Hurricane Awareness Week 2011 - Are you prepared, Hernando? | Weather

This week is National Hurricane Awareness Week. Those of us in Hernando County should be prepared for the very likely possibility of a hurricane hitting the area. 

Below, I have listed the things you need in your disaster supply kit, and linked to evacuation zones and shelters for the county.  Mobile home residents are required to evacuate regardless of their location in the county.

You need enough non-perishable food and water to last at least three days, with each family member getting at least a gallon of water per day.  You should also have a month's worth of any medicines you require, as well as extra batteries, flashlights, and first aid kits.

Something that should be required in your kit is a NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio.

The weather radios can be programmed to your specific county if you want to only get local alerts. They will warn you of severe weather, and other non-weather events that may occur, as well as give you your local weather forecast.

Here is a link to the latest Hernando County evacuation zone map. There is also a list of shelters in the county.

You can refer to pages ten through twelve of this Hurricane Preparedness Guide for more information on how to get prepared for Hurricane Season.

If you have pets, you can find out what to do with them in a disaster here.

In any case, the easiest way to survive a hurricane is to "hide from the water, and run from the wind" (the theme from a previous Tampa Hurricane Expo).