Hurricane Safety

Hur­ri­canes are a destruc­tive nat­ur­al phe­nom­e­non that occurs about 40 to 50 times world­wide each year. Hur­ri­cane sea­son takes place in the Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of Mex­i­co, and Cen­tral Pacif­ic from June 1 to Novem­ber 30.

Hur­ri­cane dam­age results from three pri­ma­ry caus­es:

Storm Surge: Approx­i­mate­ly 90% of all hur­ri­cane deaths can be attrib­uted to the storm surge, the dome of water cre­at­ed by the low-pres­sure cen­ter of a hur­ri­cane. This storm surge quick­ly floods low-lying coastal areas with any­where from 3 feet for a cat­e­go­ry one storm to over 19 feet for a cat­e­go­ry five storm.

Wind Dam­age: The strong, at least 74 mph winds of a hur­ri­cane can cause wide­spread destruc­tion far inland of coastal areas, destroy­ing homes, build­ings and infra­struc­ture.

Fresh­wa­ter Flood­ing: Hur­ri­canes are huge trop­i­cal storms and dump many inch­es of rain over a wide­spread area in a short peri­od of time. This water can engorge rivers and streams, caus­ing hur­ri­cane-induced flood­ing.

What We Do to Help

Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive con­tin­u­al­ly mon­i­tors weath­er con­di­tions and pre­pares in advance when inclement weath­er is fore­cast. We sug­gest you fol­low these tips to stay safe dur­ing a hur­ri­cane:

• Iden­ti­fy where you could go if you are told to evac­u­ate. Choose sev­er­al places — a friend’s home in anoth­er town, a motel, or a shel­ter.
• Write down instruc­tions on how to turn off elec­tric­i­ty, gas, and water if author­i­ties advise you to do so. (You’ll need a pro­fes­sion­al to turn nat­ur­al gas ser­vice back on.)
• To pre­vent dam­age to win­dows from high winds, install hur­ri­cane shut­ters or pur­chase pre-cut out­door ply­wood boards. Install anchors for the ply­wood and pre-drill holes in the ply­wood so it can be installed quick­ly.
• Make trees more wind resis­tant by remov­ing dis­eased and dam­aged limbs, then strate­gi­cal­ly remov­ing branch­es so wind can blow through.
• Secure out­door fur­ni­ture, dec­o­ra­tions or orna­ments, trash cans, hang­ing plants, and any­thing else the wind can pick up.
• If you are not advised to evac­u­ate, stay indoors, away from win­dows.
• Be aware that the calm “eye” is decep­tive; the storm is not over. The worst part of the storm will hap­pen once the eye pass­es over and the winds blow from the oppo­site direc­tion. Trees, shrubs, build­ings, and oth­er objects dam­aged by the first winds can be bro­ken or destroyed by the sec­ond winds.
• Be alert for tor­na­does. Tor­na­does can hap­pen dur­ing a hur­ri­cane and after it pass­es over. Remain indoors, in the cen­ter of your home, in a clos­et or bath­room with­out win­dows.
• Stay away from flood waters. If you come upon a flood­ed road, turn around and go anoth­er way. If you are caught on a flood­ed road and waters are ris­ing rapid­ly around you, get out of the car and climb to high­er ground.

Hurricane WATCH vs. Hurricane WARNING

A WATCH means hur­ri­cane con­di­tions are pos­si­ble in the spec­i­fied area of the watch, usu­al­ly with­in 36 hours.

A WARNING means hur­ri­cane con­di­tions are expect­ed in the spec­i­fied area of the warn­ing, usu­al­ly with­in 24 hours.

Be pre­pared with an Emer­gency Sup­ply Kit as many ser­vices may not be avail­able dur­ing or after the storm.