Living on the coastline of Virginia comes with many perks and wonderful benefits, including easy access to beaches, long summers spent on the water and fresh, ocean breezes all year long. Coastal living also comes with hurricane season each year, and as our region prepares to enter into that season now, it’s important to prepare yourself, your family and your pets in the case of an emergency.
Knowing what supplies to have on hand, how to evacuate yourself and your pets safely and what to do before a storm arrives will help to keep you, your loved ones and personal items safe. Making sure to stock up on necessary items to last you three days will help to make power loss much more manageable. If you must be evacuated, you’ll want to have your pets and your loved ones packed and ready to go quickly.
While our community takes extra precautions to keep our residents connected and safe in the event of an emergency, we recommend our residents stay closely tuned to the national weather service or NOAA as hurricanes track in our direction and that they take every precaution to keep themselves and their pets safe and dry until the storm passes.
Here are hurricane weather preparedness tips to ease the stress of another hurricane season in Coastal Virginia.
Supplies
- Water for 3 days
- Food for 3 days
- Flashlights
- First Aid Kit
- Batteries
- Battery-powered radio
- Medications
- Pet Food/Medications/Supplies
- Personal Hygiene Products
- Rain gear
Before the Storm
- Secure all outdoor furniture
- Close and lock all windows
- Fill up gas tank in cars
- Listen closely to weather and NOAA for storm tracking and progress
- Turn up your refrigerator and freezer to the highest setting and keep doors closed as often as possible
- Have an emergency go back ready in case of evacuation
Pets
- Ensure pets have identification tags
- Have medications and supplies packed and ready if evacuated
- Never leave your pet at home alone during evacuation
- Confirm that your evacuation location can keep your pet