Parenting Pointers: Helping Kids Prepare for Hurricane Florence

As Hurricane Florence strengthens and churns toward the coast of North and South Carolina, Save the Children urges parents and caregivers to talk to their children about hurricanes and take immediate steps to keep kids safe. Save the Children is the national leader for children in emergencies, and here are our tips:

Prepare Your Kids Now for Hurricane Florence

• Talk about Hurricane Florence: Take time to explain to your children that a hurricane is a natural event and not anyone’s fault. Using simple, age-appropriate words and explanations about what disasters are or what happened during a disaster can give them a sense of understanding and control. Let them know your top priority is to keep them safe.
• Reassure Kids: Let your children know you’re planning ahead to keep them safe. Reassure them that during an emergency, many caring adults — including parents, teachers and first responders — will be working to keep them safe.
• Identify Evacuation Routes: Find out if you live in Hurricane Florence’s evacuation area, and assess your risks from a storm surge, flooding or wind damage. Together with your kids, identify the best evacuation routes, so you can all be ready to evacuate quickly and safely.
• Fill out Contact Cards: Make Emergency Contact Cards for all your children, which include three emergency contacts that any first responder or caregiver can reach out to, in case you are separated during the hurricane. Since local power and phone service can be disrupted during emergencies, it’s also important to have one out-of-town contact. Practice learning these numbers with your children.
• Pack a ‘Go-Bag’: Put together a “Go Bag” with each of your children, which can include a favorite stuffed animal and the comforts of home, as well as an emergency contact card and activities to pass the time, like books or games, if you need to evacuate to a shelter. Every family should also have an emergency preparedness kit, complete with nonperishable food items, a flash light, medicine and other medical supplies, water and personal hygiene items like baby wipes and hand sanitizer.

What to Do During Hurricane Florence

• Evacuate If Instructed To Do So: Evacuate if told to do so by local authorities, or if you feel unsafe. If advised to evacuate, avoid flooded roads and watch for washed-out bridges. Local officials may close certain roads, especially near the coast, when effects of the hurricane reach the coast.
• Stay Indoors, If Not Evacuated: If you are not advised to evacuate, or are unable to do so safely, stay indoors, away from windows, skylights and doors. Continue to monitor weather reports and do not go outside until the storm has passed.

What to Do After Hurricane Florence

• Limit Media Exposure: Protect children from seeing too many sights and images of the hurricane, including those on the internet, television or newspapers.
• Ensure Utilities Are Available: Before children are returned to areas impacted by HurricaneFlorence, make sure utilities, such as electricity and plumbing, are restored and living and learning spaces in homes, schools, and child care facilities are free from physical and environmental hazards.
• Involve Children In Recovery: After a hurricane, let children help in clean-up and recovery efforts in age-appropriate ways, as this participation may increase their sense of control over the situation.

Save the Children’s disaster preparedness and emergency response experts are available for interviews with press. Contact Jeremy Soulliere at (203) 295-5842 orjsoulliere@savechildren.org to coordinate.

Save the Children is closely monitoring Hurricane Florence and stands ready to respond to the unmet needs of children and families. Nobody knows when the next hurricane will strike, nor the next earthquake, flood or crisis. But we know children suffer most when they do. That's why Save the Children’s caring professionals are prepared to help vulnerable girls and boys during disasters and their aftermath. By contributing to ourChildren's Emergency Fund, you will help us serve children in the U.S. and around the world.