#helenerelief

[mikemooremedia]

NC General Assembly approves $273M Helene Relief bill, Reidsville Police report, Rockingham County Tourism website relaunched, medical and business news, Hurricane Milton update. Weather, birthday club, community calendar, consumer report, regional sports, Destination Celebration, motivational moment. Music Spotlight: Tanya Tucker

[novella-november]

I'm seeing an endless line of meteorologists on Facebook and other social media who are all extremely concerned about this hurricane, which is currently a Category 1 but many are predicting will rapidly strengthen to a Category 5 before it makes landfall, with potential storm surge of up to 20 feet being described as "unsurvivable" and that this whole storm is going to be "Catastrophic"

This second video is an older one for previous hurricanes, but it gives you a good look at the human scale of destruction with storm surge:

If you live on the coast anywhere in Florida near water please make sure you are prepared and as safe as you can be. If you are in an evacuation zone but don't have transportation, the state has teamed up with Uber to give free rides to local hurricane shelters using the code:

HELENERELIEF

Take pictures of your entire home if you haven't already, inside and out (if it is safe to go outside) for insurance purposes and email them to yourself with your phone so they're backed up in the cloud.

Make sure you have as much clean drinking water as you can stockpile/carry. If your plumbing is functioning right now, fill up every clean container you have with tap water in advance of any power outages.

Also please make sure you have a way to wash hands in outages/during storms, and do not use running water in thunderstorms, as it is a shock hazard!

Just a PSA, Hurricane Helene is going to be passing through my area starting some time tomorrow, so I wanted to take a moment to remind anyone who is in this storm's path to make sure you have:

1) flashlights or other light sources that are not just your cell phone -- cheap solar lights work great in a pinch; to charge them, arrange them around indoor lamps to get the most light exposure, or put them in your sunniest window:

2) you should have food and drink that is stable at room temperature and does not require anything to prep, plus a can opener, in case of prolonged power outages.

3) keep important documents such as birth certificates, passports, etc all in a safe location that is preferably waterproof; a ziplock bag, or a locking food container will work in a pinch.

4) find which area of your house is the sturdiest, without windows, and make sure your household knows to go there in an emergency, which includes Tornadoes; for some, this is a basement, for others it is a bathroom located away from an exterior wall, and for us, its a small hallway in the center of the house. Try to put extra blankets, pillows, and other cushioning in this area in advance both for comfort of everyone crammed into a small area, and also for additional protection, since you can wrap yourself up in pillows and thick blankets in an emergency; if you've got small kids, try to make sure everyone has their favorite stuffed animal to hug.

5) make sure everyone's pajamas are clothes that are comfortable and good for wearing in public, and that everyone has closed toed shoes on hand that can be thrown on at a moments notice and that everyone knows to put them on ASAP when an emergency alert comes through.

6) make sure all phones are fully charged, and preferably that you have backup power banks; if possible, have an emergency handheld radio on hand to listen to broadcasts. If you need to use a phone to watch local news livestreams, have one member of the house use their phone to stream while everyone else preserves their battery.

7) make sure you have any essential medications on hand in a form that is easy to transport, and if you have pets, make sure you have food, pet carriers, and leashes/harnesses, etc!

Stay safe, everyone!