

Learn about hurricane hazards and what you can do to help protect yourself, your family, and your property.

The CDC site is intended to increase the nation's ability to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies.
Are you ready for the next storm?
Welcome to the Weather Underground's Hurricane Preparedness Page. Here you'll find some extremely useful information that will help you know what to do in the event of a storm-related emergency.
EMERGENCY CONTACT
AUNT LINDA IN NJ
732-555-5555
It's important that your main contact person is out of town, because local calls are more likely to be disrupted after a storm. Both ends of local connections are subject to problems.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security suggests a three-pronged approach to planning for a disaster:
It is important that you have on hand all of the basic supplies you will need to survive. You should have enough of these supplies to be able to sustain yourself for at least three days, since it may be a while before you can evacuate safely or before help can reach you. A sample emergency kit might look like this:
It is very important that your family have a plan before the storm hits. A good first step is to have an out-of-town emergency contact, as mentioned above. Another good step is to contact your local Office of Emergency Management to find out what your local emergency resources are. It could be that there's a specific rallying point for those who evacuate their homes, or that there's a local phone number to call to find out if you should evacuate. It's also important to know for yourself when you should evacuate and when you should stay where you are; you should come up with a set of conditions for each, so that the decision is much quicker and more clear when the disaster actually hits. Make sure that everyone in your family has a (or is with someone who has a) cell phone with SMS (texting) ability, because SMS can often make it through even when lines are too swamped for phone calls. Place your emergency contact as "ICE" (In Case of Emergency) in your cell phone; if you are incapacitated, emergency personnel will often look for that listing and call it. Above all, draft a family emergency plan before the storm, and make sure everyone has a copy when the storm hits.
Make sure that you have read up on all emergency procedures before the storm. Always pay attention to local weather and news reports, so that you aren't caught unawares. There are plenty of resources on the internet that you should read as soon as possible, and before a storm hits: