In “Hurricanes & Homeschooling,” Episode, #171, Meredith Curtis shares her personal experience with hurricanes – preparation, weathering the storm, and aftermath – for a homeschooling family. She shares how to make the most of these extreme weather teachable moments by teaching science, geography, and life skills while the hurricane rages – not from books – from life! Set aside school work and learn practical science and geography while you prepare, endure, and clean up after the storm.

Bringing Homeschool Joy to Families Everywhere!

Our Experience with Hurricanes – Highlights

• My first as a preschooler – rowing down our street as a preteen
• 2004 – Frances, Charlie, Ivan, Jeanne
• 2022 Hurricane Ian

Clean Tub and Fill with Water

Yard

• Remove outside furniture, decorations, potted plants – anything that could be lifted up
• Board windows

Supplies

• Water – 1 Gallon Water per person x 3
• Coffee Pot and Coffee Pot for Grill
• Canned Food – tuna, soups, chicken, vegetables
• Dried fruits & jerkey
• Bread, peanut butter, honey
• Snacks – nuts, granola bars, crackers, chips
• Candles
• Flashlights
• NOAA weather radio
• Batteries

Grill Ready – Charcoal or propane

Check on elderly, widows, sickly – make sure they are ready for the storm

Make sure Generator is in working order (if you have one) and NOT in or near the house

Low-lying areas, near ocean or bay, trailer? YES!

Always go to higher ground, further inland

Tropical Cyclones (Tropical Depression, Tropical Storm, Hurricane)

Categories

Track the Storm

Name, track, size, stability, cone

How hurricanes form and move

Why they often spin off tornadoes

Meteorologists share so much good information about hurricanes and the storm in particular

The day after, let emergency workers check roads, etc for downed powerlines, flooding, etc.

• Clean up debris in Yard
• Return outside furniture to outside and unboard windows
• Check for flooding, leaking, damage

While without power, play board games, talk, saving phone batteries

Help others – our family worked at a ministry afterward sorting clothes for tornado victims, cook a meal for someone without electricity if yours is back on, help the elderly get settled

National Hurricane Center (NOAA) https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Free Tracking Maps https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/tracking_charts.shtml

Florida’s Health Department has a neat pdf on the storms of 2004: https://www.floridahealth.gov/environmental-health/climate-and-health/_documents/2004-hurricane-season-factsheet.pdf

Rescue missions

Army Corps of Engineers

Private Charities / Churches / Opportunities to Help / FEMA

How Flood & Home Insurance works

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Our curriculum works great at home; or in homeschool co-ops and online classes, too!