Natural Disasters

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You often hear people after a natural disaster say “Nothing can prepare you for this”, but as someone who lost their house and cars to a tornado, in one sense I disagree. There are things you can do now that will increase your chances of surviving and recovering from a natural disaster.

Prior to disaster

A common theme in this book involves making a plan. A small amount of planning today can save your life during a natural disaster. Anytime you move to a new place, try and figure out the most common types of natural disasters you will face and come up with a plan for your home and car if one strikes.

According to FEMA, every home should have an emergency kit consisting of:

  • One gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation 
  • At least a three-day supply of non-perishable food 
  • Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both 
  • Flashlight and extra batteries 
  • First aid kit 
  • Whistle to signal for help 
  • Dust masks, to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place 
  • Moist towelettes, toilet paper, garbage bags, and plastic ties for personal sanitation 
  • Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities 
  • Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food) 
  • Local maps

Personally, I would add to that list:

  • Axe
  • Shoes
  • Cash
  • Knife 
  • Helmet
  • First aid book
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Rubbing alcohol 
  • 6% unscented household liquid bleach
  • Matches
  • Fire extinguisher 
  • Warm clothes, sleeping bag, and blankets in waterproof bag
  • Anything else you personally cannot live without

Similarly, keep in the center console of your car where you can easily reach them:

  • A jackknife or box cutter you can use to slice the seatbelt
  • A small hammer or other device you can use to smash out the window
  • A flashlight (or you can buy a flashlight that plugs into your lighter so it always stays charged) 

You should also consider keeping in your car:

  • Food
  • Water
  • Means of warmth
  • Weapon (I favor a heavy police-style flashlight)
  • Air compressor 
  • First aid kit 

These items should be sufficient to get you through most natural disasters. If you are worried about some kind of apocalyptic disaster lasting months or years, please purchase a book on “prepping” as this chapter is insufficient for that level of preparedness.

Once you’ve identified the most common natural disasters for your area, you need to plan in advance what you will do should one strike.  

For example, tornados typically approach from the Southwest, so if you do not have a basement, find a room in your home with interior walls and a strong door in the middle or on the Northeast portion of your home. Educate everyone in the home that this is where they need to go if a tornado strikes. If you hear tornado warnings and choose not to take them seriously enough to enter your shelter, at least position yourself near the shelter until the danger passes and turn on the local news.

A tornado “watch” means conditions are favorable for a tornado in your area and one could develop. A tornado “warning” means a tornado has been spotted in your local area. If the sky turns green, a tornado is likely nearby.  

When we first moved into our home, my wife made sure everyone knew that a pantry on the Northeast portion of our home was where everyone needed to go if a tornado or high winds struck. It was this knowledge and clear-headed thinking that protected my family when our home absorbed a direct hit from a tornado. 

If possible, your safe room should be large enough to store your emergency kit. Do not store your emergency kit on a high shelf where it can fall on your head. It should also be where you store your helmets and shoes for various sports as these will be handy in an emergency.

You also need to plan escape routes for fire and flood (including how you will flee the house), and make sure some means of getting off the higher floors exists (like a ladder or rope) and that windows are operable or you have some means of breaking them out.

For earthquakes, avalanches, and mudslides, identify a place you can go where the structure is strongest. Secure all bookshelves and other heavy objects to the wall so they will not fall over. Store heavy objects low to the ground and reserve the higher shelves for lighter objects. 

The one thing I wish we had done was take photos or videos of every room once we had the house the way we wanted it. I strongly recommend walking your house and taking video or pictures of each room and thing of value. You may need this for insurance purposes, but if not, based on personal experience you will certainly wish you had it for emotional and sentimental reasons. In our case, it did not impact our insurance claim, but it might have if everything had been swept out of the house by the tornado and we hadn’t kept our building design plans. A great gift for Father’s Day or Mother’s Day is to thoroughly clean your parents’ house so it looks its best and then get pictures of every room and everything in it.   

You often see commercials about how you can save money on insurance. You do not buy insurance to save money. You buy insurance so when something terrible happens the financial resources will be there to help you recover. You do not want to be fighting with your insurance carrier over coverage after a disaster strikes, so be sure and understand what you are getting for your money and that your carrier has a reputation for quickly and efficiently handling claims. Make sure you have the contact information for your carrier stored on your phone or somewhere else you can quickly access it.  

Once you have made your plans, it helps to do a walk through, just like a football team does before a game. Make a plan with family and friends for where you will meet and how you will communicate in the event disaster strikes and you are separated. 

Aside from planning, you can train yourself to better respond in the event of a natural disaster. If you have the opportunity to take a first aid class, do so. You can also participate in activities that put intense stress on you and require you to use your wits and ingenuity to be successful. One of the reasons I recommend martial arts like boxing and sports like skiing, sailing, and white water rafting is that things constantly go wrong, and you have to use your Metis to make them go right in a very short period of time.

Take warnings seriously! Years ago I was working at a job I hated in an office building at least 20 floors up. It was 11 p.m. on a Sunday and the fire alarm went off. I thought, “It’s probably a false alarm and I want to get this stuff done and go home, so I’ll just keep working.” Then, I had another thought: “Do I want to burn to death working at a job I hate?” I got out of there fast and from then on promptly heeded fire alarms and other warnings.  

Resolve here and now that should a disaster strike you will act quickly and decisively to get yourself and those you love to safety.

During the disaster

The most important thing is not to panic or freeze up in fear. That is the most certain way to die. Instead, act quickly and decisively. If you have a plan that still appears sound, follow it, but be prepared to adjust on the fly.

Another universal tip is to try and get shoes on your feet. Glass and rusty nails will likely be everywhere after a disaster strikes. 

Keep in mind that a natural disaster means complete chaos. My daughters describe the tornado hitting our house as being like something out of a horror movie. The windows literally exploded, sending glass flying through the air into every room on the west side of the house. The noise was incredible. The roof was ripped off the house. Parts of the roof circulated at tremendous speed, wrapping around our Jeep (even under the tires) and imbedding themselves into our neighbor’s outside wall and smashing through their windows. An A/C unit from who knows where weighing several hundred pounds flew over our roof, knocked down our chimney, and then slammed into my wife’s SUV. After the tornado itself passed, heavy rains pelted the house and the ceilings started to fall. With the house literally falling down around them and the wind and flying debris less of an issue, my family adjusted the plan of hunkering down in the pantry and got themselves and our pets out of the house. Because all cars were buried in rubble, they called friends and a family member who came and got everyone to safety. 

A few tips for different disasters at home:

  • Earthquake. Drop, cover, and hold on! Get on all fours, cover your head, crawl under something that protects you from falling objects, and move with it. If you are inside, try and move toward an interior part of the building. If you are outside, try and move away from anything that can fall on you. If that isn’t possible stand under a doorway. 
  • Hurricane. You typically know when one is coming, so why on earth are you there other than to put the lives of our first responders at risk when they have to come and rescue you? Hurricanes involve both floods and high winds, which are contradictory situations in terms of safety and make them impossible to plan against. If you are caught unaware by a hurricane, use the techniques to survive a flood and a tornado and your best judgment based on the situation at hand. 
  • Tornado. If you do not have a basement, get in an interior room opposite the direction the tornado is coming (generally but not always from the Southwest). Get low. If you are in a bathroom, get in the tub. Wear a helmet if one is handy. After the tornado passes, the structural integrity of the home may be compromised by rain. Once debris stops flying around, leave the home if ceilings are starting to fall and stay away from things outside that can fall on you, like trees. Watch out for downed power lines. Often, the sky turns green (day or night) when a tornado is present. If you see green skies, run for cover.   
  • Flood. Get as high as possible if winds are not an issue. If the water level is slowly rising, bring a life jacket, food, and water with you, but don’t take a chance of the water rising so high you are trapped and cannot get to higher ground. 
  • Fire. Get out of the home and as far away as possible. Before opening a door, check for heat by holding your hand up to it. If there is heavy smoke crawl on the ground. If you are wearing fabrics that are high tech (not easy to ignite but will graft to your skin) or flammable (cotton, linen, silk) take them off or douse them with water if you have to run through flames. As a last resort and if available, jump in the pool/lake/river if flames are all around you and you cannot escape, and keep your hair underwater. 

A few tips for different disasters at in or out of the car:

  • Flash floods/driving into water. Don’t drive into standing water of unknown depth. Wait it out or try a different route. If you ignore me and drive into standing water of unknown depth, roll down your window first so if your car gets swept away or sinks you can escape. If your car gets swept away or is filling with water, immediately roll down the windows. Once the electric windows short out and the car is sinking, you are trapped and will drown unless you have a way to break the window. If you have something hard, use it to hit the window low near the door where it is most rigid. If not, kick it with your heel as hard as possible. Be sure and kick through the window instead of at it.
  • Fire. Immediately roll down the windows or open the door and escape. Once the electric windows short out, you are trapped and will die unless you have a way to break the window. If you have something hard, use it to hit the window low near the door where it is most rigid. If not, kick it with your heel as hard as possible. Be sure and kick through the window instead of at it. Your heel will not work as well as something hard, so prepare in advance and put something that will break your window in your center console where you can reach in in case of an emergency. 
  • Tornado. Drive away from the tornado and anything that can fall on you. If you cannot, stay strapped into your seatbelt. If you need to exit the vehicle, lay down in a ditch and stay as low as you can. Cover your head. Do not drive or run under an underpass. That will be a wind tunnel with all kinds of debris going through it at 100 mph or more. Also, see earthquakes below. 
  • Earthquake. Avoid anything that can fall on you like bridges, overpasses, power lines, and trees. Your vehicle offers some protection, so stay inside it with your seatbelt fastened until the earthquake has ceased. Look out for road hazards if you resume driving after the earthquake.

Water safety tips:

  • Always wear a lifejacket. Every drowning I can recall on the lake where we spend the summers has the following common denominator: strong swimmer, no life jacket. Boats of any kind can capsize without warning, or hit something below the surface, propelling everyone out of the boat and into the water. One of the things I dislike in Hollywood movies is how the hero never wears a PFD when saving the day out on the water. Boating without a PFD is like driving without a seatbelt.  
  • Being swept down river. If there is no debris coming from behind, swim toward shore at an angle to the current. If debris is coming from behind, point your feet and eyes downriver a try and move yourself toward shore while going with the current. 
  • Being swept out to sea. Do not swim (or paddle) directly against the current. Swim toward shore at an angle against the current. 

After the disaster

The people who sit around in shock and dismay are the least likely to promptly get the help they need. Once you are safe, and the same day if possible:

  • Call your insurance company. 
  • Call a remediation company.
  • Secure all barriers to entry.
  • Check for safety hazards like loose power lines, gas leaks, and structural damage.
  • Try to find a hotel room.
  • Try to find a place to rent long term.
  • Start clearing access to your property, especially on the public streets; this and the following 5 items are the best use of friends who volunteer to help if you have adequate insurance and a remediation company involved.
  • Get your most important documents, family photos/portraits, and the things looters are likely to be looking for (cash, guns, electronics, prescriptions, jewelry, alcohol, etc.) off the property and in the custody of trusted friends/family.
  • Clean out your fridge and freezer.
  • Turn off your water, gas, electricity, and other utilities.
  • Cover furniture with plastic or move it to a safe location.
  • Take photos of the damage.
  • Communicate with your landlord or lender about the disaster.
  • If your insurance is inadequate, get friends and family to help put everything in the house into storage and get a tarp over the roof.
  • Keep in mind that certain depraved individuals use disasters to loot, commit assaults, and pull off scams against those who were damaged and therefore vulnerable. 
  • In desperate times you can make safe drinking water as follows: Filter it through a clean cloth or coffee filter and boil for one minute. If you cannot boil it, add 8 drops (⅛ teaspoon) of 6% unscented household liquid bleach to a gallon of water. Stir it and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Summary 

So what did we do right and what did we do wrong before, during, and after the tornado struck our house? My wife had a plan of what to do (hunker down in the pantry) and had executed that plan on previous occasions, so everyone knew what needed to be done in the event of an emergency. 

We had our survival kit but I kept it in my closet and the garage instead of the pantry. We also did not store our helmets in the pantry. I wish I had taken videos or photos of the house and its contents in advance, like I had with my prior homes. Each of these could have been a significant mistakes.

We were careful to purchase insurance from a carrier with a reputation for outstanding customer service and quickly and fairly resolving claims. My wife also separately insured certain items that she felt would be expensive or difficult to replace. 

My wife and kids did not go into the pantry right when they heard the tornado sirens (we hear those a lot) but they did get near the pantry and that was beneficial. Once the tornado sirens sounded, they probably should have turned on the local news or radio to get any reporting on it (some stations were not reporting on it, incidentally, and had to apologize for the lapse). 

Our neighbors were watching Sunday Night Football when their windows suddenly shattered and bricks started falling around them. One of them had three fingers crushed by a brick and later had her pinky amputated. According to NBC 5, who was showing Sunday Night Football:

Although our meteorologists were tracking thunderstorms across the area when the National Weather Service issued a Tornado Warning for Dallas County, we delayed breaking into programming for six minutes. […] When it comes to dealing with severe weather, we know that seconds matter. We should have broken into football programming sooner. We apologize and want you to know that we’re doing everything in our power to make sure this does not happen again.

In  short, you have to rely on yourself for protection against natural disasters. The media often will not do anything to protect you. 

When the ceilings started falling down, my wife made the correct decision to get everyone out of the house and executed on it directly and promptly. After seeing that the cars were disabled, she called friends and a family member and got everyone to safety. 

My wife called the insurer while hunkered down in the pantry (there’s not a lot to do), so we were number three on their priority list. I’m not sure all insurers operate this way, but if an insurer is dealing with scores of people who just lost their homes, first come, first served might be the way the insurer triages claims. 

I called a remediation company early the next morning and my wife called a contractor and started looking at rental houses. We quickly signed a lease without worrying about finding a perfect temporary home. We made sure to honestly deal with the insurer, and to provide documentation where possible. Waiting or failing to do any of these things ultimately lengthens the time you will be out of your home or otherwise displaced or inconvenienced.

All that said, I’m not sure what you can do to prepare for the sense of loss you’ll probably feel from losing your home. You should definitely follow the tips in this book for maintaining your mental health, one of the most important being not to isolate yourself. These can be very dark times.

I’ve seen one of my neighbors cope successfully by finding a renewed sense of purpose in her survival, the only logical explanation for which is a miracle given that the four walls left standing in the middle of her house were those of the powder bath in which she took refuge. Another of my neighbors is relying on her dark sense of humor. The key is finding a way of coping that works best for you. 

My other suggestion, based on personal experience, is to accept offers of help from others. Matthew Tull, associate professor and director of anxiety disorders research at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, writes on verywellmind.com that: 

Over and over again, it has been found that finding support from others can be a major factor in helping people overcome the negative effects of a traumatic event … 

The Scandinavian religion of warrior gods like Odin and Hel prohibited refusing offers of help and hospitality because these ancient peoples were wise enough to know that accepting such a gift enriches the person who gives more than the person who receives. When people help you out, you get a renewed sense of community and purpose, plus the privilege of getting to see people at their best. That’s a nice thing to see, even in the midst of a tragedy.

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