Hurricanes

The days after are more dangerous than the landfall.

The wind stops, the power stays off, and the generators come out. After Hurricane Ida, Louisiana hospitalised dozens for carbon monoxide poisoning inside the first 48 hours. Cash matters here too — when the grid is down the card readers are down with it, and the store that is open cannot take your money.

Source: CPSC / state health reporting

Do this tonight

Put two hundred dollars in small bills somewhere you will not spend it, and check that your medication buffer covers a week.

Where hurricanes actually get declared

Federal major disaster declarations, FY2015–present.

Florida 14 Louisiana 7 Georgia 6 North Carolina 6 South Carolina 6 Alabama 4 Mississippi 3 New York 3 Texas 3 Virginia 3 California 2 Connecticut 2 Delaware 2 New Jersey 2 Hawaii 1 Maryland 1 Pennsylvania 1

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The 72-Hour Checklist

One page, and it works for every hazard — the first ninety minutes look the same in all of them.

Your state

What you actually face

Every declaration where you live, ranked, with the failure mode behind each.

Severe storms →Flooding →Wildfire →Winter storms →Snowstorms →Ice storms →