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What Happens After Disaster Strikes?

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September is National Preparedness Month. I will be joining the Clorox Company and  Consumer Queen along with several other bloggers to help spread the word about Emergency Preparedness. Are you prepared?

Emergency Preparedness Plan: Check! Emergency Preparedness Kit: Check! – What happens AFTER disaster strikes?  What do you do when you get home?

 

  • In the wake of disaster, there is much to do as you assess the health and safety of your household as well as next steps to rebuild your life.  The first thing you’ll want to do is check communication channels to ensure that local officials have declared it safe to return home.
  • When home, cleaning up after a natural disaster can be a daunting task so it’s important keep your health top of mind using these steps:
    • Before entering the home, look outside for loose power lines, damaged gas lines, foundation cracks or other damage
    • During cleanup, wear protective clothing, including rubber gloves and rubber boots
    • Look for flooding or large pools of standing water surrounding your home. These waters can be contaminated with high levels of bacteria that can make you sick, so disinfecting with a solution of bleach and water may help to remove mold and prevent the spread of infections and illness
    • For more information please visit www.clorox.com/redcross and download the preparedness guide: Prepare Yourself Now for Peace of Mind Later

 

General Health & Safety Tips:

  • For more information please visit www.clorox.com/redcross and download the preparedness guide: Prepare Yourself Now for Peace of Mind Later
  • Keep your hands clean, either by washing your hands or using a hand sanitizer
  • If you feel feverish or sick after a disaster or during clean-up, see a doctor immediately
  • Eat healthy foods and drink lots of clean water
    • REMEMBER – your emergency preparedness kit should include a minimum three-day supply of water for evacuations (2 weeks for home) for your entire household.  This means approximately one gallon per person, per day for washing and drinking
    • If water supplies are compromised and you are unable to boil water for one minute (three minutes at high elevation), you can create drinkable water by using un-scented disinfecting bleach such as Clorox. You can also use bleach to clean non-porous surfaces in your home
      • To Disinfect Surfaces: Use 1/4 cup bleach to 1 gallon of water, or as directed on the label, to disinfect hard, non-porous surfaces in your home.
      • To Disinfect Water: If you need to purify water during an emergency, (and do not have the means to boil it for 3-5 minutes), you must disinfect your water using bleach. If water is clear, add 8 drops (1/8 tsp.) of bleach per gallon of water. If water is cloudy, add 16 drops (1/4 tsp.) of bleach per gallon of water. Mix the solution thoroughly and let it stand for about 30 minutes before using it. Properly treated water should have a slight chlorine odor. If it doesn’t, repeat dosage and allow water to stand an additional 15 minutes. The treated water can be made drinkable by pouring it between clean containers several times.

For more information please visit www.clorox.com/redcross and download the preparedness guide: Prepare Yourself Now for Peace of Mind Later.

You can also win a $25 Gift Card to help you get started creating your own Emergency Preparedness Kit.

As a blog tour participant, I received information and giveaways from The Clorox Company and Consumer Queen at no cost to me. I was compensated for my time by The Clorox Company for participating in this project. All views are my own. Read more on my Disclosure Policy.

Want to win more? Enter to win the rest of my current giveaways!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. We do NOT have an emergency plan in place. After last winter’s ice storm, and with 7 days of no electricity afterward, you’d think we’d have gotten the hint, wouldn’t you?

  4. We do not have a plan in place as of yet though we do stock up on water/food and we make sure are fire and carbon monoxide detectors are always working.
    hmhenderson AT yahoo DOT com

  15. yes and no ,we have bottled water ,bleach can goods on hand\always ..but in a real emergecy i dont know

  19. We don’t have an emergency preparedness plan, although I’m sure we have all the necessary items. Thanks for the reminder to be more prepared for the unexpected!

    a(dot)long(at)tcu(dot)edu

  22. We do not have an emergency plan. I am glad to have the reminder that we need to take action and get a plan and put together a kit.

  30. We don’t have an actual plan in place. We have stockpiled food, etc., but no clear plan is in place. Guess we should do one – thanks for the reminder!

  36. Our church has taught us for many years to have a 72-hour kit and food & water storage for 1-3 months. We’ve been lax lately so need to get things back in order. Thanks for the reminder and the good tips for handling things after coming home after a disaster.

  42. We really don’t have an emergency plan in place – I think we should probably start working on one soon! Thanks for the giveaway!

  71. After living through several hurricanes in 2005, our household is very well versed in what is needed for emergencies.

  78. We have an emergency plan in place, though after reading this article, it reminds me to check and see if the batteries in our emergency kit are working.

  88. No… we do currently do not have an emergency plan in place. This is something our family needs to look at.

  111. I don’t really have one – I just have vague ideas. And vague ideas do not help in an emergency. Thank you for giving me a little push to get something in place!

    **WINNER**

  112. We do have a basic plan but we really need to finalize things and gather the neccessary supplies in a safe place.

  119. We don’t have an emergency plan in place. We’ve talked about stocking up on water, but it’s something I plan to do especially with little kids.

  125. My husband is a police officer, so he likes to make plans for disasters and emergencies. While we don’t officially have a plan, or a water supply, etc. we have talked about it in depth on numerous occasions and have a food stockpile and know what things we want to work on to complete our plan! :)

  129. No I do not have an Emergency Plan – this post makes me realizes that I need get going on this.
    I’ll start with extra batteries and bottled water.
    barbara dot montyj at gmail dot com

  132. We do have an emergency plan in place, although after reading this I’m not sure it is thorough enough.

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