1. Volunteer on a Disaster Action Team

Disaster Action Teams are part of the first response to disaster zones, helping to provide immediate relief. As a volunteer on a Disaster Action Team during a hurricane, you will help to provide relief in many ways, such as a distributing food, water and supplies to stricken communities, manning evacuation shelters, and providing first aid and medical care. After the hurricane has passed, you can volunteer to assess any damage sustained by buildings, and help families to formulate a recovery plan to help them get back on their feet. Whatever your personality and skillset, there is a volunteer placement suitable for you.

2. Donate necessary items

Hurricanes are very destructive forces and cause many people to sadly lose their possessions and basic necessities. To avoid aid organizations being flooded with generously donated but unusable items, there is a strict list of practical items you can donate. For instance, canned or dried food with an accompanying hand-operated can opener, personal care items, cleaning supplies, and new underwear and socks (in their original packaging) are all on the list. Items to help with repairs are also welcome in the aftermath of a hurricane, for instance, hand tools, plywood, and nails.

3. Monetary donations

A hurricane relief donation will help an aid organization to provide shelter, food and comfort to families affected by hurricanes. Your monetary gift will go a long way—as well as providing shelter and food to families forced to evacuate their homes, and distributing food, water and other supplies to impacted communities, a donated will also help in the cleanup operation in the hurricane’s aftermath. A hurricane relief donation can really help to protect communities from the devastation wrought by a hurricane and help families to get back on their feet.

4. Support local businesses

From local business premises being destroyed to crops and beauty spots popular with tourists being affected, communities that have been impacted by a hurricane might struggle to recover economically from the disaster. To help with economic recovery, look for local businesses to support, whether that is through online shopping or perhaps making a voluntary donation. With the Atlantic hurricane zone incorporating many popular vacation spots, such as the Caribbean and Florida, don’t let a hurricane put you off visiting—post-hurricane is when these locations need the revenue acquired by tourism the most. 

5. Provide hope and comfort

Perhaps the simplest way to support hurricane relief is by providing hope and comfort to hurricane survivors. Going through a hurricane is an incredibly terrifying experience, which may have resulted in the loss of homes and possessions. A kind word online and expressions of hope and support can be a comfort to people going through an incredibly hard time.