If you were hit with a tornado or flood, where would you go for shelter? There are a lot of different factors to consider when you’re trying to identify a secure place. We’ve identified a few them below to help get you started.
How to Shelter-In-Place
Some emergencies, such as chemical spills or nuclear accidents, may require you to shelter-in-place to ensure that you and your family are protected from any dangerous effects associated with the released materials.
Your shelter-in-place location is a specific room in your home that you can easily protect, sealing out as much of the outside environment as you can in order to survive a highly hazardous threat to your health. Ideally, this room is one that is above ground, in the interior of your home, has few or no windows, and has a telephone installed. Identify which room best meets these conditions before a disaster strikes.
Local authorities will provide more information about what to do if such an event occurs.
Key Steps
Take these steps to ensure your safety if you are required to shelter-in-place.
- If your children are at school, do not go pick them up unless instructed to do so.
- Close and lock all windows and exterior doors.
- Turn off all fans (including bathroom ceiling fans), heating and air-conditioning systems, and close fireplace dampers.
- Move your Disaster Supply Kit, including a battery-operated radio, into your selected shelter room.
- Even if a telephone is installed, be sure to bring a mobile phone and charger into the room.
- Bring pets into the shelter room, and make sure there are newspapers or a litter box for them to relieve themselves.
- If you are instructed to seal the room, use duct tape and plastic to seal off any doorways, vents, outlets, light switches, or windows.
- Cover the space under the shelter room door with a wet towel.
- Notify emergency contacts that you are sheltering-in-place, and have them contact you with important updates about the situation.
- Listen to your radio to determine when it is safe to come out.
More Information
Evacuation
An Evacuation Plan documents the steps you will take in the event of an emergency that requires you to leave your home, such as an approaching hurricane. Your plan should answer the following questions:
- What vital documents will you need to have with you?
Consider such things as birth certificates, insurance policies, automobile titles, among others. Store scanned copies of these vital documents online or in an offsite location such as a safe deposit box.
- What clothing should you bring?
Having a detailed list will make the task of packing much faster and more organized. Each family member should bring clothing needed to accommodate the weather as well as sleep, cleanup, and work.
- What personal possessions or equipment do you need to have at all costs?
For children, this may include a favorite stuffed animal or toy. It may include prosthetic devices, prescription glasses, or special needs equipment (such as a baby-carrier or bottles for an infant).
- What medication or food do you need?
Be sure that you have an ample supply with you as you prepare to leave as it may be difficult or impossible to find these items in the initial days of an evacuation.
- What will you have to do to prepare your house?
You may need to move furniture and other possessions to higher floors if flooding is imminent, or to shutter up windows and doors, and move outside items inside if a hurricane is on its way.
- What evacuation route will you take?
Be familiar with evacuation routes. Plan several evacuation routes in the event that certain roads are blocked or closed. Remember to follow the advice of disaster officials who will direct you to the safest routes and away from roads that may be blocked or that might put you in further danger.
- Where will you go?
Identify friends and relatives who live far enough away as to not be affected by the disaster, as well as shelters in the community that are most appropriate for your family’s needs (e.g., those that accept pets, if applicable).
- What will you do with your pets?
Plan where you will take your pets (other than service animals) if you have to go to a public shelter where they are not permitted.
- How will you escape from your home?
Determine the best escape routes out of your home in case you have to leave quickly. Figure out how you will escape from upper floors if the stairs are blocked. Identify two ways out of each room.