This site provides information about preparing for and recovering from hurricanes.

General hurricane preparation and recovery

Environmental and health issues

• Generator exhaust: put generators outside or vent the exhaust outside because it contains dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide
• Drinking water and food
• Flooding and mold
• Pesticides. chemical & oil spills, hazardous waste
• Debris

General hurricane preparation and recovery

All of these links are to sites outside of EPA .

• Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • hurricane hazards
  • recovering from disasters
  • home page
    
    
• American Red Cross
  • hurricane preparedness
  • home page
    
    
• READY.gov links
  • natural disasters
  • home page

Environmental and health issues

Drinking water and food

• Boiling water information (PDF, 5 pp., 12 KB) To kill all major waterborne bacterial pathogens, bring water to a roiling boil for 1 minute, or for 3 minutes at elevations above 6562 ft (2 km). (get PDF reader)
• General information about drinking from household wells
• Getting and disinfecting water; from the Federal Emergency Management Agency
• Power Outages & Food Safety; from the US Department of Agriculture
  • Consumer alert
  • Fact sheet
• Suggested pre-hurricane activities for water and wastewater facilities

Flooding and mold

• Flood cleanup: keeping air healthy inside
• Safely cleaning a flood-damaged home; from the Centers for Disease Control
• Mold, moisture, and your home
  • Basics
  • Cleaning up mold
  • What to Wear

Pesticides. chemical & oil spills, hazardous waste

• National Response Center: 800-424-8802; operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. For those without 800 access, please call 202-267-2675
• National Pesticide Information Center: 1-800-858-7378
• General information about environmental emergencies
• Pesticide contacts

Debris

• Planning for Disaster Debris (pdf 1.1mb 28pages), text-only version This guide highlights the need for communities to plan for the cleanup of debris after a major natural disaster. Based on lessons learned from communities that have experienced such disasters, this guide contains information to help communities prepare for and recover more quickly from the increased solid waste generated by a natural disaster. get PDF reader
• Disposing of Debris; from the Federal Emergency Management Agency

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