(Bloomberg) -- Hurricane. Cyclone. Typhoon. Three different words that describe one terrifying phenomenon — rapidly rotating storms with powerful winds that can exceed 157 mph (252 km/h) and ocean surges that can send water rising more than 30 feet (9 meters). These storms are among the most harmful natural hazards, and they’re becoming more severe due to global warming.
As Tropical Storm Ernesto moves over Puerto Rico early Wednesday morning, bringing heavy rain and strong winds to the island, the Caribbean and parts of the US are still trying to recover from the disastrous storm season so far.
Already this summer Hurricane Beryl, a powerful storm that made landfall in Grenada as a Category 4, destroyed nearly every building on the Grenadian Island of Carriacou, flooded parts of Venezuela, and ripped through power lines in Texas. In Houston, Beryl knocked out power to millions of residents, some for more than a week. In total, the storm caused billions of dollars of damage and claimed dozens of lives.
Last week Hurricane Debby brought rain and catastrophic flooding across the southeastern US even as the storm was downgraded from a hurricane to tropical storm. The storm’s speed — or lack of it — was linked to its devastation, and research suggests similar events could become more common. Climate change is slowing down the speed at which tropical storms move over land. And storms forming in a warmer climate hold more water, meaning they can cause incredible flooding.
The Atlantic still hasn’t entered its usually busiest period for hurricanes — late August to early September — and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has already predicted this will be a highly active season. All of this is coming at a time when disaster relief agencies are stretched thin — making individual and community readiness more important than ever.
What can you do to prepare? Here are practical tips on how to keep safe and protect your home, family and community.
Get in the right mindset
Only 50% of households actually believe that they can prepare for a disaster according to the 2023 National Household Survey by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But research shows that belief in your ability to prepare — an idea called self-efficacy — can be critical to taking those first steps.
“The idea is that positive perceptions of one’s ability to act can actually increase the chances of successfully performing those activities,” said Smitha Rao an assistant professor in the college of social work at The Ohio State University. Self-efficacy doesn’t just impact motivation, but also helps you assess the barriers you might face in reaching your goal. “A person can examine their social context and realities and assess one’s capacity to act, which can be useful in disaster contexts,” said Rao.
Take good care of your home
“A sturdy and well built roof even on an old house becomes a real hedge against serious damages, because water isn’t intruding into the home,” said Art delaCruz, the CEO of Team Rubicon, a disaster response NGO founded in the wake of the 2010 Haitian Earthquake. The next time your roof is up for repair or replacement consider installing hurricane straps or clips, which are designed to strengthen the roof's connection to the rest of the house, even if they’re not required by code. Additionally, make sure in the lead up to a storm to shutter windows with plywood (taping windows is not recommended), and removing debris around your home.
Buy flood insurance
Ninety-five million people — almost 30% of the US population — live in coastal zones and yet nationwide “only one in 10 homeowners have flood insurance,” said Richard Folkman, a vice president at the insurance company Crawford and Company who oversees flood and carrier practice.
Normal property insurance does not typically cover floods (whether that’s from a hurricane, or a water main break that floods your block). Homeowners in high-risk flood zones with government-backed mortgages are often required to purchase flood insurance as a condition of their borrowing, but more than 40% of National Flood Insurance Program claims come from outside high-risk flood zones.
Without insurance homeowners may have to take out second or third mortgages to finance repairs. Yet the cost of flood insurance outside high-risk zones can be quite modest — “like less than what you would spend on Starbucks for a year,” said Folkman.
Renters should also consider purchasing flood insurance to protect their household items.
Flood insurance is administered through FEMA and providers can be found here: https://www.floodsmart.gov/flood-insurance-provide
Get your documents in order
Assemble key documents like birth certificates, social security cards, vehicle and home titles and consider storing them in a waterproof, fireproof document safe.
Similarly, “document the current condition of your home,” said Folkman. “Go around the house and take photos from different angles in each room to make sure you get the entire room, and it gets all the personal property that’s in there.” This will make it easier to document the financial value of your losses.
If you want to be more detailed you can use an app like Encircle, which allows you to not only take pictures of items, but also to attach photos of receipts documenting the cost, and crucially for large appliances like stoves and refrigerators — serial numbers which FEMA requires. People often wait until disaster strikes to collect that information, but the items might be snapped up first by scavengers looking for scrap metal, said Folkman.
“That happens a lot, and it’s unfortunate, because if we don’t have the information, we can’t pay for it,” he said.
Documenting your possessions is an ongoing process, one that should be repeated periodically and especially after making a large purchase. Folkman does not recommend taking videos because insurance agents often can’t attach them to a claim file. Uncertain which documents to secure? FEMA has a list.
Make a plan
While we’re often told to make a plan, disaster experts actually suggest we make two: an emergency plan and a communications plan. The communications plan details how you will receive and send emergency notifications and alerts to people in your circle. You should keep up with the latest forecast for a hurricane’s track and intensity — as it can shift quickly.
The emergency plan lays out how you will protect your home and helps you assess when it makes sense to evacuate. Remember: A hurricane’s category, which measures wind speed, gets the most attention, but water is by far the deadliest part of the storm. In fact, storm experts have a slogan for it: “Hide from wind, run from water.” People at flood risk from rain or storm surge should evacuate.
For those who don’t have a car, access to a ride-share, or a place to stay outside of the hurricane zone, pre-identify shelters — including ones that take pets — in your area. If you need more help, the federal government has a detailed description of how to put together emergency and communication plans.
Stock up
For hurricanes you need to be prepared both to flee and to hunker down.
A go-bag should contain basics like non-perishable food and water (for you and your pets), ideally some way to prepare them, a change of clothes, medications, key documents. You can find a comprehensive list of what to pack in your go-bag here, and remember it doesn’t have to be pricey. While pre-made preparedness packs often focus on military style MRE rations, shelf stable foods like easy mac and cheese and ultra pasteurized milk are often more budget friendly and, frankly, tastier.
For those hunkering down, disaster preparedness experts recommend having supplies that can last at least a week and potentially up to ten days. Consider investing in a travel solar panel that can charge key devices like your phone. Generators have grown increasingly common in some parts of the country as natural-hazard-linked outages become more common — but so too has carbon monoxide poisoning. If you decide to get a generator make sure it’s properly ventilated and you know how to use it.
Consider getting trained
Taking these steps on the surface can seem highly individualistic, but delaCruz of Team Rubicon points out: “People who don’t need to be helped are often the people who can help those who need it.” As you stock up, it’s worth thinking about what you might keep on hand to assist your neighbors.
And if you want to take it a step further, consider going through a free disaster training like the kind Team Rubicon offers. The organization, signed a memorandum with FEMA in 2023, formalizing a relationship around disaster preparedness, relief and recovery.“If community resilience is minimizing the amount of damage that needs to be addressed, then it’s also about the speed and delivery of the services that are necessary to get the community back on its feet,” said delaCruz.
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