Disaster Recovery News

Image from the National Hurricane Center

“LARGE HURRICANE EARL CONTINUES RELENTLESSLY TOWARD THE NORTHWEST…POSES A THREAT TO THE MID ATLANTIC COAST…” This statement tops the National Hurricane Center’s section on Hurricane Earl, the latest tropical storm to hit the U.S. Hurricane Earl is expected to make landfall on the East Coast within the next 48 hours, promoting thousands of residents and tourists in the coastal areas North Carolina and the surrounding states, such as Virginia, to evacuate.

MSNBC reports:

“Earl’s effect on the East Coast will depend on when it makes its expected turn to the northeast.

“A later-than-expected turn could mean the storm’s eye makes landfall on the extreme eastern tip of North Carolina as a Category 3 storm late Thursday or early Friday.

“If that happens, hurricane-force winds also could reach New York’s Long Island and Cape Cod in Massachusetts.”

The National Hurricane Center recommends you take the following actions when a hurricane is predicted for your area:

BEFORE a Hurricane:

• Put your emergency disaster kit together. Make sure they are in one location in your home.
• Prepare an emergency plan for your business.
• Write out your emergency disaster plan. Discuss the plan with your family, nominate an out-of-town family contact, and decide on an evacuation area and meet-up spot should you get separated.

During a Hurricane WATCH:

• Double-check your emergency disaster kit. Replenish anything in it that may be low, such as water, medications and batteries for flashlights and radios.
• Take protective and preventative measures that may take extra time. Such measures may include filling your car with gas, securing your boat or boarding up the windows of your home or place of business.

During a Hurricane WARNING:

• Have your emergency disaster kit ready to grab and go.
• Put your emergency disaster plan into action. Decide on the safest location to wait-out the hurricane.
• Evacuate if told by officials to do so.

Learn more about preparing for a hurricane.

What to do after a hurricane.

Image from the National Hurricane Center

A look at the weather map shows three storms swirling in the Atlantic Ocean today: Danielle, Earl and the latest, Fiona. Danielle, once just a tropical storm, is now a category 4 hurricane—the first major one of the season. Hurricane Danielle is reported to have 135 mph winds and a path that leads it east of Bermuda at the moment. Tropical Storm Earl only has 45 mph winds, but MSNBC reports its path looks a little more problematic and is worth watching closely. Tropical Storm Fiona just developed off the east coast of Africa and few details are known about it right now.

Prepare Your Home against Hurricane Water Damage

With storms starting late in the hurricane season, home and business owners need to keep back-to-school preparations and hurricane preparations in the back of their minds. A common misconception about hurricanes is that their winds cause the most damage. However, the truth is that water is a hurricane’s most damaging factor. Two-inches of water flooding a home can cost up to $8,000 in repairs.

‘Tis the season for hurricanes, and it’s up to you to be prepared:

• Talk to your insurance agent about flood insurance.
• Know the most vulnerable places in your building or home. Find cracks and seal them ASAP, even if the weather forecast is nice. Make sure you focus on cracks around windows and doors since those can make a little bit of water turn into a big problem.
• Have sandbags ready. Even if you are not technically in a flood zone, it’s always smart to place sandbags in the areas under the doors of your home and business when the weather is nasty.
• Place important items and items you do not want getting wet on the second story of a business or home. If you have heavy furniture, raise it onto cinderblocks.
• Cover your belongings with a plastic tarp; your electronic equipment will thank you. Though a room may not flood, there is always the potential for a leak in the roof.
• Call a professional ASPAP if there is any water damage after a storm. The longer water damaged items and wet documents sit around, the more damage they will experience. Additionally, bacteria and mold thrive in and on wet or damp items, which could put your family’s health at risk.

It only takes a couple hours of work to protect your belongings from water damage and save you thousands of dollars. Make an emergency preparedness checklist today.

Learn more about preparing for hurricanes.

Image from FEMA

With fears of impending large-scale natural disasters, top climate scientists from the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), UK Met Office and US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will meet in Boulder, Colorado during the week for the first full session of ACE, the Attribution of Climate-related Events. The meeting is not a brainstorming session to try to prevent catastrophic events. Rather, My Fox Atlanta reports the professionals will put their heads together in an attempt to create a warning system to help predict meteorological disasters.

With the recent deadly flood in Pakistan, Moscow heat waves, Atlantic Ocean storms and severe winter weather, which some are saying is a result of “global weirding,” are trepidations about more frequent and deadlier natural disasters. The goal is to create a reliable warning system that would have the ability to identify the location and indicate the severity of future extreme weather events in a timely manner and, thus, save thousands of lives.

Peter Stott, head of climate monitoring at the UK Met Office, told “The Guardian”:

“These are the sorts of things we need to understand. We need to be able to forecast events weeks or months ahead of their occurrence so people can mitigate their worst impacts. We also need to consider the longer-term context and see if we need to build better sea defenses at a particular location and assess how high dykes or walls need to be. Certainly, one thing is clear: there is no time to waste. The effects of global warming are already upon us.”

While severe weather is an important concern for many, you do not need to be a scientist to plan for it. You can prepare your home and business for the unthinkable today by creating an emergency preparedness plan that includes steps to get you back on your feet and dry wet documents.

Learn more about disaster preparedness.

Image by Erik Charlton

An unusually cooler summer in the Pacific Northwest has given firefighting crews some relief this year. Oil-rich pine trees along with grasses and brush in dry, hot summer heat are the perfect fuel for wildfires, which have engulfed several thousands of acres during the past summer seasons.

According to news station KGW, the peak of wildfire season is July 1 through August 20. This year, however, the cold, wet June weather pushed the wildfire season back three weeks. The cooler weather has kept grasses and brush greener, so even multiple lightening strikes are not producing large-scale fires. So far, for example, only two wildfires have affected the state of Oregon this summer.

While this news is can help residents put their fears aside, they should not relax when it comes to taking wildfire precautionary measures. After all, there are still several weeks remaining in the wildfire season.

Take the following steps to help protect your home and business for a wildfire:

• Remove all pine needles that have fallen on the ground around a building. Additionally, do not lay pine needles down as a form of mulch or a decorative landscape element. Pine needles, even dry ones, contain oil in them that can easily ignite.
• Clear the area around a building of any dry brush, and move flammable vegetation at least 30 feet away from a building.
• If you like the look of vegetation around a building, consider planting succulents. These easy-to-manage plants are rich in color and moisture—even during dry, hot weather—and can help act as a fire barrier.
• Keep all combustible materials, such as gas tanks and flammable chemicals, away from a building.
• Keep your landscape well manicured. Well-watered lawns and trimmed hedges are harder for fires to penetrate.
• Read more tips about protecting your home and business from wildfires.

Learn how to prepare your home or business for fire damage.

[photo: Some rights reserved by Erik Charlton]

Photo from Massachusetts Dept. of Environmental Protection

Fears of the Birdland levee are all too present in the minds of Des Moines, Iowa residents who live near Saylorville Lake and the Des Moines River Valley. It was only two years ago that the levees broke and flooded the neighborhood.

Forecasts Call for Rain

As forecasters predict rainy weather, residents who live around Saylorville Lake prepare their homes and property for the worst. The “Des Moines Register” reports “engineers fret that weakened levees could slough off into the river as water levels drop, which could bring their block another catastrophic flood.”

Preparing for a Flood

Despite the anger residents may feel at the federal and city government for not having built a stronger levee, they must keep looking forward and prepare for what may come. With the news of the potential levee breach, residents prepared their homes by learning from their past mistakes and considering expert advice. This advice included the following:

• Place all valuables on the second story of your home or in a safe location that is not in the path of the potential flood.
• Secure items that have the potential to float away, such as gas tanks.
• Know your local evacuation routes and the location of the nearest emergency shelters.
• Be protected with not only homeowner’s or renter’s insurance, but with flood insurance as well.
• Plan to recover. Keep the contact information for your insurance agency and policy numbers handy. In addition, have the contact information for a professional restoration company with you so they can help you remove the floodwaters from your home, which can quickly cause damaging mold growth if left untreated.

Learn more about preparing for a flood.