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Hurricane Preparedness for Children
In a hurricane, it’s important to have food and water stored, to have an emergencyevacuation plan, or to have a grab-n-go kit. But all of these steps contribute to oneoverarching goal: keeping one and one’s family safe. And the most important part of this isprotecting the children, who otherwise might not be able to cope with a disaster bythemselves.Preparing kids for disaster is one of the most important things to do in order to be fullyready for any emergency. Because no matter how many supplies there are, or how muchpeople understand about their local emergency procedures, if their children don’t know whatto do during these storms, all of their preparation isn’t going to help them.Kids are a unique part of hurricane preparedness: just like adults, they must be informedand trained in order to be ready, but parents also have to balance this knowledge with age-appropriate material, since children are often easily frightened. Too much information, andkids could become terrified of these disasters; too little, and they won’t be preparedenough.In order to make this work, parents must discuss hurricanes and what they are capable of doing, but do so in a friendly, easy-to-understand way. A great deal of the fear that childrenoften feel comes from not understanding the what could happen and how they could dealwith; when children are informed they feel prepared and will be more likely to make wisechoices in any disaster.In order to talk to kids about hurricanes, adults must first be informed themselves. If peoplelive in a danger zone, they need to find out how likely it is that a hurricane will strike, andthey too need to find out what the appropriate response to this disaster is; they should alsoread up on what emergency evacuation plans and alarms are already in place. Talking to alocal police or fire department will provide people with this information.Pass this information onto kids, and then involve them in any emergency preparednessplans that the family makes. When kids are involved in the planning, they are more likely toremember the steps in an actual storm. Kids should also be told how to dial emergencynumbers--and how to use them responsibly! They should be able to recognize smokedetectors, alarms, and any danger signals of an emergency; not to mention knowing what ahurricane watch and warning are. Everyone in the family should know the number of anout-of-state contact so they can communicate with one another even if communicationswithin their area are down and they are separated.Another important aspect of preparing children is to give them precise steps and directions.Vague commands like, “Even if the storm stops, be careful,” probably won’t benefit childrenin an actual disaster. But saying something like, “Even if the storm stops, don‘t go outsidebecause it‘s only the eye of the storm. Wait until a grownup tells you it‘s okay to leave,” ismuch more likely to succeed.After kids have had at least basic emergency training, the next step is to get anemergencykit.Although evacuation during hurricanes gets a lot of hype, it is often safer to remain athome. If an emergency official tells someone to evacuate, they should not stay at home.But if there’s only a storm watch initiated in their area, people can often cause moreproblems by attempting to evacuate, since they clog the highways and they were never inany real danger. These kits can help families who remain at home wait out the storm incomfort--and without going to a shelter for food, water, or other necessities. They bebought pre-made or can be assembled with individual items. They can also mean thedifference between struggling to survive and having as easy a time as possible during anemergency. The list of supplies that these should contain is extensive, but each item is veryimportant.First, emergency kits should contain at least 72-hours’ worth of foodandwater. The food storage should be nonperishable and should be low in sodium and high in calories. Thingslikefood barsor other carbs are great ideas for efficient food in an emergency. And try
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