East Carolina University: HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS

Press release from East Carolina University:

Natalie Sayewich

2021-08-26

In eastern North Carolina, where hurricanes and tropical events are common in the late summer and early fall, it’s crucial to understand how to prepare for their potential impacts.

Not only can tropical events cause injuries and deaths from falling trees, dangerous winds and floodwaters, they can also cause outages to important resources such as electricity and limit access to essential places like grocery stores and health care facilities.

We asked disaster preparedness, nutrition and medical experts from the ECU Division of Health Sciences how they recommend preparing for hurricanes, what they include in their own hurricane preparedness kits and what they recommend for you to keep in yours.

Chief Medical Officer, ECU Physicians
Clinical Associate Professor, Brody School of Medicine

“Patients with chronic medical conditions should prepare for potential hurricane impacts by having at least one week of medication supplies on hand as well as extra oxygen tanks and other essential supplies. It’s important to have a communication plan in place with your family. Typically, outpatient clinics will be temporarily closed for routine health care during the event and immediate clean-up efforts.”

Foltz said ECU’s preparedness page links to www.ready.org which provides tips for senior citizens.

“It is most important to make a plan (need for shelter, communication plan with family) and to make a kit with essentials like water and food, at least one week of medication supplies and extra oxygen tanks,” he added.

When the power goes out, a charcoal or gas grill can come in handy for cooking, but never use a charcoal grill inside your home or garage, Wind added.

“It is a fire and smoke hazard,” she said. “Both gas and charcoal grills can be used outside once the weather permits.”

This press release was produced by East Carolina University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.