At Home
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Disaster Kit
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Disaster
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Natural Disaster Emergencies
See also:
Preparing your home for natural emergencies
Earthquakes
- Have your building evaluated by a professional structural design engineer.
Ask about home repair and strengthening tips for exterior features such
as porches, front and back decks, sliding glass
doors, canopies, carports and garage doors.
- Check to see if your house is bolted to its foundation.
- Bolt down or reinforce water heaters and other gas appliances. Use
flexible connection whenever possible.
- Place large and heavy objects on lower shelves and securely fasten
shelves to walls.
- Store breakable items such as glass jars, china, in low closed cabinets
with latches.
- Hang heavy items such as pictures and mirrors aways from beds, couches
or anywhere people sit.
- Anchor overhead lighting fixtures to the ceiling.
- Repair defective electrical wiring and leaky gas connections.
- Repair deep plaster cracks in ceilings and foundations and make sure
they are not indications of structural damage.
- Install flexible pipe fittings to avoid gas or water leaks.
- Store pesticides and flammable products securely on bottome shelves
in cabinets with latched doors.
- Follow local seismic building standards and safe land use codes that
regulate land use along lines.
- Purchase earthquake insurance.
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Extreme Heat
- Make sure your home is properly insulated. This will help to conserve
electricity and reduce your home's power demands for air conditioning.
- During a drought, conserve water by placing a brick, or another large
solid object, in your toilet tank to reduce the amount of water used
in flushing.
- If you are a farmer, consider developing alternative water sources.
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Floods and Flash Floods
- Avoid building in a flood plain unless you elevate and reinforce your home.
- Construct barriers such as levees, bems and floodwalls to stop floodwater
from entering the building.
- Seal walls in basement with waterproofing compounds to avoid seepage
through cracks in the walls.
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Hurricanes
- Install permanent shutters on your windows.
- Install protection to the outside areas of sliding glass doors.
- Elevate coastal homes.
- Strengthen garage doors.
- Strengthen unreinforced masonry.
- Trim back dead or weak branches from trees.
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Landslides and Mudflows
- Consult a professional geotechnical expert for opinions and advice
on landslide problems and on corrective measures you can take.
- Plant ground cover on slopes and build retaining walls.
- In mudflow areas, build channels or deflection walls to direct the
flow around buildings.
- Install flexible pipe fittings to avoid gas or water leaks.
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Thunderstorms and Lightning
- Install lightning rods. Lightning rods will carry the electrical charge
of lightning bolts safely to the ground, greatly reducing the chance
of a lightning-induced fire.
- Insure crops against financial loss from storm damage.
- Trim back dead or weak branches from trees.
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Tornadoes
- Tornadoes can create wind and rain-driven impact similar to that of
hurricanes. So, many of the effects of hurricanes such as installing
shutters and strengthening masonry can also minimize the effects of
tornadoes.
- Check local building codes and ordinances for safety requirements,
such as the use of wind-resistant designs.
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Tsunamis
- Avoid building or living in buildings within several hundred feet
of the coastline.
- If you must live in a coastal building, ask your insurance agent about
the flood insurance.
- Elevate coast homes. Review the mitigation activities under the section
titled "hurricanes."
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Wildland Fires
- Obtain local building codes and weed abatement by-laws for structures
built near wooded areas.
- Use fire-resistant materials when building, renovating or retro-fitting
structures.
- Create a safety zone of "fire break" to separate the home
from combustible plants and vegetation. Stone walls can act as heat
shields and deflect flames.
- Install a spark arrestor on your chimney and keep your chimney clean.
- Clean roof surfaces and gutter regularly.
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Winter Storms
- Purchase flood insurance to cover possible flood damage that may occur
during the spring thaw.
- Install storm windows or cover windows with plastic from the inside.
For More Information
For more information about current mitigation procedures, contact your
local emergency management office or building office.
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