Popular handbook helps residents prepare for natural hazards

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Cindy Knapman, (808) 387-7634
Communications Leader, Sea Grant College Program
Posted: Apr 1, 2020

Restroom at Blackpot Beach Park, Kaua‘i, which was destroyed by the floodwaters. Photo by Ruby Pap.
Restroom at Blackpot Beach Park, Kaua‘i, which was destroyed by the floodwaters. Photo by Ruby Pap.
Homeowner’s Handbook To Prepare For Natural Hazards 4th edition
Homeowner’s Handbook To Prepare For Natural Hazards 4th edition

While families continue to shelter in place in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of keeping your home safe remains a priority.

The newly updated Homeowner’s Handbook To Prepare For Natural Hazards 4th edition, published by the University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant College Program (Hawai‘i Sea Grant) and available free of charge, provides detailed information on how to prepare your family and your home for a hurricane or other natural hazards.  

For the family, key tips for emergency supplies, evacuation planning and ways to reduce the impacts from climate change (including heat, drought, infectious disease, wildfires and sea-level rise) are now included.

For the home, the handbook outlines new retrofit best practices for single-wall and double-wall houses, roofs, windows, post and pier foundations, garage doors and much more.  

Lt. Gov. Josh Green said, “It is important families always have their emergency plans and supplies, including extra medicine as well as 14 days of food and water. The handbook provides helpful tips so people can slowly gather their supplies for the long-term, without placing a burden on vendors or creating shortages in the community. With more people staying at home, we encourage people to stay active by working on their health and on projects to strengthen the home found in the handbook.”

The handbook has now gone through 10 print runs and has been modified for 12 states and countries. Almost 2,500 houses have been retrofitted in Hawai‘i since the first printing in 2007.  

“We would like to thank the 35 government and private partners that supported the handbook, many from the very beginning. We are extremely appreciative of their contributions that have helped the community,” said Darren T. Lerner, director of Hawai‘i Sea Grant. 

Copies of the new handbook can be downloaded online and printed copies will be available and accessible at the Hawai‘i Sea Grant office when UH Mānoa resumes normal operations. 

Reserve a copy today by contacting Hawai‘i Sea Grant at seagrant@hawaii.edu or call (808) 956-7031.