Thank you for listening to the City of Plantation's Podcast. In this episode, Cary and I discuss how to best prepare for a Hurricane. This Podcast is aimed at keeping the residents of Plantation informed of events and important information happening throughout our city. Please subscribe to this podcast, as we will be producing new episodes regularly.
Hosts: Cary Blanchard / Ezra Lubow
Music: Courtesy of Epidemic Sounds
Art: City of Plantation
Thank you for listening to the City of Plantation's Podcast. In this episode, Cary and I discuss how to best prepare for a Hurricane. This Podcast is aimed at keeping the residents of Plantation informed of events and important information happening throughout our city. Please subscribe to this podcast, as we will be producing new episodes regularly.
Hosts: Cary Blanchard / Ezra Lubow
Music: Courtesy of Epidemic Sounds
Art: City of Plantation
Welcome to the city of plantation podcast, hosted by the plantation fire department. I'm Carrie Blanchard, battalion chief of public affairs,
Speaker 2:And I'm Ezra Lebo, EMS chief.
Speaker 1:Thank you for tuning into our podcast. It is designed to keep you informed of current events and steps you can take to stay safe. Included in our episodes are the leaders and decision makers that make plantation so great
Speaker 2:On this episode of the city of plantation podcast, Carrie and I wanted to speak to our listeners about hurricane season. So Carrie, tell us about the hurricane season and what that entails.
Speaker 1:Alright, well, hurricane season begins on June 1st and goes through November 30th, but of course, as most people know, it can start activity in the tropics can start sooner and it can go later. But on the most part, that's when the chances are pretty good, that activity is going to happen and it is going to happen, whether we're affected significantly. That depends on the storms. It's hard to tell, but there's a lot of things that we can do to plan in advance, to be prepared for them.
Speaker 2:Right. And we're gonna really dive deep into that. I think one of the questions we get are one of the, the topics that comes up is what's the difference between a hurricane watch and a hurricane warning, which comes first. And, and how do we define those?
Speaker 1:So a hurricane watch is when sustained winds of 74 miles per hour are possible within a specified area. A hurricane watch is issued 48 hours in advance of the anticipated onset of tropical storm force winds in an area hurricane warnings indicate that the hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the specified area. This means they're expected. Not that it's possible, right? The hurricane warning is issued 36 hours in advance of the anticipated onset of tropical storm force winds to allow for important preparation.
Speaker 2:Okay, good. So we always talk about making a plan and this is where I want to take a, a deep dive into that. What are the components that the majority us of us should be thinking about when we're making or developing our plan?
Speaker 1:Okay. Well, I, I looked up some information on cdc.gov, so anybody can get this it's about hurricane preparedness. Some things that you can do in advance, you wanna stock up on your emergency supplies. This is for your home and for your car, write down emergency phone numbers and keep them near you, program them into your cell phone. Just makes everything a little easier, put it on your refrigerator and make sure that everyone knows where the phone numbers are at,
Speaker 2:Right
Speaker 1:Fire extinguishers. It's important to have a fire extinguisher and for everybody in the family to know where it's at and how to use it properly.
Speaker 2:Right? And that's just not related to hurricanes. I mean, it's good to have it. And it gives you a, a period of time when you can focus on it. But that's an important safety piece of safety equipment to have, regardless.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. But let's talk about hurricane planning. You know, sometimes you forget about things like that until these things come up,
Speaker 2:Right?
Speaker 1:Shelters, you wanna look up shelters in your area. If you might need to evacuate your home, especially if you have animals, uh, pets, aren't welcome at all shelters. So you wanna take that into consideration. You wanna know, make sure that everyone in your family knows the warning sirens in your area and what to do. If they go off, have a family plan where to meet, how to get in touch with each other, cuz sometimes the normal avenues of communication will be disrupted. Right? You wanna gather your personal products by personal products, your first aid kit, battery, battery powered radios, your flashlights, extra batteries, sleeping bags, or extra blankets and things like that.
Speaker 2:Right?
Speaker 1:Definitely food. I know that the rule of thumb used to be, to have three days worth of food. I think that in historically now I think that rule of thumb is changing to about seven days worth of food because help might not be coming as quickly as you'd expect it to. That also depends on the severity of the storm,
Speaker 2:Right? Those are the fundamentals for making our plan. And uh, we covered the safety and personal care products that maybe you want to think about as part of that plan. We also want to talk just briefly about emergency food. Are there any considerations of what type of emergency food we should be preparing for? Any, any guidelines, any tips we can give our listeners?
Speaker 1:Definitely. You, you want canned foods like things that are non-perishable. Um, these things will last longer. First of all, or get you if nothing ever happens, it'll get you through the whole storm season considerations. Like you might not have power, so you need things that aren't refrigerated. You definitely wanna have water. I think we've discussed water, but definitely have water. Uh, a gallon of wa water per person per day. Like I said, used to be for three days, I would suggest at least seven days. And you also wanna take into consideration your pets because animals need the water too.
Speaker 2:And you brought up a good point earlier when you were talking about the non-perishables and the canned foods. I think when you lose power, not only do you lose refrigeration, but you lose your ability to utilize your stove, unless you have gas powered, but some gas powered require electricity. So it's also important when you're picking your food, that it can be food that can be made on a grill or an open fire. And then, you know, we want to talk about the fact that be careful starting open fires outside of a fire pit or a grill. Think about placement, all the regular safety precautions with cooking outside still apply. But it's important to think about having food. And I, I think the other thing that you had mentioned was make sure that you have pet food, right? Think about your pets needs. So if you need to have pet food, maybe order an extra bag or an extra couple bags, depending on the amount of pets you have. And I wanna dive in from a medical perspective, right? Since we may be in a situation where we're rationing water, we have a large family, we've got plenty of water, but we kind of have to ration it a little bit is stay away from foods that, that are very salty that make you want to drink a lot. A lot of water, definitely. Um, not suggesting going Forland food. We are in south Florida and it's all about, you know, food with, uh, Piza, but for emergency food, try and stay with the more blender foods that are low in sugar content are low in salt content, sorry. Yes. For water. What's the guideline for the amount of water we should be storing.
Speaker 1:It's the rule of thumb, like I said, is one gallon of water per day per person. And you need to include your animals in that I would say seven days would be more practical. Okay. Because I know that you were used to the, the, uh, pods or the county or the state coming in and supplying water and ice, but that might not happen. They may not be able to get to you. So you definitely wanna protect your, yourself and your family, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean the, the three day supply recommendation is a minimum and realistically I think we can all achieve that very easily. And then some, and it's especially easy. If you pick up five gallon jugs, which can be filled up at any Publix in the water dispensers that they have, there there's a fee for it, but it's not that expensive. And those can store for a pretty good amount of time. One of the things to consider is if you're storing those for a long term, there are commercially available products that you can put into the water to keep a condition. So it doesn't grow algae or, uh, anything like that. And then also think about having water stored in plastic containers for long periods of time in the hot sun. Mm-hmm,<affirmative> sometimes the, uh, chemicals in that plastic. Sometimes not all containers, but sometimes it can leech into the water and you know, that's a consideration. A lot of people have.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I was gonna mention that most of us store this stuff in the garage, cuz it's too much to, you know, we're not gonna consume it every day. Like our regular food, this is emergency supplies. So you store it in the garage. So you might wanna like alternate, you know, like change'em out with the stuff that you actually consume so that you still have the supply, but they're not sitting for an extended period of
Speaker 2:Time. Yeah, definitely, definitely. So what do we need to think about, uh, when it comes to getting our family ready? Right? What do we need to think about there,
Speaker 1:First of all, protecting your house and you want shutters, Orly, water, whatever it means you use to protect your home. You wanna do that as early as possible because a lot of people get injured with, uh, tropical stone force winds while they're trying to put up shutters. So if you put up the shutters or the plywood or whatever you use early, you are protected against that. So that I would suggest that a second thing is insurance, have your insurance documents for hurricanes or
Speaker 2:Any catastrophic laws,
Speaker 1:Any CATA, uh, floods or anything like that. You definitely wanna have the actual policy and you might wanna take pictures of your stuff. If you photograph your stuff, it's just digital. You can even keep'em on your cell phone, right? And you're, they're always readily available because no one knows what's gonna happen. Hopefully it's nothing. But if it's something catastrophic, you have the stuff with you
Speaker 2:And, and you're ready to go. I mean, not preparedness is the bottom line and the insurance companies de depending on the scenario, the insurance companies are out in the neighborhoods in a relatively short amount of time after, uh, the storm passes and conditions are safe, engaging homeowners. So mm-hmm,<affirmative> having these documents readily available will just help you in getting your, your claims processed and get you the assistance that you need. So,
Speaker 1:Absolutely another consideration is if you have like elderly people or little infants, pregnant people, any special needs, you wanna make sure that you address that if you need extra baby formula should all be part of your food plan, but you definitely wanna take these things into consideration because you might not be able to get that stuff later. Um, medicine, a seven day supply of medicine, an anticipation of a storm is also a really good idea, right? Um, even if you're like running low, if you call a pharmacy, they will always provide it for you, but you definitely wanna have that cuz right. That's not red gonna be readily available either.
Speaker 2:Right? Yeah. And that, that brings us to another topic, which is any type of medical devices. A lot of people use C a P some individuals use nebulizers because they take mm-hmm<affirmative>, uh, respiratory treatments or medication. Uh, and then any other electrically powered medical device, uh, we really want to think about having battery backups or having access to a generator or having some type of backup plan in the event that you lose electricity. You're still able to utilize your medical equipment. So something to think about and plan for, and you know,
Speaker 1:And like I was mentioning medicine, but like even oxygen, you might wanna make sure an anticipation for a storm that you have extras because right. They may not be able to deliver if you need that they may not be able to deliver to you. Right. So you wanna consider that.
Speaker 2:And that's, you know, that's a another good thought because uh, every big storm that we've had, we, we typically get residents that come to the fire station and ask us to give them oxygen or ask us to, uh, provide them with battery packs for their specific, which is not things that we as a fire department have, uh, to give out. And there are some legal implications with that. So you can't rely on, on the fire department to provide that stuff. Obviously we're here to help and we're here to help in any capacity we can, but there are some limitations to what we can actually provide our residents with when it comes to specific medical equipment. So definitely something to consider mm-hmm<affirmative> all right. We talked a little bit about shutters, but what else can we do to prepare our home for the storm? Like what are some, some of the tips that we're, that, that we want our residents to think about?
Speaker 1:Um, you definitely wanna try to secure loose outdoor items, you know, chairs, plants, you know, not the really big plants, but like potted plants. You want to move them inside or somewhere where they won't become a missile breakthrough windows of the cars and stuff like that. Damage, things like that. You'd wanna trim your trees. Um, when there's like Palm fronts that are dangling, those become missiles. Again, projectiles that can damage property do more damage than the storm does. Um, you wanna secure your doors and your windows we've already discussed the shutters, right? But you wanna close them, believe them close. A lot of people have the, when the storm is passing through the eye of the storm and they wanna open everything up. And that's actually a very dangerous time because it's the calm before the storm. That's when things go bad, people lose sight of the fact that, okay, we've been trapped in this house for so long. They wanna get out, right. They get cabin fever. So they start doing things like that. And that's what you need to avoid,
Speaker 2:Right? The way to look at this is when a storm comes through and it finds an opening into your house, it creates a pressure inside of your house. Mm-hmm<affirmative>, and that's ultimately can cause very significant damage to your house, to your roof, to, you know, structural support components of your home. So we don't wanna allow any openings when, when the winds are coming through, we talked about the missile hazards and, and that comes to, uh, to the grills and things like that. Mm-hmm<affirmative> so we need to secure those inside, whether it be in the garage or even in the house, uh, depending on what you have. But then when you're going to utilize those items, please make sure you bring them back outside mm-hmm<affirmative> and, and utilize them in a safe fashion as you would any other time, especially generators and, and anything that can put off, uh, co gas, right? Carbon monoxide. Mm-hmm<affirmative> we do have, uh, frequent calls when big storms come through for people that are running generators or even gas grills, gas lanterns, things like that in our house. And there is a possibility that you expose yourself to carbon monoxide with those items. And that can be a relatively serious medical condition. So please exercise caution with that equipment.
Speaker 1:I am gonna also add in here, this is a good time to pick up a carbon Monoi detector at like home Depot or lows, whatever your home improvement store is, because it's a silent killer. You don't know it's there carbon monoxide. You can't smell it. You can't see it. You can't, you don't know it's happening until it happens. Right. So I would strongly recommend to anybody, especially if you're running a generator, but gas grills or anything like that, like you had, uh, said get a carbon monoxide detector. That's they're they will save your life
Speaker 2:Cancer in expensive insurance. Yes. I mean, very inexpensive, relatively easy to Mount. You can always get a, get ahold of your local fire department, and we can give you some pointers as far as mounting options and things like that. We won't come out to your house and do it for you, but we will certainly explain to you, uh, the best practice for doing so. Very good. The other thing I want to talk about is, and, and we don't think about this too often is think about preparing your car for the storm. You see, like the day before a hurricane or two days before a hurricane gas lines are insane, and maybe you don't have the ability to fill your car up with gas until that timeframe. But it's always a good idea during hurricane season to never allow your gas tank to get below a half a tank. And I know that's difficult for, you know, some people's schedules and all that, but during this season, it's good to keep a minimum of a half a tank. And then as soon as you, as soon as reports are coming out, that more than likely we're gonna have a storm ensure that you're filling your tank up. That's gonna give you the opportunity to rapidly evacuate. If you need to mm-hmm<affirmative> and not have to worry about running outta gas. It's also not a bad idea to create a small little emergency kit that you keep in your car. In the event, you're trying to evacuate and there's traffic and not a lot of movement. Florida's a pretty narrow state. We have a finite amount of roads to move in and out, and there's a good possibility that there are backups and that you're in your car for a little while. So it's not a bad idea to have a kit that has food, water, some emergency supplies in there to sustain you. If that occurs. The other thing too, is if you can move your car indoors. So us, our garage is, uh, a hobby locker. Mm-hmm,<affirmative> more than a garage to store vehicles, but if you have the ability to put your vehicles in the garage, it's much safer inside the garage and less likely that they'll be damaged. So making that emergency carpet, and again, cdc.gov under the hurricane section has a bunch of checklists and resources for everyone to look at you. You can print out premade checklists that you can utilize for yourself. You can do it in digital forms. So it's a very good resource to, to find some information, all right, closing out. I think one of the topics that, that come up is, do I evacuate or do I stay at home? Wanted to cover that a little bit? What guidance can we provide people for them to make the decision on whether or not they should evacuate or stay at home?
Speaker 1:I believe it's a personal decision. There are people that will never leave their home. It doesn't matter what the situation is, whether they're in peril or not, they're not going to leave their home, but these are things that should be considered in advance. Right? I think people that live in low lying areas, people whose houses aren't hard in, like they don't have plywood, they don't have shutters. They haven't done anything like that. Or the house is in disrepair. I believe that those people should consider people that live in mobile homes or modular homes should definitely consider evacuating. Right. But there's also considerations with this, you know, if they have pets and if they have specific needs, if there's too many family members, they have to worry about that. They don't wanna leave. So, right. It's a very personal decision, but there are factors that people should consider when making that decision.
Speaker 2:Right. And I think in the city of plantation, so we do not have any mandatory evacuation zones in the city of plantation. We're inland enough that, uh, that doesn't occur. But for our neighbors to the east, uh, along the beaches, there certainly are some mandatory evacuation zones where those individuals are asked to evacuate and whether they stay in a shelter or not, at the end of the day, this needs to be something that you've decided before the storm. It shouldn't be something that you're driving yourself, uh, with anxiety, because you're trying to make that decision. So whatever's best for you make that decision early, determine what shelter you're going to, if that shelter has registration requirements or anything like that, make sure that you engage that and you do that beforehand. And that just goes down. That just comes down to making your plan and sticking with it. So, all right. Anything else to add?
Speaker 1:Well, I just wanted to touch on two things that I feel, first of all, cash cash, if you can able, are able to pull cash out of an ATM or go to the bank and get cash. This is a really good time to do it because there may not be power. You may not be able to use a credit card and things like that. So having some cash on hand will alleviate that problem. If you need to purchase something. And another thing is we're implantation neighbors, helping neighbors check on your neighbors. Um, especially like people with special needs, elderly people that might need help putting up shutters, chat with them beforehand. You might be able to help them. Sometimes it's difficult to do in the middle of a storm. So if you can check on them in advance and definitely check on them after the storm,
Speaker 2:Right. And I know this was our closer, but you made me think of one more thing that we didn't mention. That's monumentally important, especially from my perspective is if you need to put up shutters and it's wood planks or accordion shutters, or any type of shutters, please know your limitations, ask for help. Don't attempt to, uh, shutter your second story by yourself on two ladders that you've rigged together. Think about safety. Think about what your limitations are and reach out for help. If you needed to apply your shutters, we get dozens of injuries related to putting up shutters because people get into a hurry. They have unreasonable expectations of what they can do physically, and we always seem to have injuries. So just be safe and, and think ahead about that. Definitely. So I think that's all we have for you today. I'd like to tell you just, uh, stay safe and be well,
Speaker 1:Stay safe. You've been listening to the city of plantation podcast. We strive to bring your accurate and timely information. Please continue to tune into our podcast episodes and also catch up with us on social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and nextdoor. If you have questions, send them to ask cityHall@plantation.org and we will answer your questions directly. Thank you for taking the time to listen to our podcast and stay safe, everyone.