NEWSROOM
Don’t
find yourself saying ‘I wish I had…’ if storm
strikes
May
19, 2008
Neglecting
to make basic preparations could be a decision you heartily regret
if a major storm or hurricane comes your way.
That’s
a message LSU AgCenter experts are stressing as this year’s
hurricane season approaches.
“Many
of the areas most vulnerable to hurricanes were hammered so hard
in Katrina and Rita that some people could find it easy to say,
‘What good would a flashlight and a few cans of tuna have
done?’” said Pat Skinner, disaster recovery and mitigation
specialist with the LSU AgCenter. “But looking at it that
way really isn’t a good approach.”
As this year’s
hurricane season approaches, Skinner is encouraging Louisiana
residents to prepare to survive our more typical hurricane season,
where you might be stuck in your home, or on the road, for a few
days – not weeks or months.
“It
just feels bad when you find yourself saying, ‘I wish I
had…’ after a disaster strikes,” Skinner said.
“The way to avoid that feeling is to be prepared!”
For most Louisiana
hurricanes, here are some things the experts say you may want
to make sure you do as part of your preparations:
- Put a flashlight
in the car.
- Buy some
extra batteries.
- Fill some
containers with water.
- Keep nonperishable
food in the house at all time – or, in other words, make
sure you “don’t eat the last three cans of tuna”
without quickly replacing them.
- Make sure
there is a working battery-operated radio around!
“Most
of us know these precautions,” Skinner said. “We’ve
seen the emergency supplies lists. But we still manage to get
caught short sometimes.”
Stocking up
for a storm is even more difficult now, according to Skinner,
who points out that tighter credit and soaring gas prices limit
the available funds for buying supplies.
“But
the sense of failure that comes with not having what we need at
the time of a storm just compounds the problems,” she said.
“So try stashing one or two preparedness items a week over
the next few weeks, and before too long you’ll have what
you need.”
Accumulating
some of that stash may be a little easier this month, since Louisiana
residents can buy certain hurricane preparedness items free of
some sales taxes on May 24-25. During the two-day “sales
tax holiday,” the first $1,500 in purchases of certain supplies
will be exempt from state sale tax. Visit the Louisiana Department
of Revenue’s Web site at www.revenue.louisiana.gov
for more details.
Skinner also
points out there’s much more to preparing your home for
a power outage or other problems brought on by a storm than having
flashlights, radios, batteries and food and water.
The LSU AgCenter
specialist says you can find helpful information on such topics
as making emergency preparations or what to do in case of an evacuation,
formulating your family’s disaster plans, keeping track
of your family, caring for pets, helping children prepare for
a storm, safeguarding your home and property and much more in
the Hurricanes section of the LSU AgCenter’s Web site at
www.lsuagcenter.com/hurricanes.
Among the
resources is “There’s a Hurricane Forming,”
a helpful publication that includes a hurricane-tracking chart
and checklists to help you make last-minute decisions about what
to take with you if you evacuate, supplies you need to have on
hand, preparations you can make if a storm is approaching and
much more.
Hurricane-resistant
home construction also is featured in a special LSUAgCenter Web
section you can reach by going to www.lsuagcenter.com/homebuilding.
(Look at information in the Safer, Stronger, Smarter section,
as well as useful links in other sections.)
For more information
on preparing for a disaster or recovering from one, contact your
parish LSU AgCenter office.
<<
Back to 2008 News Page
