< Previous20 | The Daily News | Hurricane Preparedness | 202424 Hour Call Out Service Available Store Hours: Mon-Fri: 7am-6pm • Batteries • Flashlights • Generators • Water 2024 | Hurricane Preparedness | The Daily News | 21Hurricane 411 County, cities provide wealth of storm info DICKINSON • To get the quickest, most up-to-date information when it comes to hurricanes and evacuations, Dickinson police encourage residents to like the city, police department and Office of Emergency Management’s Facebook pages. • Residents also are encouraged to visit the city’s website, www. ci.dickinson.tx.us, where they can sign up for DickinsonALERT. This resource will give residents access to important information in a timely and accurate fashion through phone calls, text messages, email and a user-friendly app. • The main number for the police department is 281-337-4700. FRIENDSWOOD • The city will communicate through multiple sources if a mandatory or voluntary evacuation is issued. Friendswood residents should register for the Friendswood notification system, so they can receive phone calls, text messages and emails from the city at www.ci.friendswood.tx.us. • The city will inform residents when it is safe to return to the city. Stay tuned to local media, city social media accounts and register for emergency notifications and city newsletters or download the app. • The city’s main number is 281-996-3200, and the Office of Emergency Management is 281-996-3335. GALVESTON • Galveston residents who will need a ride or do not have their own transportation during a hurricane evacuation can call 409-797- 3900 to register for the city’s evacuation transportation program. • Residents can sign up for city of Galveston’s emergency notification system online by visiting https://www.galvestontx.gov/ AlertCenter.aspx to subscribe. The city’s emergency management department also posts updates on Twitter at @GalvestonOEM or on Facebook at Facebook.com/GalvestonOEM. KEMAH • Kemah residents must register at www.kemahtx.gov to set up preferences for notifications. In the case of a hurricane, alerts would be provided via home phone, cell, text message or email. This is the city’s primary direct communication tool but requires residents to register. • To contact a staff member of the Kemah Emergency Management, contact Police Chief Holland Jones at 281-334-5414 or Fire Chief Robert Suniga at 281-538-5727. LA MARQUE • For general, nonemergency, emergency management questions, residents may call 409-938-9262. During an emergency, the city prefers that residents utilize the city’s website, www.ci.la- marque.tx.us/, as it will be updated on a regular basis. • Visit www.cityoflamarque.org/664/Alerts-Notifications to sign up for emergency phone notifications and the CivicReady app. LEAGUE CITY • League City residents can register with the city’s mass notification system, by visiting www.leaguecitytx.gov/2504/ Sign-up-for-Notifications. Residents can choose to receive alerts via phone call, text message or email if a storm impacts the area. • The city’s website, social media sites (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) and Channel 16 also will provide residents with the critical information needed during emergency situations. • City officials encourage residents who would need evacuation assistance during a hurricane to call 211 and register with the State of Texas Emergency Assistance Registry program early. • League City’s nonemergency number for the League City Office of Emergency Management is 281-554-1300. SANTA FE • Residents may sign up to receive phone notifications via Alert Santa Fe by visiting www.ci.santa-fe.tx.us/ emergency-management or by calling 409-925-2000. The city uses the notification system to update people about road closures, community events and storm and weather updates. Visit Facebook.com/santafetexas for up-to-date information. TEXAS CITY • Residents can sign up to receive emergency notifications via its EverBridge portal on the city’s website, www.texascitytx. gov, or by calling 409-643-5880. • Buses transporting people between the county and the shelter do pickups in Texas City. Residents can call 409-945- 0820 to learn where the buses will arrive. UNINCORPORATED GALVESTON COUNTY • For information on hurricane preparedness in all unincorporated areas in the county, contact Galveston County Emergency Management at www.gcoem.org or by calling 281- 309-5002 or reach the 24/7 hotline at 888-384-2000. Find the department on Facebook and Twitter for emergency updates. • Visit www.gcoem.org to sign up for transportation in the event of a hurricane if you are without a vehicle or have medical considerations. If you know of neighbors or friends who may need transportation, encourage them to sign up. You are not required to take the assistance, but it will ensure you will get help if needed. • Sign up for the county EverBridge system, which will provide alerts in case of a hurricane by phone, text and email. The tool is the best way to get emergency alerts. • Residents in San Leon and Bacliff can contact their water department to sign up for the notification systems for interrupted service in a hurricane and other water notices. • County emergency management officials say communities in low-lying areas of the county should be especially aware of the need to evacuate. Those areas often hardest hit by a hurricane include Bayou Vista, Bolivar and San Leon. Many people in those areas stayed during Hurricane Ike in 2008 even after the Bolivar Ferry stopped running and water service was halted. More than 120 had to be evacuated in Bolivar. Emergency management officials said residents should take notice of those major closures as a sign it is necessary to leave when a hurricane may be on its way. From Staff Reports 22 | The Daily News | Hurricane Preparedness | 2024READY. My team is ready to help before, during and after any disaster. Protect your home. CALL ME TODAY. 1501430 State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, State Farm General Insurance Company, Bloomington, IL Johnny White, Agent 549 North FM 270 League City, TX 77573 Bus: 281-333-5050 johnny.white.b9vd@statefarm.com Did you know we rent, sell and repair generators? ARE YOU HURRICANE READY? 409-740-1000 8435 Stewart Rd / Galveston, TX 77554 We are your local Generac dealer for Home Standby & portable generators! Don’t wait till it’s too late! 2024 | Hurricane Preparedness | The Daily News | 23Stay Safe and Prepared this Hurricane Season 409.370.0088 andrea@sandnsea.com ______________________________ sandnsea.com Andrea P. Sunseri, REALTOR ® New Homes From the $200s Sunrise Cove offers residents the chance to stay “home” in the heart of Texas City while enjoying the modern-day conveniences of a new build. Here, you’ll find 3-to 4-bedroom, one or two-story homes with optional 3-car attached garages. Sunrise Cove 3306 Creekside Court Texas City, TX 77590 (409)359-2461 Learn more at beazer.com Pricing, features, and availability subject to change without notice. ENERGY STAR® and the ENERGY STAR mark are registered trademarks owned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Indoor airPLUS is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program for new homes that builds on the ENERGY STAR program to recognize indoor air quality features in a new home. DOE Zero Energy Ready Home™ and the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home mark are registered trademarks owned by the U.S. Department of Energy. See New Home Counselor for complete details. ©202 4 24 | The Daily News | Hurricane Preparedness | 2024From staff reports O ne of the most important items needed to survive and recover from a hurricane is information. For 182 years, The Galves- ton County Daily News has been the region’s top news source for local infor- mation on everything from evacuation calls to recovery efforts after the storm. Information from The Daily News is available in print, online, social media, television and radio. Much has changed since Hurricane Ike made landfall in 2008. In particular for The Daily News, information was provided not just by the printed edition of the newspaper and online at galv news.com, but the staff’s use of social media provided needed information for residents before, during and after the storm. Reporters’ tweets and Facebook posts became the lifeline for many Galveston County residents. That will continue in the event of another Ike-like storm. Updates, as well as vital information, will be available online at galvnews. com. In the event of a storm, news and information on galvnews.com will be available to all readers regardless of subscription status. Subscribers benefit because they will receive regular email updates and breaking news alerts. To get instant updates from reporters and editors who will be in the field, make sure you like The Daily News’ Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ galvnews and follow its Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/galvnews and its Ins- tagram at instagram.com/galvnews. Readers can help in the coverage by making public postings of news tips, photos, videos and questions to their Facebook or Twitter accounts using the hashtags #GalvNews. Thanks to the vast reach of Houston television and radio outlets, The Daily News also has long-standing partner- ships with KHOU-TV Channel 11 and News Radio 740 AM KTRH to provide regular updates on Galveston County storm and recovery news. Because a storm can disrupt home delivery of the printed edition of The Daily News and because many of the newspaper’s readers may have evacu- ated before a major storm, the printed edition will be available at select drop- off locations across Galveston County. A listing of those locations will be provided and announced once the storm has passed. Stay connected with The Daily News How to handle your subscription during a hurricane evacuation • During a mandatory evacua- tion, all deliveries will be halted. It is not necessary to call to stop your newspaper delivery. • During a voluntary evacua- tion, you should call in to place your newspaper delivery on hold. Upon your return, you can email or call to resume delivery. • While evacuated, you can stay up-to-date by visiting www. galvnews.com and following The Daily News on Facebook and Twitter. • Activate your digital access before a storm. This will ensure you can view all of the exclusive updates, stories and photos available on www.galvnews. com with your computer, laptop, smartphone or tablet. • Once the mandatory evacu- ation has been lifted, The Daily News will work vigorously to resume your delivery. • The most efficient method to contact the circulation depart- ment after a storm is through email. For assistance to activate your digital access or for general inquires regarding your sub- scription, contact the circulation department at 409-683-5201 or circulation@galvnews.com. 2024 | Hurricane Preparedness | The Daily News | 2526 | The Daily News | Hurricane Preparedness | 2024 From staff reports S ometime about Sept. 14, 2008, a lot of people who’d stayed for Hurricane Ike made a depressing discovery: All the emergency water they’d run into their bathtubs had leaked out. So tip No. 1 is to make sure the seals in your tub will hold up a long time against the pressure of a full load of water. A better idea, though, is to invest in something such as a WaterBOB — a big flexible plastic bladder that fits inside a bathtub. The box contains four items: • The bladder, which according to the company, is made of “heavy-duty 10 mm food grade Linear Low Density Polyethylene plastic,” which “follows and stays within U.S. FDA guidelines.” • A funnel of sorts that screws into the bladder and is held over the spigot in the tub. It’s a little awkward, but serviceable. • A siphon pump that screws into the BOB and works very well. • Two caps. Filling the BOB is easy. Just roll it out on the tub’s floor, attach the threaded end of the funnel to the bladder, hold the wide end of the funnel over the spigot and let it rip. If you’re smart enough to have some zip-ties in the house, you probably won’t even have to hold on the whole time. Filling takes about 20 minutes. Getting water out is easy, too. The oper- ative part of the siphon pump is a red ac- cordion bulb with a valve on top. You turn the valve one way to close the system, pump the red bulb a few times and the water flows. Turn the valve the other way, and system vents and the water stops. One tip: BOB won’t stop until you tell it to, so don’t forget to open the valve or you’ll siphon water into the tub or onto the floor. PROS AND CONS The main benefit is simple volume. You don’t realize how much water you can use in a day until you have to scrounge for it. You don’t realize how heavy water is until you have to haul a bunch of 5-gal- lon jugs up a couple of flights of stairs. So, having 100 gallons in-house is a very good thing. The water is clean. Let’s face it, no- body wants to drink or cook straight out of a bath tub. The main downside is that BOB takes up the whole bath tub. So, if you’ve only got one tub, bathing is going to be tricky. If you have two, you’re set. ALTERNATIVES Other brands include AquaPod and Watersafe. You can even order 55-gal- lon drums specially made for water storage, but they are heavy and, with shipping, very pricey. GENERAL TIPS • You never can have too much clean water. Bottled drinking water arrived in Galveston within hours of Ike. Take all that’s offered and use your big supply for cooking and washing. • Don’t be too hasty about dumping your emergency supply. Water pressure will come and go after a hurricane and when the city water first comes back on, it’ll probably need to be boiled for drinking and cooking, which will eat up your fuel supply. Use city water for washing and cook with your supply. • Reduce, reuse and recycle. The only water going down the drain should be from the toilet. Use leftover cooking water to wash utensils. Trap bathing water to fill the toilet tank. In fact, the last stop for every drop ought to be the toilet tank. Keep fresh water on hand with plastic bathtub bladders COURTESY PHOTO The WaterBOB is a plastic bladder that fits inside a bathtub and can contain a large supply of fresh water.SERVICE SPECIAL With This Ad expires 12-31-24 We are here for you when you need us! AFFORDABLE AIR & HEAT SERVICING YOUR CITY SINCE 1994! GCHD.ORG|409.938.7221 From staff reports A lthough medical care was available on the island after Hurricane Ike, it was hard to get to. For major emergencies, a trip to an emergency room or an urgent care center is necessary. But if you plan to ride out a storm, prepare to take care of cuts, scrapes and bruises on your own. You can buy a good first-aid kit from almost any store that sells camping or outdoor supplies, but also it’s easy to make your own. The Daily News file photo A first-aid kit in the home and in the car is a useful item to have in the after- math of a hurricane. Keep a first-aid kit at home and in your vehicle ESSENTIAL ITEMS Hydrogen peroxide Rubbing alcohol Anti-bacterial ointment Hydrocortisone ointment Foot powder Antiseptic wipes Cotton pads Sterile gauze pads Adhesive bandages Medical tape One ace bandage Aspirin or other over- the-counter pain medicine Instant cold compress Eye wash solution Tissues Non-latex gloves Scissors Tweezers Insect repellent Sun screen Aloe vera 2024 | Hurricane Preparedness | The Daily News | 27HURRICANE INTENSITY Any storm of Category 3 or more is considered major. SOURCE: The National Hurricane Center AP Illustrations CATEGORY1 74-95 mph Damage primarily to trees and unanchored mobile homes; some coastal flooding CATEGORY2 96-110 mph Some damage to roofs, doors, windows, trees and shrubbery; flooding damage to piers CATEGORY3 111-130 mph Some structural damage; large trees blown down; flooding near shoreline and possibly inland; mobile homes destroyed CATEGORY4 131-155 mph Extensive damage to doors and windows; major damage to lower floors near shore; terrain may be flooded well inland CATEGORY5 155+ mph Complete roof failure and some building failures; massive evacuation; flooding causes major damage to lower floors of all shoreline buldings KNOW THE TERMS • Hurricane: A tropical cyclone with minimum sustained wind speed of 74 mph or higher. • Hurricane season: The portion of the year having a relatively high incidence of hurricanes. The hurricane sea- son in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. • Saffir-Simpson Scale*: Cate- gories of hurricanes based on sustained wind speeds. Storm categories do not correlate to the severity of the storm’s impact on land. • Storm surge: An abnormal rise in sea level that sweeps along the coast near the eye of hurricane landfall. Storm surg- es can reach 25 feet high and be 50-1,000 miles wide. Storm surge is the greatest threat to life and property during a hurricane. • Tropical storm: A tropical cy- clone with minimum sustained wind speed of 39-73 mph. • Tropical storm/hurricane watch: Tropical storm/hurri- cane conditions pose a threat to watch area within 48 hours. • Tropical Storm/hurricane warning: Tropical storm/hurri- cane conditions are expected within 36 hours. *Remember: Storm categories only account for wind speed. Low category hurricanes can be more devastating to life and property than high category storms because of the associ- ated storm surge. Please act on the advice from local officials. SOURCES: City of Galveston, FEMA6202 Stewart Road • Galveston • www.TexasHomeowners.com Celebrating Our 60th Anniversary in 2024 Henry Freudenburg Insurance Agency, Inc. (409) 744-7111 Our agency has protected you for 60 hurricane seasons, and we won’t be blown away. Henry Freudenburg Insurance Agency is the oldest insurance agency on Galveston Island! We have been owned and continuously operated by the same agent for over 60 years. Annie Our WonderdogHenry Freudenburg, CLU We’re Here For You Pre-Plan Today & Save Get the value and peace of mind that comes with pre-planning. Spare your loved ones the hardship of making difficult decisions in their time of grief. Contact us today to arrange your free pre-planning consultation with an experienced professional. 3828 Ave O Galveston, TX 77550 409.762.8470 E. 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