The intensity and effects of hurricane vary from one storm to another. That is the reason why everyone needs to be prepared for any imminent arrival of hurricane in one’s community. Therefore, you should always have your hurricane kit on standby. Nothing beats being prepared for what may happen during hurricane season. As an elderly, there are lots of essential items that you must prepare but here are the 10 must-haves for your hurricane preparedness kit.
Drinking Water or Beverages
This is perhaps one of the most important things you need to have in your hurricane kit. You need to keep your body hydrated so clean water or beverages with electrolytes is a must-have.
Healthy Ready-to-Eat Food
It is essential for you to have food reach in B vitamins, but low in sodium to keep you from suffering nutritional deficiencies. It is also necessary to note that the food you will include in your hurricane kit must already be ready to eat and will not spoil easily.
Comfortable Clothes
You may need to evacuate to a safer shelter. Therefore, you must pack extra clothes and shoes that will make you comfortable. You will need these for the coming days.
Warmers
Hurricanes usually bring cold weather. It is important that you have items that will keep you warm such as blankets, bonnets, socks and mittens.
Communication Devices
You need gadgets such as your phone to get and give updates to your family members. It may come in handy for you to check the weather status.
First Aid Kit
This will come in handy to treat minor boo-boos that you may encounter in the midst of the hurricane. This includes bandages, wound solutions, antiseptic, cotton, gauze bandage, and alcohol, among others.
Medical Essentials
Of course, you must not forget to prepare your prescription medicines. Aside from that, you must also have a copy of your prescriptions on hand. Alert tags or bracelets with your medical information are necessary to inform others of your healthcare needs.
Contact List
A written or printed copy of your family’s and close friends’ contact information may come in handy just in case the charge of your phone’s battery gets drained.
Important Documents
You wouldn’t want your important documents to be immersed in water in case flood happens so keep them in a safe waterproof place. It is also important to have photocopies of these important records.
Signaling Devices
Nothing beats preparing for the worst. Just in case electricity gets cut-off, you must have a battery or solar-operated flashlight in your hurricane kit. Aside from that, a whistle may also come in handy if you need to call for help. A small mirror that can be used to reflect light may be very useful to call attention of the rescue team.
There are 10 category of items you must include in your hurricane kit. It may seem overwhelming and may be too much but you can always ask someone to assist you in preparing them. You may also try fitting them in a bag that you can easily carry when there is a need to evacuate.
