Safety During the Holidays

When it’s the season to decorate for the holidays, you work hard to create just the right mood. Maybe you like the soft glow from candles, flames crackling in the fireplace, twinkling lights, and a tall tree loaded with ornaments. If you will plan parties and family get-togethers to celebrate the joy of the season, don’t forget to make a decorating safety list and check it twice.

Holiday Safety List Keeping the Flame
Candles and fireplaces bring light and warmth to the dark days of December. Respect the power of fire and take appropriate precautions, now and year-round.

Candles:

• Do not leave unattended

• Supervise children and pets around burning candles and put away matches or lighters

• Burn them in containers made especially for candles, and set those containers on heat-resistant surfaces

• Do not set near trees, curtains, or other combustible items

• Place candles 3" or more apart from each other

• Keep them away from drafts

• Trim wicks to ¼"

• Buy candles labeled lead-free or from U.S. manufacturers

Fireplaces:

• Have your fireplace inspected by a professional

• Clean it

• Use a screen when in use

• Don’t burn wreaths which can cause flare-ups

• Don’t burn present wrapping paper — metallic papers are toxic and some papers could float out of the chimney

Tending the Tree
Know what kind of tree to choose, and then make sure you decorate it with care. How to select and maintain a tree:

• Pick a green tree: fresh spruce and pine trees have needles that don’t break easily

• Cut off 2" from the end of the trunk

• Set the tree in a water-filled stand

• No blocking doorways or foot paths

• Place away from heat sources

• Anchor the tree so children or pets don’t knock it down

• Refill water as needed

• Use artificial trees that are labeled as fire-resistant

Tips for decorating your tree:

• Use indoor lights inside your house and outdoor lights outside

• Check that lights are in safe, working order

• Use no more than three strings of lights on a single extension cord

• Keep cords out of the way, but not under rugs where they could cause a fire or tripping hazard

• Unplug lights when you leave or go to bed

• No edible or breakable decorations on lower branches in homes with small children and pets

• Keep bells on the bottom branches to let you know if someone is in the tree

Making Merry
The celebrations with family and friends are part of what makes the season "merry." Take care so these celebrations are also safe. Cooking:

• Cook large quantities of meat for the right amount of time and at the right temperature (for advice, contact the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-674-6854).

• Avoid raw meat contamination of utensils and kitchen surfaces

• Don’t wear loose-fitting clothing around flames

• Don’t overload your outlets with appliances

Alcohol and Adults:

• Offer non-alcoholic choices

• Monitor guests’ conditions and provide a designated driver or a room at your house, if necessary

Supervision and Childproofing:

• Hire someone or designate a person to watch small children during get-togethers

• Keep visitors’ purses and coats away from children

• Clean-up so that children can’t get into food, alcohol, or tobacco products

Dehumidification & Drying

Objective -The objective of any dehumidification procedure is to reduce the moisture content - of the building air in order to draw excess water from the structure and contents and return the environment to pre-loss conditions. Key questions such as: HOW? HOW DRY? HOW MUCH? should be addressed to determine the most expeditious and cost effective solution for each situation.

There are two major methods of dehumidification - desiccant and refrigeration. In either case, a number of air movers are stationed inside the building to circulate the dry air from the dehumidifier into all areas and to speed the drying process. As much of the water saturated debris as possible (fallen ceiling tiles, boxes, ruined sheet rock, etc.) should be removed to minimize the water load on the dehumidification process.

Contrary to popular belief, a building cannot be dried too quickly. The least damage is caused when the building contents are dried as quickly as possible. The drying process is monitored by measuring the humidity ratio daily and by plotting the results on a chart. Individual items’ moisture content should be measured with appropriate instruments to evaluate the effectiveness of the process.

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Water Damage

Water damage describes a large number of possible losses caused by water intruding where it will enable attack of a material or system by destructive processes such as rotting of wood, growth, rusting of steel, de-laminating of materials such as plywood , and many, many others.

The damage may be imperceptibly slow and minor such as water spots that could eventually mar a surface, or it may be instantaneous and catastrophic such as flooding. However fast it occurs, water damage is a very major contributor to loss of property.

United Fire & Water has the resources and education to address any of these mitigating circumstances, whether it be a slow leak in a water line or hurricane damage.

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Gustav swells to dangerous Cat 3 storm off Cuba

New Orleans residents get out of town as Gustav looms

• Story Highlights
• Interstate 55, a major route out of the city, was packed with cars
• “I’m getting out of here. I can’t take another hurricane,” said a 59-year-old resident
• Gustav could strike anywhere from Florida to Texas by Tuesday, forecasters said
• Official evacuation of coastal parishes started Saturday, said Gov. Bobby Jindal

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) — As New Orleans officials detailed plans for an evacuation that could be called over the weekend, some residents weren’t waiting to be told to leave.

New Orleans residents leave Friday via Interstate 10 heading west, as they flee Hurricane Gustav.

Cars packed with clothes, boxes and pet carriers drove north among heavy traffic on Interstate 55, a major route out of the city. Gas stations around the city hummed. And nursing homes and hospitals began sending patients farther inland.
“I’m getting out of here. I can’t take another hurricane,” said Ramona Summers, 59, whose house flooded during Katrina. She hurried to help friends gather their belongings. Her car was already packed for Gonzales, Louisiana, nearly 60 miles away to the west of New Orleans.
Gustav swelled into a major hurricane south of Cuba on Saturday and could strike the U.S. coast anywhere from the Florida Panhandle to Texas by Tuesday, but forecasters said there is a better-than-even chance that New Orleans will get slammed by at least tropical-storm-force winds.
That raised the likelihood people will have to flee, and the city suggested a full-scale evacuation call could come as soon as Sunday.
Police and firefighters were set to go street-to-street with bull horns over the weekend to direct people to leave. Unlike Hurricane Katrina, there will be no shelter of last resort in the Superdome.
Those among New Orleans’ estimated 310,000 to 340,000 residents who ignore orders to leave accept “all responsibility for themselves and their loved ones,” the city’s emergency preparedness director, Jerry Sneed, has warned.

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• After Katrina, New Orleans won’t be fooled again
• Gulf states brace as Gustav looms

Officials plan to announce a curfew that will mean the arrest of anyone still on the streets after a mandatory evacuation order goes out. Police and National Guardsman will patrol after the storm’s arrival, and Gov. Bobby Jindal has said he requested additional search and rescue teams from other states.
Evacuation of coastal parishes was likely to start on Saturday, said Gov. Bobby Jindal. In St. Mary Parish, which hugs the coastline, the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival — the state’s oldest chartered harvest festival usually held over the Labor Day weekend– has been canceled, officials said.
Meanwhile, Jindal said the state would likely switch interstate lanes on Sunday so that all traffic would flow north, in the direction an evacuation would follow.
For the third day in a row, Jindal stressed that people with the means should stock up on food, water and other essentials, and prepare to head away from the coast.
“We all still have personal responsibility,” he said. “Now’s the time to begin making evacuation plans.”
Gustav strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane early Saturday with top winds up to 120 mph as it headed for western Cuba. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said it was a dangerous storm and could strengthen further once it gets over the warm waters of the Gulf bound for the U.S. coastline early next week.
At 5 a.m. EDT, Gustav’s center was about 255 miles east-southeast of the western tip of Cuba .
New Orleans has taken steps to ensure no one has an excuse not to leave. The state has a $7 million contract to provide 700 buses to evacuate the elderly, the sick and anyone around the region without transportation.
LSU’s Health Care Services Division began moving patients Friday from its hospitals to facilities north of Interstate 10. A complete evacuation from Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center in Houma and Dr. Walter O. Moss Regional medical Center in Lake Charles should be finished by Saturday evening.
Partial evacuations are scheduled for hospitals in Bogalusa and New Orleans and University Medical Center in Lafayette has been placed on alert.
The entire Louisiana National Guard, over 7,000 members, was activated on Friday. Over 1,500 were sent to New Orleans to assist with evacuations and prevent looting.
Gov. Jindal sought to reassure New Orleans residents, who recall rampant looting during Katrina, that the Guard and New Orleans police would fight any recurrence.
“We don’t want folks worrying about their property. It is time for people to be worried about their personal safety,” Jindal said.
Authorities also wanted to avoid creating any unnecessary panic.
In New Orleans, the locations of the evacuation buses were not made public because people who need a ride are supposed to go to designated pickup points, not to the staging area.
But that approach worried some residents. Elouise Williams, 68, said she called the city’s 311 hot line Thursday until she was “blue in the face.”

She was concerned about getting a ride to the pickup point and about what would happen to those who left. As of late Friday afternoon, she planned to remain in the Algiers neighborhood and look in on any other residents who stayed behind.

“My thing is, my fright is, if we have somebody in these houses and they’re not able to get out, they’re going to perish,” she said, “And we had enough of that in Katrina.”

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Tropical Weather : Weather Underground

Tropical Weather : Weather Underground

Tropical Storm Gustav Wind: 70 MPH — Location: 18.1N 76.6W — Movement: W Tracking Map Public Advisory Coordinates WunderMap™ Satellite Discussion Computer Models Interactive Flash Map

Tropical Storm Hanna Wind: 40 MPH — Location: 20.7N 60.1W — Movement: WNW Tracking Map Public Advisory Coordinates WunderMap™ Satellite Discussion Computer Models Interactive Flash Map

Invest 96 Wind: 30 MPH — Location: 19.4 95.6W — Movement: W This area of disturbed weather has the potential for tropical development. Coordinates WunderMap™ Satellite Computer Models