May 20-26, 2007 marks "Hurricane Preparedness Week". This would be a GREAT time for UAN volunteers to work together to help retrofit five areas in animal shelters and sanctuaries — Shutters, Shingles, Soffits, Seals, and Surroundings. Strengthening these five spots makes structures more secure.

The Institute for Business and Home Safety has detailed DIY instructions at: http://www.ibhs.org/publications/view.asp?cat=78&id=613
According to them, most of the actions can be completed in a day with just simple tools and will keep the building — and all inside — significantly safer.

Besides readying shelters and your own home, this would be a great neighborhood activity — don't forget to have pet disaster preparedness info available.

If you are would like more detailed info than the IBHS provides, hop over to the Hurricane Preparedness Website at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/intro.shtml

The DOWNLOADS section has links to offsite sources of information and links to PDFs and MP3s that cover storm surge, high winds, tornadoes and flooding: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/downloads.shtml

This includes a 35-page PDF titled: Is Your Home Protected From Hurricane Disaster? A Homeowner's Guide to Hurricane Retrofit. This PDF is over 3 MB and takes a minute to download, but it is worth the wait: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/pdf/hurricane_retrofit.pdf

Info on Flood Retrofitting: http://www.fema.gov/rebuild/mat/rfit.shtm

Building a Safe Room: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/pdf/building_safe_room.pdf (large document that takes a minute or two to download)