NHC Issuing Advisories On T.S. Irma

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With the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane season not quite half-over, the National Hurricane Center began issuing advisories at 11am AST this morning on rapidly moving Tropical Storm Irma, far out in the Atlantic. This storm is at least 7 to 10 days away from impacting any land, and its future course and intensity are far from certain. 

Irma is the 10th named storm of the season, and we are now just coming up to the peak of hurricane season. 

The storm is expected to move westward for the next several days, and them make a slightly unusual turn towards the south-west.  After that, models are highly speculative, although some put the storm off the eastern seaboard late next week.

As Harvey showed, storms can brew quickly this time of year, and so Irma may not be the only tropical threat we may have to deal with in the next couple of weeks. 

Hurricane Season Peaks in Mid-September

 

With all of this in mind, I would once again urge all 50 million Americans who live along the Gulf and Atlantic coastlines - and even those well inland - to review their hurricane preparedness plans, and supplies.

While living in a Hurricane zone requires extra planning, no matter where you live or work, you need to think about potential threats and how you will deal with them should one emerge. If you haven’t already downloaded the updated Tropical Cyclone Preparedness Guide, and visited NOAA's Weather-Ready Nation Hurricane Preparedness Week 2017 web page, now would be an excellent time to do so.

Even if you don't live in `hurricane country', you may have to deal with blizzards, wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods . . . even terrorist attacks, or a pandemic.  Which is why all next month this blog will participate in National Preparedness Month.

So - before disaster strikes -  you need to ask yourself: If a disaster struck your region today, and the power went out, stores closed their doors, and water stopped flowing from your kitchen tap for the next 7 to 14  days . . . do you have:

• An emergency plan, including meeting places, emergency out-of-state contact numbers, and in case you must evacuate, a bug-out bag?
• A battery operated NWS Emergency Radio to find out what was going on, and to get vital instructions from emergency officials?
• A decent first-aid kit, so that you can treat injuries?
• Enough non-perishable food and water on hand to feed and hydrate your family (including pets) for the duration?
• A way to provide light (and in cold climates, heat) for your family without electricity? And a way to cook? And to do this safely?
• A small supply of cash to use in case credit/debit machines are not working?
• Spare supply of essential prescription medicines that you or your family may need?

If your answer is `no’, you have some work to do. A good place to get started is by visiting Ready.gov.

Beyond having the basic skills and supplies for you and your family, I would strongly urge that you cultivate a network of `disaster buddies ’ (see In An Emergency, Who Has Your Back?) among your friends, relatives, co-workers, and neighbors.

While being prepared doesn't guarantee a good outcome for you and your family, it certainly improves your odds. To become better prepared as an individual, family, business owner, or community, I would invite you to visit the following preparedness sites.

FEMA http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm
READY.GOV http://www.ready.gov/
AMERICAN RED CROSS http://www.redcross.org/