Disaster Preparedness - After a Disaster

After a disaster strikes your community, you may be left feeling disoriented. Not only will you need to be aware of possible post-disaster dangers, but you may need to help assess and repair damages.

Know ahead of time how to handle materials damaged in a disaster. This will give you the confidence you need to question the methods of clean-up crews if they don't seem right to you. It can also help you get a head start on the clean-up process if you don't have professional help right away, or if you're tackling it on your own.

Immediately after:

*	Check the area around you for safety. In the case of biological, chemical or radiological threats, listen for instructions on local radio or television stations about safe places to go.
*	Have injuries treated by a medical professional. Wash small wounds with soap and water. To help prevent infection of small wounds, use bandages and replace them if they become soiled, damaged or waterlogged.
*	Some natural hazards, like severe storms or earthquakes, may recur in the form of new storms or aftershocks over the next several days. Take all safety precautions if the hazard strikes again.
*	Avoid using the telephone (cellular or landlines) if a large number of homes in your area have been affected by a disaster. Emergency responders need to have the telephone lines available to coordinate their response. During the immediate post- disaster time period, only use the telephone to report life-threatening conditions and call your out-of-town emergency contact.
*	Remain calm. Pace yourself. You may find yourself in the position of taking charge of other people. Listen carefully to what people are telling you, and deal patiently with urgent situations first.
*	If you had to leave your home, return only when local authorities advise that it is safe to do so. Also, be sure to have photo identification available, because sometimes local authorities will only permit people who own property in a disaster-affected area back into the area.
*	Except in extreme emergencies or unless told to do so by emergency officials, avoid driving during the immediate post-disaster period. Keep roads clear for rescue and emergency vehicles. If you must drive, do not drive on roads covered with water. They could be damaged or eroded. Additionally, vehicles can begin to float in as little as six inches of water.
*	If the disaster was widespread, listen to your radio or television station for instructions from local authorities. Information may change rapidly after a widespread disaster, so continue to listen regularly for updates. If the power is still out, listen to a battery- powered radio, television or car radio.
*	If the area was flooded and children are present, warn them to stay away from storm drains, culverts and ditches. Children can get caught and injured in these areas.

Remain at home or away from the impacted areas until it is safe. After a flood or other natural disaster, going back into your school can be dangerous because of structural, electrical or other hazards. Check with your district office or administration before returning to school. Your school maintenance crew should check for structural damage and remove safety hazards before you return to survey the damage to your library media center.

Water and water damage. After the flood waters recede, the debris that remains can cause serious pollution problems and result in ill health effects. Drinking water. Listen for special announcements about local boil orders that may be in effect. Once a BOIL ORDER has been announced, the accepted procedure is to boil the pan of water at a ROLLING BOIL (212°F) FOR ONE FULL MINUTE. Boiling water will generally rid the water supply of microorganisms, but not such substances as nitrates, nitrites or agri-chemicals. Water used to make ice, brush teeth, or wash dishes also must be boiled. Private water wells should be pumped out, disinfected with bleach, allowed to recharge naturally, and tested before drinking or cooking. If you have a question, contact your local public health department.

Cleaning up. The right type of cleaner can make a major clean-up job or an everyday clean-up job easier. In either situation, the best product choice is one that not only cleans away soil, but also kills bacteria and/or a wide variety of microorganisms. Clean-up after a flood requires a lot of time, patience and skill. It helps if you have the right cleaner, one that is appropriate for the job and is a disinfectant as well. Any retailer's shelf contains many brands of various types of cleaners: all purpose, glass, basin-tub-tile, bathroom, detergents, bleaches and so forth. Your school custodial staff may provide the cleaning agents and assistance you need. Cleaning products that actually have germ killing power will be labeled using the word "disinfectant" on the label.

Safety precautions. Following floods, snakes are often forced into places where they are not usually found. If you live in an area where snakes inhabit, take the following precautions:

Emotional responses. A natural disaster often causes more than property damage. It also brings a flood of emotions. How people deal with these emotional reactions may affect their recovery afterwards.People are very quick to take care of what needs to be done: sandbagging, packing, helping neighbors. At the same time people experience disbelief. This allows people to keep working for survival. But there may be a sense of unreality during the disaster.Other powerful feelings may surface.These feelings are very natural reactions to an unusual situation. The full force of the emotional reactions often hit after the disaster has passed and cleaning up begins. That s when exhaustion, grief, desperation and depression may set in.

Coping. One of the first things people can do is pull together. It is important to ask for help. There are many people around who want to help and will help. They just need to know what to do. Help from others may make the critical difference between coping and prolonged suffering. It is also important for people to take care of their own physical and emotional needs by eating a balanced diet to fuel your energy, and as much as possible, getting enough sleep. As people deal with the aftermath of a disaster, they can talk with others about their feelings and look for the positives in the situation.

The effects of the hurricanes may be long-lasting and the resulting trauma can reverberate even with those not directly affected by the disaster. It is common for people who have experienced traumatic situations to have very strong emotional reactions. Understanding normal responses to these abnormal events can aid you in coping effectively with your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, and help you along the path to recovery. Get more information about coping and managing stress from the American Psychological Association.

Disaster-threatened collections. Check with your district library media contact first to see what steps are being taken to mobilize recovery at the district level for your school and your library media center. Check the resources available at the Northeast Document Conservation Center. Information provided includes advice on drying wet collections and dealing with damage from fire, pests, or mold. Referrals to commercial disaster recovery service providers experienced with library and archives collections can also be provided.

Establish priorities by groups of materials, not item-by-item. A library might use subject areas or call numbers; an archives, record groups; and a museum, material groupings. Focus first protection efforts and salvage work on:

Disaster Preparedness Resources for Florida School Library Media Centers

Disaster Preparedness Resources for
Florida School Library Media Centers