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Every year between June 1 and November 30, a certain something fills the air. It is the unease that means Hurricane Season has arrived.

The early weeks of the season bring little worry, but as the weeks pass and temperatures rise, conditions develop that could lead to a hurricane.

Far across the bodies of water that touch the coastline, warm water and warm air meet like two arch-enemies at a party with no air conditioning. These encounters can set the stage for tropical cyclones. According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), �The ingredients for a hurricane include a pre-existing weather disturbance, warm tropical oceans, moisture, and relatively light winds aloft. If the right conditions persist long enough, they can combine to produce the violent winds, incredible waves, torrential rains, and floods we associate with this phenomenon.�

The website for NOAA�s National Hurricane Center (NHC) provides information on the history, intensity, and damage caused by hurricanes. It offers this introduction to this extensive resource for hurricane information:

�Each year, an average of ten tropical storms develop over the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. Many of these remain over the ocean and never impact the U. S. coastline. Six of these storms become hurricanes each year. In an average three-year period, roughly five hurricanes strike the U. S. coastline, killing approximately 50 to 100 people anywhere from Texas to Maine. Of these, two are typically �major� or �intense� hurricanes (a category 3 or higher storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale).�

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency has expanded NOAA�s current predictions with these words: �NOAA is predicting yet another above-average hurricane season with 12-15 named storms including three to five which will likely be major hurricanes, Category 3 or higher.�

Last Sunday, Hurricane Dennis came ashore as a Category 3 storm near Pensacola, Florida, only about fifty miles from where Hurricane Ivan landed just ten months ago. Because of its more compact size and faster pace, it did not cause as much destruction as Hurricane Ivan, but it did cause significant damage. It had been a Category 4 storm when it impacted Haiti and Cuba.

Now Hurricane Emily is forming in the Atlantic Ocean, and time will tell whether it will impact this area.

A History Lesson

One of the primary suggestions offered by the Emergency Management Agencies is for you to know what has happened in previous years where you live and what is determined to be your property�s risk level.

Although Georgia was spared the direct hit of a major hurricane in the 1900�s, it experienced four direct his from minor hurricanes:

� In 1911, a Category 2 hurricane hit Savannah, killing 17.
� In 1940, a Category 2 hurricane hit Savannah, killing 50.
� In 1947, a Category 2 hurricane hit Savannah, killing 1.
� Hurricane David, a Category 2 hurricane, hit Savannah in 1979, but no major damage was reported. (gema.state.ga.us)

The Coastal Empire of Georgia has been spared over the years, with the last Category 3 hurricane to make landfall in Georgia occurring on August 31, 1898. This storm killed an estimated 179 people. In the past few years, some of the other states in the Southeast have been subjected to massive destructive forces from hurricanes, and there is no reason to believe that any spot will not find itself in the path of a deadly hurricane. While it may seem that hurricanes in recent years caused more damage than those of past decades, it is not because the severity of the storm has changed but the increase in population and the construction of expensive buildings within high-risk areas have put more people and property at risk. A hurricane which fells trees and washes over the land is a natural occurrence; it is considered a disaster only when lives are lost and buildings and other belongings are destroyed.

In September 1999, approximately 350,000 coastal residents and visitors evacuated to escape Hurricane Floyd, joining more than two million people from Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina in the largest peacetime evacuation effort in history. (GEMA) The problems caused by insufficient planning on the part of both transportation officials and those seeking refuge elsewhere made the process slow, tedious, and even dangerous because of the heat. Since that time, considerable processes have been put in place to speed up the flow of traffic out of the area during an evacuation.

What to do, what to do?

When the hurricane is on the doorstep and the time is at hand to leave, it is past the time to wonder how you should protect your home and the items you must leave behind. Many people spend more time planning a long-weekend excursion than they devote to what they should do to save their lives and their homes if a hurricane visits the area. The most important first step you can take is to make a plan and to know in advance what you will do.

Assistant Director and Planning Officer of Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), Clayton Scott is busy year-round working with residents and other agencies to develop emergency plans. He is always ready and eager to suggest ways for anyone to better cope with hurricane problems.

�It is important for everyone to decide early what they will want to take with them and what they can do to their property before a hurricane strikes,� he explained. �There are many options that are recommended based on time, budget, and ease of use, but you must decide what is within your budget and whether you can physically handle what you use to protect your home. Four-by-eight sheets of plywood are quite heavy, and there are not usually many people standing nearby offering to help you attach them to your house; they are busy with their own homes.�

If you are wondering whether covering your windows is important, Scott revealed that it is the breach of the structural envelope that causes roofs to be blown off houses. If the windows remain intact, roof integrity is more likely to be reliable. There are several different methods to consider:

� Permanent shutters have always been the best way to protect windows from strong winds and rain, but they are perhaps the most expensive means.

� Plywood sheets are perhaps the least desirable means of protecting your home because of the difficulty of installation. Home-improvement stores do offer different types of clips that can make the attachment of plywood sheets easier and less destructive than nailing them to your window framework.

� Window film is available that can improve the ability of glass to withstand wind and flying objects, and even broken glass is more likely to stay in place if it is covered with the film. �Special care must be taken with the protective film,� Scott added. �If it is not affixed to the frame surrounding the glass, the entire pane of glass can be blown out, along with the film.�

� Roll shutters are permanently installed to your house and offer substantial protection against flying debris and hurricane force winds. Rolling up or down over windows, they provide uses in addition to hurricane protection. Providing shade and light and noise control, roll shutters could be the best use of funds because of their year-round applicability and ease of use. They are available with both manual and motor operation.

� Storm panels provide a relatively economical way of providing your home with storm protection. These steel or aluminum shutters attach to the walls around windows and doors on bolts or tracks. Storm panels can be reused year after year and provide your home with more protection. While they do require storage, storm panels usually stack together tightly and take up little space.

� Fabric -Shield brand storm panels (by Wayne-Dalton) are a highly-effective alternative to steel or aluminum hurricane panels. These PVC-coated woven-fabric panels are tested to block wind, rain, and storm-driven projectiles. These panels are easy to handle and are translucent, allowing light to enter. They come in both standard and custom sizes and can be deployed and removed quickly.

How Much Insurance?

When making a plan, Scott suggests talking with your insurance agent about the extent to which you are covered in case of a hurricane. When flood insurance is suggested, it is stressed as a preparatory measure because it must be in place at least 30 days before a claim can be filed. �It may not be necessary for you to obtain flood insurance,� Scott continued, �if your property has not been rated for it, based on its location. Your agent is the best source for determining your insurance levels. But the second most important thing you can do is create an inventory of what you own.�

Scott explained that inventory booklets are available from all insurance agents, and taking pictures of what you value is an essential step toward recovering the value of what you lost. �Your inventory should be stored in a secure and safe place,� he added. �Your office, a safe deposit box, or some other place away from your home. If you think a documented inventory is not important, just close your eyes and name everything in your dining room. Or any other room. Then open your eyes and see what you missed.�

While hurricane preparedness may be inconvenient, it is an essential part of living in an area at risk for these tropical cyclones. The possibility of some kind of disaster anywhere you choose to live is as likely as that of a mudslide on a southern California hillside. Building a multi-million-dollar home in a flood plain or on �tornado alley� or overlooking the marshes of the southeastern coastline are predictably acts of folly if you think that your dream home is immune to the ravages of nature.

While you want to take every possible measure that will improve your chances of saving your property, the deliberate and conscious things you do will, in the long run, help you find peace of mind if you lose something you treasure. Knowing that you made your decisions based on your resources and your priorities means that you would not have done it differently if you knew what was going to happen. According to Scott, there are some cheap, easy fixes that will make a lot of difference to you and to your neighbors. �Small items become missiles in high winds, and they can be the cause of glass breakage rather than the force of the storm itself. Pick up everything that is lying around in your yard and put it in the garage or tie it down in the carport or put it in the house if you can. That way, what you might have left in your yard cannot cause damage to your neighbor�s property. � Scott concluded by saying, �I recommend bracing the inside of the garage doors with boards that you can affix at the top and the bottom to prevent the doors from blowing inward.�

Emergency Management Agencies provide extensive information about not only what you can do to protect your home but also exactly how to do the work. If you wonder how to add extra protection to your roof, walls, and windows, specific instructions are available online. If you do not have a computer, your local library provides access free of charge, with small charges for printing.

You can do nothing better for yourself and those for whom you are responsible than to investigate what can be done if a hurricane reaches your home. The most valuable thing you can do is to create a plan that, first and most important, protects the lives of those you love, including your pets and livestock. Discussing the plan with your family helps them embrace the need for it and to be involved in its implementation. When each person has a job to do, an essential part of the plan that is his or her responsibility, the entire family shares in the relief that comes when disaster is avoided.

To remove living creatures from harm�s way means leaving town when the �wolf is at the door� and taking them with you. Shutting the door on everything except what can be easily transported and is irreplaceable, such as photographs and important documents, takes a mental resolve and an understanding that nothing is more important than life.

While your decision to leave the area before a hurricane arrives is a personal one (unless declared mandatory), CEMA asserts a powerful consideration against �braving the storm.� If your house is solid and you have window protection, if you have a reliable propane generator for power, if you have all of the essential items for staying alone for several days, and if all of your loved ones are safe in your shelter, you might want to consider one thing: If anyone is injured or any problems arise at all, there will be no one to call. If someone falls down the stairs and breaks a leg, there will be no medical assistance available. No feeling of safety can be totally assured in the path of an approaching hurricane. When in doubt, leave. You may not have anything to come home to, but you will be able to come home.

And when you return, knowing that you did all you could do within your own resources, what you find will be no more or less than you can handle.

Visit these websites for valuable hurricane information:

www.weather.com
www.nhc.noaa.gov
www.gema.state.ga.us
cema.chathamcounty.org.

For �The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Hurricanes from 1900 to 2000 (and Other Frequently Requested Hurricane Facts),� visit www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/ Landsea/deadly/index.html

Ginger Miles can be reached at (912) 652-0209 or by email at ginger.miles @savannahnow.com.