Hurricanes And Water Safety Made Simple And Easy

If there is a hurricane heading to your area, then it is most important that you make preparations, incase you decide to simply wait the hurricane out. Arguably the most important thing that you can do is to make sure that you have a sizeable bottled water supply in your home. It is important that you make sure that the water supply is proportionate to the number of people dwelling at your house, as there must be enough water for the duration of the storm. It is critical that you have clean drinking water during the storm. The water from the sea and sewer system may have affected the water in your tap, so you should never assume that the water coming out of your faucet is clean. You should not drink anything but bottled water during a hurricane. This contaminated water could sicken your family or guests and even cause death in the worst case. You should make sure that there is at least one gallon of water for one person to drink a day. Water purification tablets and chlorinated bleach come highly recommended, as they can be used to clean water in most situations. It is important that you let the treated water set for at least 30 minutes before you drink it.

It is important that you, under no circumstances whatsoever, do not drink water that may be contaminated. Damage to your body caused by contaminated water is devastating and if you have drank any contaminated water and are afflicted with the symptoms of it, it is very unlikely that you will be able to make it to a hospital during the hurricane and death could very well result. If you receive any cuts or wounds, do not try and wash it off with faucet water. This could make the contamination’s job that much easier. You should instead wash the cut or cuts with soap and chlorine bleach treated water. This will help keep serious harm from happening.

You should at no point allow children to play in flood waters, no matter how hot it may get in your building. If there are toys that have come into contact with water that you so much as suspect as being contaminated, you should have the toys disinfected before allowing the children to play with them again. You should also board up your windows and doors with plywood, as it keeps glass from being blown into your home and causing cuts.

Saving Up Water and Other Supplies For Hurricanes

The most important thing that you need to worry about if you plan on sticking out a hurricane in your home instead of evacuating is just how much clean water you have to drink. If you live alone and there will be no one staying with you, it will be a lot easier for you to prepare to stay at home during the storm, but if you have a family that will stay with you, you will have to gather a lot more supplies. You should also have a good supply of non-perishable food (preferably foods that you do not have to cook and are ready to eat out of the package), batteries for anything you think you will need, flashlights, a hand-crank radio, and blankets.

The hand-crank radio will ensure that you have the capability to hear what is going on in the outside world during the storm, even if your electricity does go out. This will let you know what your local, state, and federal government is doing at this time.

As far as your water supply, if you have just moved to an area that is prone to hurricane damage, you should start saving up water as soon as you get moved into your new home. You can do this by re-using milk jugs after you have rinsed them out and storing them in a safe, convenient place in your home. You should keep at least one gallon for yourself and for each person you will have with you during the storm to use each day you expect the storm to last. Saving up a week’s worth of water in this way is advised and will ensure that you do not run out of water.

While the storm rages outside, do not drink water from your faucet because of the fact that it may be contaminated with anything from bacteria, sea water, and leaves to sewage and other hazardous waste. You can boil water from your faucet if you run out of the supply that you have saved, but it is much better to make sure that you have enough water put back so that you do not have to do this. Boiling water does not remove all impurities or harmful materials, especially if it has been contaminated with chemicals.

You can also buy some water purification tablets from some department and outdoor supply stores. Anyone who hikes or camps purchases these if they plan on going into an area of wilderness where clean water is not always able to be obtained.

Clean Water and Supplies During a Hurricane

Hurricanes are devastating events that occur on a yearly basis around the world and in the United States and any homeowner that has gone through this event knows that it is often a much better idea to evacuate than it is to stay behind and ride out the storm. People still insist, however, upon staying behind in their homes instead of leaving along with most of the people in the area, but if you are going to do this, you need to know exactly what you will require during the storm.

The most important thing that you need during a hurricane is a good sized supply of drinking water. The human body cannot survive very long without water, so you should make sure that you and anyone else staying with you at the time has at least one gallon of water to use for every day you plan to be there. The last thing that you want is to run out of water and then resort to drinking water from the faucet. You should never drink water out of your tap while the storm is raging outside, due to the fact that it may be contaminated with more than just rain and sea water. Sewage and the bacteria that comes with it has been known to get into water supplies during these storms, so drinking water out of your faucet is never advisable. You can boil it if you need to, but it is much safer to make sure that you have a clean supply ahead of time.

Having an electricity generator to run things with is a good idea, since you may end up needing to boil water to finish riding out the storm. If the electricity goes off (and it very well may), you can survive without it as long as you have clean water to drink, but if you run low, you may end up in trouble.

A decent supply of non-perishable food is a good thing to have, since water is not the only thing your body needs to survive. Try to have some foods that are ready to eat and do not have to be cooked or refrigerated, like granola bars, cereal, and canned food.

To keep in contact with the outside world, you should also purchase a radio that has a hand crank on it to produce electricity for the radio to work on. This will make sure that you hear what is on the radio and if anything important is happening.

You should also have a sturdy flashlight and extra batteries.