phone in your pocket may fail at the worst possible time.
- If you are in your home, you have the necessary shelter. It’s a good idea to keep few things “just in case”. It’s a good idea to have a tarp. A tarp can be used to repair damage to roofs.
- Have bottled water on hand. Municipal sources and wells may become contaminated due to flooding. Have enough water to provide each person one gallon a day.
- Food is essential. If the power fails, your refrigerator and freezer may not be available for storing food. It’s a good idea to have a supply of freeze-dried food. We’ve come a long way since the days of C-Rations. Prepackaged survival food is tasty. Even the MRE’s we had years ago are no longer “Meals Rejected by Ethiopians”. I actually like some, but there are better sources for survival food. Survival food is separate from your normal groceries and is only to be used during an emergency. You’ll want to have a 7-day supply of rations for each person.
- If you have an emergency generator, now is a good time to make sure you have enough fuel available.
- Fill up your car just in case you need to evacuate or make a sudden trip to the hospital. I never allow my gas tank to get below half full.
- Finally, go to your bank or ATM and withdraw enough cash so if a widespread power failure prevents stores and gas stations from accepting credit cards you will be able to pay cash. We’ve become a cashless society, but it’s always a good idea to have some “emergency” cash in hand.
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There are other steps to take to be prepared for emergencies. Every emergency presents different problems. A good source of checklists and emergency instructions is readygov.com.
The important thing is to prepare now. Waiting until the last minute could place you in a precarious position.
Monitor your Weather Radio and TV and radio stations for the latest news. You can keep track of the movements and state of Hurricane Dorian by checking the National Hurricane Center website.
Also, for the latest news for Hams, check epa-arrl.org.