Tag Archive for: USGS Water on the Go

Special Steps to Take for Hurricane Preparation During COVID Pandemic

On top of normal disaster preparation advice, FEMA and the CDC have released special instructions this year for hurricane preparation during the COVID pandemic.

Harvey Evacuation by Julie Yandell
Harvey Evacuation by Julie Yandell

First, Cover All the Basics

Most of the basic advice remains the same. For instance:

See more CDC advice at this link.

Second, Protect Your Family from COVID During an Evacuation

This year, there are also some new twists because of COVID.

  • Find out if your local public shelter is open, in case you need to evacuate. Your shelter location may be different due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • In your go-kit, include items that can help protect you and others from COVID-19, such as hand sanitizer, or bar or liquid soap if not available, and two cloth face coverings for each person. Face covers should not be used by children under the age of 2. They also should not be used by people having trouble breathing, or who are unconscious, incapacitated, or unable to remove the mask without assistance.
  • Practice social distancing. Stay at least 6 feet (about 2 arms’ length) from other people outside of your household.
  • Follow CDC COVID-19 preventive actions—wash your hands often, cover coughs and sneezes, and follow shelter policies for wearing cloth face coverings. Avoid sharing food and drink with anyone if possible.
  • Follow disaster shelter policies and procedures designed to protect everyone in the shelter, particularly older adults (65 and older) and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions. These people are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
  • Avoid touching high-touch surfaces, such as handrails, as much as possible. If not possible, wash hands or use hand sanitizers containing 60% alcohol immediately after you touch these surfaces.
  • Keep your living area clean and disinfect frequently-touched items such as toys, cellphones, and other electronics.
  • If you feel sick when you arrive at the shelter or start to feel sick while sheltering, tell shelter staff immediately.

Special Advice for Children

To help your children stay healthy in a shelter:

  • Teach and reinforce everyday preventive actions for keeping children healthy.
  • Make sure children aged 2 and older wear cloth face coverings. Face covers should not be used by children under the age of 2. They also should not be used by people having trouble breathing, or who are unconscious, incapacitated, or unable to remove the mask without assistance.
  • Be a good role model—if you wash your hands often, your children are more likely to do the same.
  • Watch your children to ensure they stay at least 6 feet away from anyone who is not in your household.
  • Watch your child for any signs of illness and tell shelter staff if your child may be ill.
  • Try to deal with the disaster calmly and confidently, as this can provide the best support for your childrenHelp children cope with emergencies.

Improve Your Situational Awareness

For monitoring upstream flooding levels, I find these two sites extremely helpful.

USGS Water on the Go – Includes information from almost every gage in the country. Especially useful if traveling. The app finds your location and automatically links to the gages nearest you.

Harris County Flood Warning System – Includes gages from Harris and surrounding counties, inundation mapping, customized alerts, historical flood levels, and more. Very powerful.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/13/2020 with photo by Julie Yandell of her Harvey evacuations

988 Days after Hurricane Harvey