SEAL Survival Guide (49 page)

 Know how to turn off electricity and gas.

 Pets are not allowed in most emergency shelters, so make sure you have a plan for them.

Equipment

Be prepared for a short-term lack of power and water. Make a checklist of essentials, and each year check that emergency supplies are functioning.

ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES

• Medications for yourself and family members for at least a week.

• A good first-aid kit to treat cuts, abrasions, and other general illnesses or injuries.

• Water: Fill bathtubs and stock up on water jugs. The rule is to have at least one gallon of water per person per day. Bathtub water can be used for hygiene, and bottled water for drinking. Water-purification supplies, such as chlorine or bleach, can also make long-standing bathwater or even pool water drinkable.

• A stockpile of nonperishable foods that can be eaten without cooking.

• An emergency National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration radio, or any radio with plenty of extra batteries.

• Cell phones that are fully charged.

• Valuable documents and emergency contact numbers stored in sealable plastic bags.

• Cash. ATMs could be down and banks may be closed for some time.

• Sleeping bags ready and a well-stocked safe room.

• Ample flashlights and chemlights.

VEHICLE

 Get the car filled with gas.

 Make sure windshield wipers are new.

 Check spare tire and jacking equipment.

 Have a map showing several evacuation routes.

When to Evacuate

People are naturally reluctant to leave their homes. Hurricane paths and strengths, as mentioned, are followed and forecast well in advance. However, since the predicted path of a hurricane has a two-hundred-mile (plus or minus) margin of error, it is not certain exactly where a hurricane will make landfall, which leads many to merely hope for the best. If you do decide to leave, then make the assessment early—the rule of thumb in such scenarios is always the sooner, the better. Understand that in an evacuation there are going to be thousands of scared people all trying to flee. Traffic jams will be inevitable, and you may see the very worst in people because of the stress of the situation. Stay focused and relaxed. This is an excellent opportunity to utilize combat breathing.

FEMA offers these guidelines to help you decide when to evacuate:

• Listen to weather broadcasts and evacuate if directed by authorities to do so.

• Evacuate if you live on the coast, in a floodplain, near a river, or near an inland waterway.

• Evacuate if you live in a mobile home or temporary structure.

• Evacuate if you live in a high-rise building.

• Evacuate if you feel you are in danger.

When planning your evacuation route during the hurricane-preparation phase, know the routes firsthand. Look for what are called “blue lines” on highway maps, or less-traveled roads, and know how to circumvent likely traffic jams. Use in-car navigation systems that monitor traffic to look for alternate routes. If you live in a hurricane area, drive the route during nonemergency situations. When people flee, panic sets in, and tempers and frustrations rise. The obvious route may not be the best one. Get to the highest ground you can and away from the coast and other waterways.

Make sure you have an out-of-town emergency point of contact that anyone in your family can call in case you are separated.

Holding Your Position

If you were unable to evacuate and are going to have to stay put, set up base in an interior room on a lower floor, preferably without windows
or external walls. In a two-story house, consider what heavy furniture is located in the room above. You can further bunker in by positioning yourself under a heavy table and using mattresses and blankets to block the open sides.

Caught Outside

If you find yourself threatened by a hurricane when you are outside, you should abandon your vehicle if you’re in one, and find shelter immediately. If no structure is available, lie flat on the ground, seek out a ditch, or hunker down behind a rock outcropping. Change to the other side of the rock formation after the eye passes, as the wind will then be blowing in the opposite direction. Look above and stay away from poles or trees that could be uprooted. Your greatest danger is being struck by flying debris, so stay as low to the ground as possible. Use the low or slightly raised crawling technique, making your way from cover to cover until you find suitable shelter. Once there, try to find something you can use to offer additional cover or cushioning from blowing debris.

It’s Not Over Yet

If all goes quiet, don’t assume the hurricane is gone. You may be in the eye of the storm, which makes for a deceptive and eerie calm. But depending on the size of the storm system, this sudden reprieve may last only a few minutes before the violent winds return, blowing from the opposite direction. In a 2004 Florida hurricane, a woman went out during the false calm to search for her lost cat and was killed by a flying water heater when the winds picked up. When the winds finally do subside, a “scene size-up” is required. The landscape will have changed. One totally avoidable cause of death that occurs after a hurricane is downed power lines, often submerged in puddles. Do not walk through standing water.

Tornado Survival

More deaths occur each year from tornadoes than from hurricanes. Tornadoes form rapidly, and the warning time is considerably shorter. Home preparation is the same as for hurricanes, but often there will be insufficient time to fortify windows.

• A designated safe room is the best option. Choose one in a basement, far from exterior windows and doors. Also, pick a place that does not have heavy furniture on the floor above.

• If living in a tornado-prone area, have a battery-operated National Weather Service radio. The radio will issue warnings when tornadoes are in your area. These extra minutes of warning are often a matter of life and death.

• Practice and rehearse with your family what to do in the event of a tornado, including how to move to your safe room in the event of a power failure.

• If outdoors, seek low areas, such as a ditch or gully, and lie flat.

• If you are in a vehicle, get out of it if you see low areas nearby and take refuge there. If nothing is in sight, stay inside the car and keep your seat belt snug, hunker down in the seat, and brace your hands on the steering wheel.