Hurricanes and Floods: Disaster Management Plan

List of Disasters that May Affect the Aggregate

Florida has a history of natural disasters that include “Hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes, wildfires, and floods” (FDC, 2016, p. 1). However, in this paper, we only focus on two disasters – hurricanes and floods.

Disaster Management Plan

The section below explains the disaster management plan for hurricanes and floods as unique disasters that could affect the aggregate.

Hurricanes

The disaster management plan for a hurricane would involve the following steps

• Listen to radio stations or weather service stations for critical information regarding impending hurricanes.
• Ensure emergency supplies are restocked.
• Lock up items, or things, that could be blown by the wind.
• Close windows and doors with hurricane shutters. If there are no hurricane shutters, windows and doors should be secured using plywood.
• Adjust the refrigerator and freezer settings to the coldest temperature to ensure food remains preserved in the event of a power outage.
• Gas cylinders should be turned off.
• Unplug small appliances from the electricity supply system
• Ensure the car has enough gas in case of an evacuation call.
• Find out the community hurricane response plan because it would provide adequate information about medical centers and “safe zones” for seeking refuge.
• Follow the instructions of authorities during the evacuation.

(Adapted from Red Cross, 2016).

Floods

The disaster management plan in the event of a flood would involve the following steps.

• Looking out for possible flood warnings from the National Weather Service.
• Preparing to evacuate if there is a need to do so.
• If there is a flash flood warning, residents should be prepared to move to higher ground for safety.
• Residents should stay away from flooding waters because even six inches of moving (flooding) water could sweep away a person.
• While driving, residents should not attempt to cross flooded rivers or streams because cars could easily be swept away by only two feet of floodwater
• Make sure children are far away from flooded water because they could endanger themselves by playing with it and drown.
• Exercise extra caution at night because there is poor visibility of flooded waterways.

(Adapted from Red Cross, 2016).

Recommendation for a Disaster Supply Kit

The following table of items outlines the disaster supplies kit for patients suffering from heart diseases.

Item	Description
Water	Patients should stock enough water supply for a three-day consumption period
Food	Patients should stock canned foods to last for three days. A can opener should also be available if a patient chooses to stock canned foods
Contact Information	There should be a list of contact details for family, friends, and the family physician
Phone	If possible, patients should have a landline phone for contacting people, even when there is no electricity
Radio and Batteries	Radio and batteries would be useful to power flashlights and useful electrical equipments, such as torches and flashlights, when there is a need to do so.
First-aid Kit	The first-aid kit should have basic over the counter medications and common heart medications that a patient would require. The medications should last one month. There should also be drug prescription information attached to them (Meischke et al., 2000).

References

FDC. (2016). Florida Natural Disaster Preparedness. Web.

Meischke, H., Eisenberg, M., Schaeffer, S., & Henwood, D. (2000). The Heart Attack Survival Kit’ project: an intervention designed to increase seniors’ intentions to respond appropriately to symptoms of acute myocardial infarction. Health Educ. Res., 15(3), 317-326.

Red Cross. (2016). Prepare for Emergencies. Web.