Be prepared
It’s not what we wanted on top of everything else, but we have to face hurricane season.
In the immortal words of Willie Nelson, it’s the last thing we needed the first thing this morning: the realization that the 2020 hurricane season began Monday, in the midst of a global pandemic, economic collapse and fiery civil unrest in urban centers across the country.
To top it off, experts are predicting an above-average season for the Atlantic with 13 to 19 named storms before the season ends Nov. 30. Six to 10 of those storms could become hurricanes, including three to six major hurricanes with winds of at least 111 mph, classifying them as Category 3,4or5.
If that caught your attention — and it should — the proper response is to be prepared and to think about how your plans could be affected by these outside events.
For example, start coveting hurricane emergency kit items as you have coveted toilet paper during the pandemic. We’re not suggesting any hoarding behavior — merely responsible stocking so you don’t find yourself facing big crowds in a lastminute rush for water, batteries, imperishable foods, flashlights, medicine and key documents.
Now would also be a good time to work out your evacuation options. If you usually head for a distant motel or lodge out of the path of the storm, is that location still open and is space more limited because of the coronavirus pandemic? If you stay with family or friends, are there new complications because some members are older or have underlying health conditions that make them more vulnerable to the threat of COVID-19?
Will your boss expect you to work remotely, requiring access to dependable internet connections? Will your children’s schools expect the same?
Getting these things sorted out now can avoid a lot of suffering in the event of a long-term evacuation.
Of course, “no plan fully survives its encounter with reality,” as Francisco Sanchez, a 15-year emergency management veteran for Harris County, told the Houston Chronicle, and this may be the year to build in more options and flexibility than usual.
Things also may be different for the services from government and nonprofit agencies you have come to depend on. Instead of holding public information gatherings or handing out supplies to large groups, many agencies are going virtual to provide information and material through web connections.
Officials along the Gulf Coast are revamping disaster plans to avoid putting large groups of evacuees in shelters where the coronavirus could spread as it has in nursing homes and jails. That will likely make it more difficult for some people to find refuge in public shelters as economic conditions have left them with few resources.
It’s also worth noting that medical professionals, first responders, police, firefighters and even the National Guard have already been putting in extra hours dealing with the pandemic and with recent protests in cities across the nation.
It is safe to say that the nation has rarely had to deal with a major natural disaster in the middle of such challenging circumstances.
That makes it all the more important that we take on the personal responsibility of being prepared while looking out to make sure our friends, family and neighbors are able to do the same.
The need for action may be coming sooner than we want.
The Atlantic hurricane season officially began Monday, but there have already been two named storms, tropical storms Arthur and Bertha.
And the National Hurricane Center on Monday morning projected that the remains of Tropical Storm Amanda, which had started in the Pacific and weakened after making landfall in Guatemala, has an 80 percent chance of redeveloping into a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico over the next 48 hours.
Texans across the Houston region have been through this drill before, weathering the recent floods of Harvey and so many others.
Another hurricane season is not what we wanted or needed right now. But it’s here and we will deal with it. Be prepared.