Share your links and tips for preparing your home and business before tropical weather hits.

http://www.floridadisaster.org


http://www.co.walton.fl.us/default.asp?id=64
What should you do NOW to prepare for future hurricanes?

• Prepare your home and yard for future hurricanes
• Have a hurricane plan and make sure it is understood by all household members
• Prepare a hurricane kit (see suggested list)
• Start an evacuation kit (see suggestions)
• Know what to do with your pets should you have to evacuate
• Know the radio and TV stations in your area that will broadcast emergency information
• Remember there is a good possibility you will have to fend for yourself for at least 3 to 4 days before outside help is available. Utility services - such as water, electricity, gas, telephone and TV - will most likely not be available for an extended period.

Is Your Home ready for a hurricane?

• Have protection available for your windows and doors
• Roof should be in good condition
• Remove dead limbs from trees
• Know what items in your yard should be brought in or tied down when a hurricane threatens. (Lawn furniture, garbage cans & racks, grills, flower pots, etc.)
• Know how to turn off your utilities (gas, water, electricity)

Hurricane Plan

• Decide when you should prepare your home for an impending hurricane. Give yourself plenty of time to do what’s required (i.e. start when a hurricane enters the Gulf)
• Have a trigger point which initiates evacuation (at least 24 hours before predicted hurricane land fall)
• Know the safest place to go in your home to weather the storm if you can not evacuate.
• Have a telephone number, outside the area, that each member of your family knows to call should they be separated
• Designate a secure place in your home for a Hurricane Kit
• Know the telephone number of the Emergency Operations Center to report any emergency information
• Know your evacuation routes
• Know the location of emergency evacuation centers in your area
• Make evacuation plans for your pets
• Prepare a list for a kit to take with you should you have to evacuate
• Make sure everyone in your home knows the hurricane/disaster plan
• Keep a checklist of actions you should initiate when a hurricane threatens (check your hurricane and evacuation kits, keep your auto gas tank filled, make sure you have maps for surrounding counties and states in your car)
• Have a Hurricane Tracking Chart

Click here to visit the State of Florida SERT webpage and learn how to build a family or business disaster plan.
Hurricane Kit - Suggestions

First Aid kit
Battery powered radio
Battery powered flashlights
Extra batteries for radio, flashlights, cell phones, etc.
Canned or packaged foods that require no refrigeration or heating
Water in plastic containers to last at least three or four days (1 gallon per person per day)
Manual can opener
Tools for temporary damage repair (i.e.hammer, pliers, adjustable wrench, crow bar, plastic sheeting, tarps, assorted nails, saws for cutting tree limbs and wood)
Blankets
All you need to sustain your family for at least 3 to 4 days
Candles and water proof matches forafter the storm
View or print our hurricane brochure

Highway 331 Bridge closes once sustained winds hit 40mph. When bridge is closed, there is no means of leaving south Walton County. Neighboring Bay and Okaloosa counties also close their bridges and Phillips Inlet and the Desin East Pass.

Shelters do open and locations are announced depending on the nature of the storm and regional impact. Call Citizens Hotline, when activated, for shelter information.

Citizens Hotline during storms: 892-8392, 892-8394. Activated only during a hurricane and designed for residents to call and ask questions to Walton officials monitoring the storm and keeping up with county government preparations and emergency operations.

If a hurricane is likely in your area, you should:

• Listen to the radio or TV for information.
• Secure your home, close storm shutters, and secure outdoor objects or bring them indoors.
• Turn off utilities if instructed to do so. Otherwise, turn the refrigerator thermostat to its coldest setting and keep its doors closed.
• Turn off propane tanks.· Avoid using the phone, except for serious emergencies.
• Moor your boat if time permits.
• Ensure a supply of water for sanitary purposes such as cleaning and flushing toilets. Fill the bathtub and other large containers with water.
  

You should evacuate under the following conditions:

• If you are directed by local authorities to do so. Be sure to follow their instructions.
• If you live in a mobile home or temporary structure—such shelters are particularly hazardous during hurricanes no matter how well fastened to the ground.
• If you live in a high-rise building—hurricane winds are stronger at higher elevations.
• If you live on the coast, on a floodplain, near a river, or on an inland waterway.
• If you feel you are in danger.
  

If you are unable to evacuate, go to your safe room. If you do not have one, follow these guidelines:

• Stay indoors during the hurricane and away from windows and glass doors.
• Close all interior doors—secure and brace external doors.
• Keep curtains and blinds closed. Do not be fooled if there is a lull; it could be the eye of the storm - winds will pick up again.
• Take refuge in a small interior room, closet, or hallway on the lowest level.
• Lie on the floor under a table or another sturdy object.
  

www.floridadisaster.org/DEMcom.asp This is a link to Florida's Department of Emergency Response and it is filled with great information, including every kind of disaster preparedness. Remember, that we are not affected by only hurricanes, and that everyone should have a preparedness kit year round, not just during hurricane season. This link provides information, updated daily, noting all reports involving Emergency Response from Bomb Threats to Tornado Warnings.

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If, as a business, you have critical personell and/or vendors that will be required to help you recover, you need to write them a letter on business letterhead. This will be needed for them to go into a closed area, such as south Walton. At least this is what I was told by Emergency Management a couple of years ago.

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http://www.floridadisaster.org/citiz...gency_info.htm Great additional info, on before, during, and after a disaster. Good links on the site.

I'm attaching a two-page 2008 Extreme Weather Information Sheet which is distributed via NOAA. Not all of the information copied, since it is laminated, but it also includes the NOAA Weather Radio channels and Traffic Information Contacts.

If you want your own, color, laminated copy for yourself, they are available at the public libraries in Walton County, and if they are out, ask the librarian if they can get some more. I'm keeping one in my house and one in my car, just in case. I grabbed a few extras and plan to hand them out to people who are interested, so if you see me around, just ask for one.

Attached Files

important emergency contacts.pdf (229.2 KB, 4 views)

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wrobert, that is a good idea, but I'm not sure if it will get you back into SoWal while it is still closed. The last thing the EOC wants is more people to have to rescue, so my guess is that unless you are trained in rescue, or are working with the power or water companies, you won't be allowed back in, until it is open to the general public.

If you go through the CERT training, you are issued an Emergency Response badge, which will allow you access to go back in and assist with rescue, but without an official badge, you probably won't get in. If you are interested in taking the CERT program (Community Emergency Response Team), contact Ophelia at the EOC (Emergency Response Center) in Defuniak Springs. She is the CERT coordinator for Walton County.

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And once we are open to the public to return you must show proof of residence - Driver's License with ID, tax bill, etc.

Give the local authorities time to remove debris from roads before returning.
Make sure the area is open for reentry call (850) 892- 8392 or (850) 892-8394
Things to consider:

You’ll need proof you are a resident, out of-state homeowner, or renter (i.e. driver’s license showing address, tax bill, rental agreement, or voter registration card). Law enforcement personnel may also restrict the entry to locally damaged areas.
Bring extra water and food.
Listen to Emergency Stations

Well first they are not going to let anyone into the area until it is safe. Then it will be restricted to residents, property owners, business owners. The time I am speaking of is recovery, after the area is safe, but before it is cleared for the general public. I do not see them allowing people to just go into the area to solicit business or look around in the beginning, but I also do not see them preventing the business community from utilizing vendors that are part of their disaster recovery plans. At least that was the thinking after Opal. My information came from the EOC when I was preparing recovery plans for some clients in the area and we were trying to figure out how myself and staff would be able to get access to implement these plans. Currently I update the letters at the beginning of each Hurricane season.

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Found this link for plans to build hurricane shutters.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio.../rightNavHowTo

This is one from NOAA

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/shutters/index2.html

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Here's the EOC's evacuation map. Rental companies and owners may find this useful.

Attached Files

EvacuationRoutes-WaltonCounty.pdf (70.9 KB, 10 views)

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Interesting. During Opal they turned Walton County people back at the Bay and Okaloosa County lines if memory serves me correctly.

I was in Bay County when Elena was getting ready to come ashore there and barely made it into Walton County.

Course all of this is a long time ago and since they have managed to get this evacuation stuff fixed I am sure you can go just about anywhere in the final hours as everyone leaves.

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Remember, New Orleans was closed for almost a month after Katrina. They would only allow emergency personel in without permission of the commander of the National Guard. A medical license would get you in, as would the type of letter wrobert suggests, especially if the business is a critical one. Otherwise, there are few exceptions -- our neighbors had to charter an ambulance to go in and get their cats out after the storm.

I would recommend another thing for businesses -- have a internet social group set up online and give the password to everyone along with the phone number where you will be. The 850 area code may not work at all on cell phones, and email addresses may even be useless for a while, but if everyone knows to log in at a certain place, they can go to any library and begin to coordinate a return to work.

I bought a magicjack, which works is VOIP. Cost all of $40 with shipping. No additional charges after that. You get to select the area code of your choice. It works even when you are not connected to the internet, so if your cell goes down, if you can find a land line that works, you are easily able to call into your magicjack and retrieve messages. I've been using it and it has worked great for me. It is also usable on any computer by installing the jack into your computer, hook up a phone and your in business. If phones are down, but cable is up, it would be a useful tool. You can call nationwide including Canada.

http://www.magicjack.com

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Also empty out your fridge/freezer and take out the trash before leaving town. It takes 5 minutes and saves you a whole lotta nasty in case of a power outage etc.

I have a cooler that rides shotgun when I flee. The frozen foods are my "ice", the fresh foods are my car snacks or that night's dinner, and the only thing I leave in the fridge are condiments and baking soda.

As far as email access etc. forward your email to an account you can access from anywhere - like gmail or hotmail.

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The enemy is ignorance.

National Weather Center- National Hurricane Center
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

American Red Cross -Hurricane Safety and Preparation Manual
http://www.redcross.org/services/prepare/0,1082,0_253_,00.html

This probably sounds stupid but if the 331 bridge is closed does this mean there is no other way out of South Walton? The Bay and Okaloosa county lines are checkpoints that deny you access to their roads in an evacuation? I know the 331 bridge is the main route but surely you will not be denied access to alternative routes?

You can get trapped. We are on an island and bridges to the east and west also close. Much easier to get out of SoWal when we are not in the summer rental season but you don't want to wait too late.