As the summer comes to an end, hurricane season begins. The city of Houston has been hit with some hard times involving hurricanes. We won’t lie– while here at the Murray Group we love selling homes in Houston because we believe it’s a great place to live, we also believe that you should be prepared for possible emergencies.
One thing that every Houstonian should keep in their homes is a hurricane survival kit, or an emergency preparedness kit as the red cross likes to call it. While you should be keeping a wide variety of useful things in your kit, here are some essential five to get you started.
Flashlights (and other electronics)
When a hurricane strikes, one of the first things to go out is electricity. This is why you should keep multiple flashlights with you. We recommend having at least two for every person in your household.
You should also keep plenty of batteries, as this is all any electronics will have to run on when the electricity isn’t working. Some other items we recommend keeping are multiple portable phone chargers and a hand-crank radio.
First Aid Items
You should have a full first aid kit wit any items a normal first aid kit would have, but that are easy to take along with you in the case of an evacuation. Everything in your kit should be evacuation-ready, but if you have a big first aid bag with special tools you can’t bring with you, make sure it’s easy to take them out for on-the-go emergencies.
Keep things such as bandages, as well as extras of any medications people in your household may use.
Hygiene Items
Keep things such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, soap, and toilet paper to use. Make sure you have a way to be able to use these things even when electricity and water are out.
Food and Water
Keep plenty of non-perishable items for everyone to eat both in the case of being stuck in your home, or needing to evacuate. You’ll also need plenty of water– 1 gallon per person per day, to be exact. Calculate how much you would spend in the case of staying in, and an evacuation, and then try to keep even more than what you would need.
Important Documents
Make sure everyone who is with you has some form of identification on them. You’ll also want things such as your emergency contacts, and extra cash handy.
Please stay safe this hurricane season! Click here to see what else the red cross recommends you keep in a hurricane kit.