Ready or not …
Disaster Survival House in Deerfield Beach shows how to be PREPARED for whatever disaster may strike
By Susan Frasca
South Florida Parenting
For six months every year, the weather in South Florida is the envy of pretty much the rest of the nation. Visitors flock here from all over the world to enjoy the warm winter weather and comfortable climate. And then comes June 1, the beginning of a season that brings with it other, unwelcome visitors: Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, Katrina, and Wilma, to name a few recent ones.
South Floridians know that the arrival of hurricane season is inevitable and that we must be adequately prepared for both the unpleasant and the unexpected.
"Residing in the hurricane capital of the world requires residents to be the most prepared for a hurricane," says Erik Salna, project coordinator for the Disaster Survival House, a 3,300-square-foot demonstration house in Deerfield Beach. Formerly the State Farm Good Neighbor House, it was built to withstand a catastrophic hurricane and incorporates more than 100 safety construction features and design techniques. Several of the rooms have ceiling and wall cutaways to display these features.
The educational program teaches hurricane preparation, as well as other disaster safety and preparedness to children, families, students, community groups, businesses and anyone who wants to be proactive rather than reactive in a crisis.
Upon entering the home, guests are greeted with a rich depiction of Florida's hurricane history, including a wall dedicated to Hurricane Andrew, which includes murals of the artwork by children conveying what they saw and heard and how they felt during and after that storm.
During stressful times when parents can become preoccupied with the chaos around them, these murals serve as sobering reminders of the emotional impact that hurricanes can have on a child. "The best way to combat fear and anxiety before a hurricane is with education, information and advanced planning," Salna says.
Visitors to the Disaster House learn the effects of storm-force winds on windows and roofs through hands-on wind-tunnel demonstrations. They can see a genuine dropsonde -- a device dropped into hurricanes to collect data, and experience the effects of a lightning generator, which makes the hair on your head stand straight up. Salna says that he even kicks the garage door as hard as he can to give visitors a taste of the horrific noise a storm can make. More multimedia presentations and interactive technology are on the way, including a television studio where visitors can play meteorologist in front of a weather map.
During school tours, staff members sit around a large conference table with children and discuss the need for preparation and planning in their own home. Coloring books and brochures are available for kids to take home to help reinforce the lessons they've learned. "The goal is to have the kids take the dialogue home to their parents," Salna says.
