Your Lifestyle guide to hurricane preparedness
Effects of Irma could be felt in South Florida by Friday. Broward County has several shelters, should you need to evacuate.
Coconut Creek
- Lyons Creek Middle School: 4333 Sol Press Blvd.
- Monarch High School: 5050 Wiles Road
Coral Springs
- Coral Glades High School: 2700 Sportsplex Dr.
Davie
- Fox Trail Elementary School: 1250 Nob Hill Road
Fort Lauderdale
- Rock Island Elementary/Atlantic Technical (Arthur Ashe): 1701 NW 23rd Ave.
Pembroke Park
- Watkins Elementary School: 3520 SW 52nd Ave.
Lauderdale Lakes
- Park Lakes Elementary School: 3925 N. State Road 7
Miramar
- New Renaissance Middle School: 10701 Miramar Blvd.
- Everglades High School: 17100 SW 48th Court
Pembroke Pines
- Silver Trail Middle School: 18300 Sheridan Street
- West Broward High School: 500 NW 209 Ave.
Plantation
- Plantation Elementary School: 651 NW 42nd Ave.
Pompano Beach
- Pompano Beach High School: 600 NE 13 Ave.
Weston
- Falcon Cove Middle School: 4251 Bonaventure Blvd.
Pet-friendly Shelter
- Millennium Middle School: 5803 NW 94th Ave., Tamarac
Don’t wait to assemble your supplies. Below is advice from the National Weather Service in Miami with notes from meteorologist Bryan Norcross, who reflects on Andrew in Lifestyle’s September issue.
- For a big storm like Irma, you need enough water to drink for seven days. The water does NOT have to be bottled. You can simply buy water containers and fill them with tap water.
- Get a plastic sheet to line the tub. Then you can fill your tub with water without it leaking out. You’ll use this to flush the toilet and for basic cleaning if the water goes out.
- Have enough food on hand to eat for seven days—food bars and other packaged food is good.
- Buy a large number of Ziploc-like plastic bags—large and small. You’ll use them to protect papers and other valuables AND you’ll fill them 3/4 full of water and stuff the freezer full. Do that by midweek to be sure they are frozen when/if the power goes out over the weekend. It will keep the refrigerator colder. Do NOT set your fridge on the lowest setting.
- Get a portable radio that receives AM and FM. NOAA radio is good, but doesn’t get you information on evacuations and other instructions. Get batteries.
- Get LED flashlights and/or lanterns. They run forever on fewer batteries. But you still need plenty of extra batteries.
- Get large plastic bags. They are invaluable for keeping valuable things dry if you have a leak.
- Get large plastic boxes. If you put your valuables, photos, and papers in plastic bags inside the boxes, they will likely be okay.
- Get plastic sheeting and plenty of duct tape.
- Do your laundry this week.
