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Having lived most of my life in hurricane-prone areas within the U.S. (and typhoons in Okinawa), I have learned to take such things very seriously. It's particularly important for seniors to have a good emergency preparedness plan in place since many factors come into play that are not usual for most -- such as having a plan for extra medications, hospital supervision, transportation, and help to secure homes and property.

You might enjoy reading the latest article posted on the Senior Issues page about hurricane preparedness for seniors. I'd like to hear your thoughts and any advice/tips you would like to provide to others. Hurricane Preparedness for Seniors

Great tips for anyone and for any emergency! I live in Texas where we get tornadoes and bad thunderstorms with flooding. It's a good idea to be prepared for a disruption in services or widespread damage.

One of the hardest things to deal with after a hurricane is the loss of electricity mainly because the temperatures after a storm can exceed 90 degrees with high humidity and no breeze. Even opening the windows doesn't do the trick due to the lack of breeze. Fortunately, there was usually water available through the tap, and surviving the heat meant taking a lot of cold showers or wearing wet towels around our necks. The worst hurricane we lived through was Hurricane Andrew -- we were about 30 miles from where it made landfall. Not fun. Our street sign was found 20 miles away after the storm had passed by a police officer.

Okinawa typhoons didn't seem as scary mostly because of the construction of the home in which we lived -- concrete block, flat roof, drain in the middle of the floor for the water that entered the house to empty out. (Water flooded under the front door and made a bee-line for the drain which was in a low spot in the center of the house in a bathroom.) I thought this was clever and wondered if the home was constructed for that purpose or for a cultural reason (some people from Okinawa would bathe by pouring water over themselves rather than taking showers).

In any event, it was interesting to note the differences in riding out hurricanes versus typhoons.

Susan, that's an outstanding article. As a Hurricane Hugo survivor, I can add one suggestion.

After Hugo, phone circuits were jammed for days. Yes, that was before all of us had cell phones. However, down here in coastal Georgia, cell phone service gets spotty if the electricity goes out after a thunderstorm.

Our evacuation plans include a phone contact outside of the storm area. With family all over the country, they have one person to call for information on us. This really helps free up call loads within the area hit by the storm. It's a great way to quickly let everyone know where you'll be during the storm, and what you may need afterwards.

We've also purchased a small battery pack/charger. This handy item can jump a car battery, or power a cell phone charger.

Yes, I remember Hugo! I lived in Charleston during elementary school years (military family) and dearly loved the beauty of the area. When I heard about the devastation in the Charleston area, it was heart breaking.

Your ideas are excellent ones - particularly the battery pack/charger. There were a couple of times I can think of that this would have come in handy! (ha)