Be Prepared

The 2008 hurricane season starts just a little more than one week from today, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is urging everyone in those hurricane prone areas to be prepared and to have a hurricane plan. Thanks to stringent building codes and an increasing number of jurisdictions that have adopted them, the windows in homes and buildings in those areas are becoming safer, too.

And just what is the NOAA saying we can expect this year? A near normal or above normal hurricane season in the Atlantic basin. Near normal? Above normal? If you’re like me, reading that left you saying, “Huh?” So here’s what it means. The NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center Outlook indicates we can expect a 60 to 70 percent chance of 12 to 16 named storms, including 6 to 9 hurricanes and 2 to 5 major storms. And just in case you need a bit more clarification, a tropical system is named when it reaches tropical storm strength—winds of at least 39 miles per hour. Tropical storms become hurricanes at 74 miles per hour and major hurricanes when the winds hit 111 miles per hour.

With all of this in mind, what do you do to prepare for a storm? There’s a lot at stake and a lot to consider. So getting ready for a storm can be as simple as having cash on hand. For the “Steering Through the Storm” article in the July 2007 USGlass (http://www.usglassmag.com/USGlass/usgtoc/2007/July2007.htm) Norman Foxworth, owner of Dependable GlassWorks Inc. in Covington, La., talked to us about how his company survived Hurricane Katrina and some of the lessons he learned.

“You should start [preparing] at least two weeks before you know a storm is coming. You should check your supplies and check your generators and make sure you have the gasoline on hand to operate them,” Foxworth said. He also said employers should have enough cash on hand to take care of purchasing supplies, paying employees and buying gas, as after major storms, ATM machines are often shut down and a lot of gas stations might not be able to take a credit cards or personal/business checks. “The only thing that talks after a hurricane is cash,” Foxworth said.

By the way, next week is Hurricane Preparedness Week. The National Hurricane Center also offers advice for preparing for hurricanes, which you can read more about by clicking here: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/disaster_prevention.shtml.
Let us know how you’re preparing for the 2008 hurricane season by posting your comments.