Last year, no one knew quite what to expect from Syfy’s Sharknado. Turns out, there was plenty of fodder to go around for disaster preparedness tips and debunking weather myths.
This time, before the sharknado hits New York on Thursday, make sure you’ve got your preparedness tips down pat.
Know:
- Lightning can strike 10-15 miles away from a storm, so even if the sky is clear you’re not necessarily safe from a storm. Same goes for a sharknado.
- While many believe opening doors and windows will help equalize pressure during a tornado, this will actually have no effect. Plus, it will let the sharks in. Take shelter from any sort of vortex, with or without hostile marine life, in an interior room with no windows on the lowest floor.
- It’s also a myth that city skyscrapers protect against tornadoes. Cities simply cover a small geographical area, so the chances of a direct hit are small. This doesn’t mean city dwellers shouldn’t be prepared for whatever may be heading your way.
Prepare:
The full list of survival kit essential items is on redcross.org, but we’ve pulled a few to feature, in light of the sharknado forecast.
Keep your supplies in an easy-to-carry emergency preparedness kit that you can use at home or take with you in case you must evacuate. To avoid the sharknado.
At a minimum, you should have the basic supplies listed below:
- Water: one gallon per person, per day (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home) – You’ll want to stay hydrated for any chainsaw, shotgun or barstool use for your defense.
- Food: non-perishable, easy-to-prepare items (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home) – Keep your energy up. You’ll need it.
- Flashlight – Are sharks like cats? Can we distract them with shiny, moving lights?
- Battery-powered or hand-crank radio (NOAA Weather Radio, if possible) – Keep up to date with the locations of all water spouts watches and sharknado warnings.
- First aid kit – You’ll need all the sterile gauze pads you can get.
- Cell phone with chargers – How else are you supposed to maintain your Twitter feed and see all the on-the-ground sharknado pics and videos from @JimCantore?
- Family and emergency contact information – “Dear Mom. You didn’t leave many outlandish dangers off your list of reasons why I shouldn’t move to New York. I have one more to add to the list…”
- Extra cash – Rent a car. Move to Ohio. No more coastal living if it means sharknados!
- Emergency blanket – Doubles as as trampoline to catch sharks and fling them back up into the sharknado.
- Map(s) of the area – Fight or flight. Choose your escape route wisely.
Additional supplies to keep at home or in your survival kit based on the types of disasters common to your area:
- Whistle – For when you’re eaten alive and are in the shark’s belly, Jonah style.
- Duct tape – If you can get a handle on those slippery beasts, can we tape their mouths shut? Like a crocodile? I saw that on TV once.
- Scissors – For when you’ve run out of all other options. Go for the eyes.
- Household liquid bleach – Can you imagine all the shark guts to clean up? Ew.
- Entertainment items – To keep your mind off the current situations. Just avoid games like Hungry Hungry Hippos, which might trigger some adverse reactions.
Considering we haven’t yet released the Red Cross Sharknado mobile app, we hope these tips keep you safe in the interim.
And don’t miss how Clarence handles a sharknado with his survival kit: