The 2005 hurricane season has started right where 2004 left off. Newly minted Hurricane Dennis heads for the Gulf of Mexico and either Florida or the northern Gulf Coast area. And, still, people are wondering what they should do to prepare. Silver Lake Publishing’s best-selling book THE PERSONAL SECURITY HANDBOOK: Practical Tools for Keeping Yourself, Your Family and Your Things Safe… has the answers. And, on Wednesday morning (7/6/2005) Silver Lake editorial director James Walsh offered some of these answers to viewers of CBS-TV’s The Early Show.

He told Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen that it’s important to look around the house for loose “quasi-structural” items like handrails and planking in carports, patios or decks. Specifically, Walsh said:

The real wildcard when a storm hits is not the water—which is fairly predictable in how it will come. It’s the wind. When strong winds come in a storm, they sometimes will rip loose these poorly built structures and toss the pieces of wood or pieces of metal like missiles around the property. [Sometimes tree limbs can do the same thing.] And that’s what does a lot of the unpredictable damage.

He then offered the following tips from THE PERSONAL SECURITY HANDBOOK on how to prepare for a hurricane or any kind of natural disaster.

Preparing Your House

1. Look for loose parts of structures (patios, porches, fences, etc.) outside of your house. If you can shake them with your hand, secure them or remove them.
2. Check for any loose electrical wiring or shaky gas connections, inside and outside. Repair them, if you can; call a contractor, if you can't.
3. Fasten shelves and hanging units inside your house; place heavier items on lower shelves.
4. Make sure pictures, mirrors and other items are hanging away from beds or couches. If they're nearby, take them down.
5. Make sure your water heater is strapped to wall studs or another solid base.

Preparing Your Family

1. Store a three-day supply of water (one gallon—two quarts for drinking, two quarts for food prep and cleaning—for each member of your household, including pets)
2. Store a three-day supply of basic dry food—crackers, snack bars, dried fruit, and dried meat—so that each member of your household (including pets) can eat something every 4 to 6 hours
3. Keep one battery-powered radio or TV for the household and at least two extra sets of batteries for this device
4. Keep one battery-powered flashlight for each member of your household
5. Establish at least two escape routes from your neighborhood, and, in case you're separated during an evacuation, go over them with everyone in your household
6. Establish a safe contact (often a relative or friend) outside of your immediate area that household members can contact or where you can meet in case of separation. In the wake of natural disaster, long distance communication often is easier than local.

According to Walsh, “That safe contact is key, especially for larger households. It’s important to have someone who can act like a touchstone. So family members can let each other know that they’re okay…or where they are.”

He also notes that, “With insurance companies increasing deductibles and lowering their maximum coverage limits—not to mention government agencies like FEMA getting more stingy about the money they make available—an ounce of prevention has never been more valuable.”

To see part of Walsh’s Early Show interview, click through to

http://video.cgi.cbsnews.com/video/video.pl?url=/media/2005/07/06/video706746.wmv&sid=500202&dart=news.video

In THE PERSONAL SECURITY HANDBOOK, the authors admit that many disaster preparation steps can seem like simple common sense when considered individually. Their effectiveness comes from being used together, systematically.

People need checklists, worksheets and inventories to make sure that their prevention efforts are systematic. Silver Lake’s HANDBOOK offers just such tools.

Silver Lake Publishing is an independent press specializing in books on personal finance, consumer protection and popular economics. THE PERSONAL SECURITY HANDBOOK is the 17^th title in Silver Lake’s series of books on risk and financial issues that face people living in the United States and other developed countries. Other titles in the series include: Identity Theft, Kids and Health Care and Credit Scores/Credit Cards.

 THE PERSONAL SECURITY HANDBOOK: Practical Tools for Keeping Yourself, Your Family and Your Things Safe at Work, Home or on the Road

by The Silver Lake Editors

$11.95

288 pages

4½” x 7¾”/trade paperback

ISBN: 1-56343-775-9