This week is National Hurricane Preparedness week and the National Weather Service urges you to take steps to ensure you and your family are prepared for storm season.
Hurricane season officially begins on June 1, but each day this week the National Weather Service suggests doing things like developing an evacuation plan, assembling non-perishable food items and checking your insurance.
News13 asked Horry County Emergency manager, Randall Webster, if he thought previous storms would make people more prepared.
“I think they will be more prepared but they will probably have a lot more anxiety, but with that hopefully comes more preparedness,” Webster said. “And at least an understanding of what might happen and what we need to do to get through the next one when it happens.”
Webster says planning ahead of hurricane season is helpful because it allows you to rationally think through decisions.
The goal of this week is both to make sure people are prepared for natural disasters and also to educate people about what makes these storms dangerous.
When asked what people can do now to prepare, Webster stressed the importance of knowing what zone your home is in, knowing how to evacuate and having both an evacuation plan and a back up plan.
“Make sure that your family is able to be without power for three days or more, understand what the specific needs are for your family,” Webster said. “Do you have small children? Do you have elderly folks that you need to take care of? Do you have pets?”
Webster also suggests having enough water and non-perishable food items to last between three days and two weeks.
For more about National Hurricane Preparedness week, click here.
