Staying Healthy During a Hurricane
Staying Healthy During a Hurricane
Here’s what I’ve gathered about staying healthy during a hurricane. Supplement what I am going to share with any documents you can get from local governments. And look at them well before the hurricane season.
Staying healthy during a hurricane requires advance preparation. Don’t wait until the last minute.
If you are told to evacuate, don’t be a macho and stay. Really, there are no points given for drowning or being crushed. I honestly don’t understand the reason why people stay and wait until the last minute to look for shelter.
In hurricane season, keep some empty plastic bottles for filling with water. Fill them and store them in your house. Consider freezing some so you have cold water. Don’t rely on store supplies. There is a huge rush for bottled water. This week I saw a video of a pile of cases of water. Within 45 seconds it was gone.
Stock on bread, peanut butter, jelly. Bread freezes well so you don’t have to wait until the last-minute to get it. Canned beans are nutritious as long as you have a way to rinse off the liquid. Nutrition bars are also good choices. Eat all of the perishable food first.
If you have a freezer, freeze ice trays or buy bags of ice – again ahead of time if possible. You can keep some food cold in a cooler until the ice melts.
Have a crank or battery-powered radio so you know what is going on. Keep flashlights in a location that is easily found in the dark.
Keep a stash of cash on hand. Credit cards rely on computers, which don’t operate without power. Cash is king.
Fill a bathtub with water that you can use to flush toilets. Or set up toilets like my mother taught me: pour some bleach into a bag and place the bag in the toilet. Lower the rim. When the power returns, double bag the waste bag and close with a twist tie and put it out in the garbage. Yucky for the garbage people but it keeps you healthy during a hurricane.
Be kind and gentle. Look for ways to help others, all of whom are equally frightened.
Our son, who lives in Southwest Florida, could not find anyone to put up his shutters after he fled from Florida last week ahead of the storm. The last day he was home, he met neighbors who had just moved in. He offered them the stock of canned food in his garage, the water in his bathtub, and the vitamins he had just bought. When they asked, “What can we do for you?” he told them about the shutters. Yesterday they put them up for him.
Turns out they are both nurses.