Hurricane Preparedness

Everyone in your household should have a Go Bag; a collection of things you would want if you have to leave in a hurry. Your Go Bag should be sturdy and easy to carry, like a backpack or a small suitcase on wheels. You'll need to customize your Go Bag for your personal needs.

Pack your Go Bag with the following items:

• Bottled water and nonperishable food, such as granola bars
• Copies of your important documents in a waterproof container (e.g., insurance cards, Medicare/Medicaid cards, hoto Ds, proof of address, marriage and birth certificates, copies of credit and ATM cards)
• Flashlight, hand-crank or battery-operated AM/FM radio, and extra batteries
• List of the medications you take, why you take them, and their dosages
• Contact information for your household and members of your support network
• Cash, in small bills
• Notepad and pen
• Back-up medical equipment (e.g., glasses, batteries) and chargers
• Aerosol tire repair kits and/or tire inflator to repair flat wheelchair or scooter tires
• Supplies for your service animal or pet (e.g., food, extra water, bowl, leash, cleaning items, vaccination records, and medications)
• Portable cell phone chargers
• Other personal items

Include items that can help protect you and others from COVID-19, including hand sanitizer, and face coverings for each person.

Keep enough supplies in the home to survive for up to seven days.

Include such items as:

• One gallon of drinking water per person per day
• Nonperishables, ready-to-eat canned foods, and a manual can opener
• First-aid kit
• Medications, including a list of the medications you take, why you take them, and their dosages
• Flashlight or battery-powered lantern, battery-operated AM/FM radio, and extra batteries, or wind-up radios that do not require batteries
• Glow sticks
• Whistle or bell
• Back-up medical equipment, if possible (e.g., oxygen, medication, scooter battery, hearing aids, mobility aids, glasses, facemasks, gloves)
• Style and serial numbers of medical devices (such as pacemakers) and usage instructions

You can get tips on how to place and dispose of your sandbags.

Sandbag Placement

It may not be necessary to surround your entire property with sandbags. For most, focusing on doorways and drains may be enough to reduce flood impacts. Place the bags parallel to the direction of potential water flow.

If stacking them, tamp down on the bags before placing the next row. Don’t place each bag right on top of the one below it; instead, stagger them.

Sandbag Disposal

Sandbags that have been exposed to floodwater need to be disposed of immediately and not reused. Floodwater may contaminate sandbags. Wear protective equipment when handling sandbags that have been exposed.

Do not allow sand to wash into catch basins, which will potentially clog them and make flooding worse in the future.

Sand that has not gotten wet can also be used as topsoil or general fill material.

The City has installed Coastal Evacuation Route signs in parts of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. These signs help direct residents who will be driving personal vehicles to Evacuation Reception Centers in the event of a coastal storm evacuation.

You can get maps detailing potential hurricane evacuation zones and routes in New York City.

The Ready New York: My Emergency Plan + Hurricanes and New York City is an interactive workbook designed to help New Yorkers, especially those with disabilities and access and functional needs, create an emergency plan. 

My Emergency Plan walks users through:

• Establishing a support network
• Capturing important health information 
• Evacuation planning
• Gathering emergency supplies
• How to prepare for a hurricane, including a map detailing hurricane evacuation zones and routes in New York City

The Ready New York: Hurricanes and New York City guide is now included in the My Emergency Plan workbook.

The workbook is available in the following languages:

• English
• Spanish
• Chinese
• Russian
• Arabic
• Bengali
• French
• Haitian Creole
• Italian
• Korean
• Polish
• Urdu
• Yiddish

Online

Download Ready New York: My Emergency Plan.

By Mail

Requests for more than 50 copies must be made either by e-mail using the "Contact NYCEM" link on NYC Emergency Management's website OR by writing to:

Online

Contact NYC Emergency Management.

By Mail

Ready NY Coordinator
NYC Emergency Management
165 Cadman Plaza East
Brooklyn, NY 11201