If the hurricane is close to your area, you should:
• Listen to a battery operated radio or television constantly to find out what official instructions are.
• Verify your emergency supplies.
• Fuel your car.
• If you are in a mobile home, evacuate immediately.
• Avoid elevators.
• Stay indoors, away from windows, skylights and glass doors.
• Keep an extra supply of batteries and flashlight handy. Avoid open flames, such as candles and kerosene lamps, as a lighting source.
• If the power supply is interrupted, shut off the main domestic appliances to reduce voltage variations when power is reestablished.
• Remove all objects from the outdoors, such as garden furniture, toys and gardening tools and secure every object you are not able to carry inside.
• Secure buildings by closing and boarding up the windows. Remove external antennas.
• Set the refrigerator and freezer at the highest temperature. Open them only when absolutely necessary and close them quickly.
• Store drinking water in the bath tub, bottles and clean containers.
• Place any valuable objects and personal documents in an impermeable container at the highest level at your home.
• Go through your evacuation plan.
• Moor your boats firmly or move them to a designated safe place. Use ropes or chains to secure the boats to the trailer. Use ties to fix the trailer to the ground or house.
After the Storm
• Tune into local radio stations to hear information.
• Help injured or trapped people.
• Provide first aid when appropriate.
• Do not move seriously injured people unless they are in immediate danger of suffering further injury. Seek help.
• Return home only after authorities inform there is no danger.
• Avoid loose or hanging power lines and report them immediately to the Power Company, police or fire department.
• Enter your home cautiously. Beware of snakes, insects and animals driven to higher ground by flood waters.
• Open windows and doors to ventilate and dry your home.
• Check refrigerated food to verify if they are spoiled.
• Document damages, in the house itself as well as its content, for insurance claim purposes.
• Drive only if absolutely necessary; avoid flooded roads and destroyed bridges.
• Use the telephone only for emergency calls.
• UTILITY INSPECTION IN A DAMAGED HOME
o Check for gas leaks – If you perceive a gas odor or ringing noise, open a window and leave the building promptly. Shut off the gas at the main valve if possible and call the gas company from a neighbor’s house. If the gas is shut off for any reason, only a professional can restore it.
o Check for damage in the electrical system – If you see sparks or torn or bare wires, or if you perceive a burnt insulation odor, shut off the electricity from the fuse box or main circuit switch. If you must step on water to reach the fuse box or circuit switch, call an electrician to instruct you how to do it.
o Verify damage in water and sewage piping – If you suspect that sewage piping may be damaged, avoid using the toilets and call a plumber. If water pipes are damaged, get in touch with the water supplying company and avoid running water. You can get drinking water by melting ice cubes.
• Four areas where weak spots should be verified: the roof, the windows, doors and if applicable, the garage door. Most homeowners can adopt measures to reduce their home’s vulnerability to strong wind.
Damage caused by Hurricanes
Dangers of a Hurricane: Winds
When assessing structural resistance, coastal communities must consider the strength of hurricane winds and the pressure they generate.
As the winds increase, pressure exerted on objects is multiplied at a disproportionate rate. Pressure exerted on a wall increases to the square of the wind speed, therefore, a triple increase in wind speed equals a pressure increase times nine. Thus, a 25mph wind causes approximately 1.6 pounds of pressure per square feet. A four by eight wooden board will be pushed by a 50 pound force. In 75 mph, this strength is transformed into 450 pounds, and in 125 mph, it can reach 1,250 pounds.
In the case of some structures, this force can be enough to cause failure. These winds weaken after landfall, due to energy loss of the ocean’s hot water and the encountering of great friction on land.
Dangers of a Hurricane: Flooding and Heavy Rain
Intense rain and ocean water driven inland by strong winds may cause floods over 50 cm (20 in) in a 24 hour period. Water systems in many cities are not able to handle such water increase due to gentle topography in many coastal areas with hurricane incidence. Hurricanes are able to produce copious amounts of precipitation which lead to flash floods. When a hurricane hits land, it commonly produces from 10 to 15 inches of precipitation or more.
If the storm is large and slow moving (less than 10 mph), it is very likely that the precipitation amounts of a well organized storm are even more excessive. To obtain a generic calculation of the expected precipitation amount (in inches), divide the storm’s forward movement by 100, i.e. Advancing Speed/100 = estimated rainfall inches. Calculation applied to rainfall and floods: Tropical storm Claudette (1979), produced 45 inches of rainfall in an area close to Alvin, Texas, which caused over $600 million in material damage.
The most intense rainfall is usually along the coastline, but sometimes there is a secondary maximum inland. These intense rains are usually produced slightly to the right of the path of the cyclone and, most times, within the 6 hours prior and 6 hours after landfall.
The amount of precipitation depends on the magnitude of the cyclone, the advancing speed of the cyclone and whether it interacts with a cold front. Interaction with a cold front causes more tornados, as well as more rainfall.
