50% Chance Of A Major Hurricane Hitting Florida—Is Your Family Prepared?




July 23, 2013

According to forecasters, there’s a roughly 50% chance a major hurricane (Category 3 or higher) could hit Florida or the East Coast this hurricane season.

Is your Southwest Florida family ready for any oncoming storms?

We’ve pulled together some helpful online resources that will help you outlast the storm and keep your family safe.

Red Cross Hurricane Safety Checklist

This resource gives you a simple checklist you can print out and carry with you as you’re preparing for hurricanes. It contains info about:

  • The difference between hurricane watch and hurricane warning
  • What to do before a hurricane
  • Supplies you should gather
  • What to do after a hurricane

Here’s the checklist.
One of the items not on the list, but we find important nonetheless, is a backup generator that will keep electricity going in your home during a power outage.
Check out the pros and cons of portable vs. standby generators.

Food and water advice from Ready.gov

While the previous checklist does give some advice on food and water, there’s not much explanation on what kinds of foods you should get or how you should manage your water.
Ready.gov offers great tips on food during disasters including:

  • Suggested food emergency supplies
  • Food safety and sanitation
  • Managing food without power

It also offer tips on using water during disaster including:

  • How to manage your water so that it lasts during the storm
  • Safe sources of water for when you run out of bottled water
  • How to treat water for safe drinking

Follow this link for food tips during the hurricane.
Follow this link for tips on water management.

Location of storm shelters in Southwest Florida

If you need to evacuate, be sure you know of a shelter that’s closest to you ahead of time.
Here’s a map of shelters in the Southwest Florida area. The map is interactive so that you can use Google maps to find directions from your home to the nearest shelter.

Stay safe, friends!

From everyone here at Cool Today, we hope you and your family stay safe this hurricane season. Remember, it’s not a matter of whether the storms will come, it’s a matter of when--so be prepared!

Need a backup generator for your home? Contact us today.

Cool Today provides award-winning air conditioning service to Sarasota, Florida and the surrounding cities and counties.

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