Create an Emergency Plan as Hurricane Season Starts

Whether you are prepared or unprepared for a disaster, the beginning of hurricane season is a reminder for all of us to have a disaster plan and disaster kit or to refresh and restock your disaster plans and kits.

Don’t have a disaster plan or emergency kit? Help is available online. Resources on how to plan for a disaster are available at the FEMA ready.gov website and the Be Red Cross ready section of the American Red Cross website redcross.org.

It’s especially important that older Americans and caregivers of older adults have a disaster plan and have emergency supplies on hand before a disaster. The American Red Cross has emergency preparedness information for older adults at https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/older-adults.html

If you’re a caregiver with a loved one in a nursing home or care home, find out what their disaster plan is and what help might be needed if they must evacuate the home or if electricity is out for an extended period.

Caregivers need to build a team because one person cannot do it alone in a disaster and its aftermath. What if you are not home when a disaster strikes? Are there neighbors or friends who live close by who can check on them? Those who care for loved ones with dementia will need help keeping their loved one calm and watching them to make sure they don’t wander away. Label a loved one’s clothes with your contact information so if they do get lost, responders will know where they belong. The Alzheimer’s Association has additional tips for caregivers to prepare for disaster at https://www.alz.org/help-support/caregiving/safety/in-a-disaster.

Do you know where you will shelter in a storm or other emergency? Maybe a relative or friend has a home that’s been hardened to survive a hurricane and has emergency supplies. Will there be room to shelter there? Make a plan and find out in advance.

The University of Hawai`i Sea Grant program has created a guide for Hawai`i homeowners on how to prepare for emergencies and harden your home for a hurricane at https://seagrant.soest.hawaii.edu/homeowners-handbook-to-prepare-for-natural-hazards/  and the UH School of Ocean Science and Technology has a Hazard and Hurricane Preparedness website at https://seagrant.soest.hawaii.edu/hazard-and-hurricane-preparedness/ Sea Grant’s Dennis Hwang recently hosted a webinar and answered questions on video recently. Watch here: https://fb.watch/kUNC5u6gIe/

If you become separated from your loved ones, do you have a place to meet in the aftermath of a disaster where you can reunite or at least leave a message? A communications plan is part of disaster planning.

Community leaders, elected officials and volunteers can help neighborhoods organize and prepare for a disaster and for survival after a disaster. AARP, working with FEMA, has created a guide to help community leaders organize and better prepare and protect older residents in a disaster. The guide is available at https://www.aarp.org/livable-communities/tool-kits-resources/info-2022/aarp-disaster-resilience-tool-kit.html.

Everyone needs to do their part in planning to protect yourself and your loved ones and in checking on and helping neighbors, friends and relatives who may need help in an emergency.

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