From wildfires and tornadoes to flooding, severe weather events happen somewhere in the U.S. nearly every day. Climate change has increased their frequency. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Center for Environmental Information, weather/climate disaster events this year have resulted in 84 deaths and losses exceeding $1 billion.

And with the start of summer, more weather extremes are predicted — from heat waves that exacerbate the heat island effect in some communities, to a projected record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season. (Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.)

While it’s not possible to prepare for all weather eventualities, having a disaster readiness plan can mean the difference between life and death. Here, A2 members and a staffer share their best advice about how to prepare for the next, potential disaster.

Hurricanes: “Staying ready”

“I believe in staying ready, not getting ready,” says Tiffany Anderson, who founded Port Arthur Cry No More in 2023 to help her Texas hometown’s most vulnerable in the aftermath of major storms.

The organization was born out of Anderson’s frustration with what she saw as chaos and disorganization in the days leading up to and after 2017’s deadly and destructive Hurricane Harvey and subsequent weather events.

In Harvey’s wake, the city’s elderly and low-income residents who did not own TVs or cell phones, and lacked access to the Internet or transportation, were marooned in their darkened homes for days. Anderson’s organization is working to create alternate means of communications to include a “door-to-door” campaign to share information with residents — before the next storm — on shelter locations, transportation options, food and water distribution points and a centralized number whereby out-of-town relatives can call to check on loved ones.

As for Anderson’s own storm prep, she keeps two cases of water in her car at all times, stashes away “hurricane funds” and has a “runaway” bag packed and ready to go. Prior to the arrival of a storm, she  recommends:

• Staying close to the TV to watch the news.
• Keeping a weather app on your cell phone.
• Having reliable transportation or calling a relative or friend who does in case you need to leave.
• More tips: https://www.ready.gov/hurricanes

Tornadoes: “They happen so quickly”

Beth Butler of A Community Voice lives in New Orleans, so she knows hurricanes.

But it was the rare tornado in March 2022 that caught everyone off guard. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado, the strongest to hit the city of New Orleans, was rated an EF-3 with damaging winds of 160 mph. The tornado took one life.

While Louisiana is not at high risk for tornados, they do happen. “And they happen so quickly,” says Butler, whose group has been working to get the city to install a siren system and also reminding communities with siren systems to periodically test them to ensure they’re working properly. She also urges residents to download an immediate notification system, such as WhatsApp, “that may be necessary to let others know that you are safe or need help.”

Butler serves on A2’s Mutual Aid committee, which was created not quite a year prior to the tornado, to provide quick help to residents impacted by a natural disaster. The fund’s first recipient was a woman whose New Orleans home was damaged by the tornado.

Butler also recommends local organizations and elected officials set up a tarping program to distribute the roof covers to residents to protect belongings while awaiting insurance payments for repairs.

More tips: https://www.weather.gov/safety/tornado-prepare

Wildfires: “A distressing scene”

A2 journalist/writer Stewart Sinclair was traveling when he learned his hometown was on fire. “I came down to the hotel lobby to a distressing scene of TV monitors filled with fire and the words ‘Ventura County’ on the screen.”

According to the Ventura Fire Department, the Thomas Fire was started by arcing power lines coming into contact with dry brush during high winds. The fire started on the evening of Dec. 4, 2017. By the time it was extinguished six weeks later, the fire had burned a total of 281,893 acres, destroyed 1,063 structures, and resulted in one civilian and one firefighter fatality.

The Thomas Fire, the largest in California history at the time, displaced an estimated 100,000 people from their homes. (A year later, the Thomas Fire was eclipsed by the Ranch Fire as the state’s most destructive fire.)

Sinclair’s family came out of the harrowing experience relatively unscathed — part of an uncle’s ranch burned and his mother at one point sheltered 13 evacuees in her modest home.

Fire victims filed a class action lawsuit against Southern California Edison and the City of Ventura claiming negligence — poor operating and maintenance procedures by the utility and failure of the city to maintain proper water pressure, which slowed extinguishment.

A friend of Sinclair’s who runs a nonprofit in Ventura shared with him at the time, that the the city also lacked a bilingual alert system in a town with a 40 percent Latino population. “He told me nonprofits came to the rescue in many ways for Ventura residents to fill in for the failings of the city,” says Sinclair.

Sinclair’s advice for organizations: Before a disaster, make a plan for communities with special needs, such as those with language barriers and residents who may not have access to phones or the Internet.

• More tips: https://www.ready.gov/wildfires#prepare

Floods: “Don’t take any chances”

“There are so many tragic stories to tell,” says Susan Liley of Citizens Committee for Flood Relief in De Soto, Mo., a small town of 6,400 people with big flooding issues.

“Repeated flash floods have devastated our community,” says Liley. “At first we thought it was a fluke, then the floods started happening one right after the other. We got hit by four flash floods in three years. When they hit, they literally do come on in a flash and people have only minutes to respond.”

The floods have brought waves of death and destruction. Firefighters watched a woman swept away in her car. A young father in his small car washed through a drainage pipe. Horses drowned in barns. And then there was the aftermath of mold and horror of contaminated water from a nearby Superfund site seeping into the soil and groundwater.

Liley’s group has been working with A2 and other organizations and government entities to secure grants to help mitigate the flooding issues in De Soto.

In the meantime, Liley recommends:

• Make sure to check out the risk factor when buying the home. “And believe what it says. Don’t think it can’t happen to you!”
• If you’re already stuck in a constantly flooded community, apply for a buyout from your state or the federal government.
• If the weather report predicts flooding, get out immediately and go to a hotel. “Don’t take any chances. It’s not worth your life to stay and try to save your home. We’ve had several people pass away trying to do this.”
• More tips: https://www.floodsmart.gov/first-prepare-flooding

Additional information:

Extreme heat is not officially considered a disaster, despite pressure from environmental groups for the federal government to declare it as such. National Climate Assessment estimates that more than 1,300 people die in the U.S. each year due to heat. Some tips for safely navigating soaring temperatures:

• Find air conditioning, if possible.
• Avoid strenuous activities.
• Check on family members and neighbors.
• Drink plenty of fluids.
• Never leave people or pets in a closed car.
• More tips: https://www.ready.gov/sites/default/files/2024-03/ready.gov_extreme-heat_hazard-info-sheet.pdf

Check out A2’s recently updated Resources page for more disaster prep information.

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