Florida, roadways are flooded as a result of the deadly Category 4 Hurricane Ian.
Hurricanes can cause widespread damage and impact communities for years to come.
2025 Hurricane Names
Hurricane Andrea | Hurricane Lorenzo |
10 Hurricane Safety Tips
Save the Children’s emergency response experts have compiled ways to prepare for a hurricane and stay safe during a hurricane to help protect your children from distress during and after disasters.
- Talk to your children about hurricanes. Explain to your child what could happen in the event of a hurricane, using simple, age-appropriate words. Outline a family emergency plan for hurricanes, with an evacuation plan and meeting location and emphasize that their safety is your utmost priority.
- Prepare a “to-go bag” for each child in the family ahead of time. The bag should contain essential personal items, including:
Contact and medical information
A flashlight with extra batteries
A favorite stuffed animal or comfort item
A blanket
Hygiene supplies including a toothbrush, comb and washcloth
Hand sanitizer, or bar or liquid soap
- Practice evacuation drills. Once you’ve created your hurricane evacuation plan and talked with your children about it, it’s time to practice. Be sure to run through different scenarios – at home, at school and at other places you visit often (like a grandparent’s house, or a second home). When planning your evacuation route, remember that bridges may be washed out and low-lying areas may be flooded.
- Learn your child’s school or child care disaster plans. If your child attends school, daycare or an after-school program, ask for the facility’s hurricane emergency plan. Learn their procedures for evacuation, notifying parents and if there is an alternate pick up location.
- Evacuate if instructed to do so. If you are instructed to evacuate by local authorities, be sure to know your state and local plans by visiting your state and county emergency management websites.
- Stay indoors, if not evacuated. If you aren’t advised to evacuate, or are unable to do so safely, stay indoors, away from windows, skylights and doors. Continue to monitor weather reports and don’t go outside until the storm has passed. Downed trees, live electrical wires and other hazards can crop up unexpectedly.
- Keep routines. Children experience comfort from rituals and routines, like a story before bedtime or a family meal each evening. If at all possible, keep these routines.
- Role model and listen. Remember, children look to you and pick up on your moods and cues. Let your children know that it’s okay to be sad but do your best to reassure them that they’re safe.
Although the dangers of a hurricane are very real, your child’s fears may be out of proportion or unrealistic. Take the time to talk to them and hear their concerns.
- Limit media. Even the mildest of storms can be sensationalized on news and weather channels. Children of all ages can be disturbed by intense images online and on TV, so monitor their media intake.
- Watch your child for changes in behavior, sleeping patterns, or eating habits. Children may be afraid or anxious for a while after the hurricane. If changes in behavior do happen, they will likely lessen within a short time. However, if they continue, you should seek professional help and counseling
What is the difference between a hurricane watch and a hurricane warning?
If a hurricane watch or warning is issued in your community, it's important to understand the difference, as it will determine your next steps. Local officials may direct you to immediately leave the threatened area if a hurricane warning is issues.
Infographic courtesy of: weather.gov and The National Weather Service
Hurricanes, Cyclones and Typhoons: What's the Difference?
Hurricanes, tropical cyclones and typhoons are all destructive windstorms but are called different things based on their geographic location.
The term ‘hurricane’ is used in the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific oceans. In the Northwest Pacific Ocean, we use the term ‘typhoons,’ while the term ‘tropical cyclone’ refers to the South Pacific and Indian oceans.
Last year, Hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated communities across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee.
The storms brought catastrophic flooding and destructive winds that damaged homes, schools and nearly 500 childcare centers.
Thanks to the generous support donors, our team and local partners were able to provide urgent support to children and their families, reaching communities with essential items, cash assistance, psychosocial support and more.
"Thanks to the generosity of our community partners and the unwavering support of
Save the Children, relief came just in time."
- Save the Children local partner Redlands Christian Migrant Association
Hurricane Helene and Milton: Rebuilding After the Storms
We supported families since the very beginning of these disasters. Working closely with local partners and government agencies, our response reached the most vulnerable. Across Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee, we reached more than 36,000 people—including over 20,000 children. To address the immediate and long-term needs of communities after the storms our teams have been:
Distributing over 25,000 essential supplies such as diapers, hygiene and cleaning kits and winter clothing to families in Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee.
An icon of a mother and child holding hands.
Providing over $138,000 in financial assistance to families in Cocke County and Greene County, Tennessee so they could afford the essentials and recover faster.
Providing psychosocial support programming to help children and caregivers to help them process the disaster and new stressors.
Our History of Hurricane Response & Disaster Relief
When crisis strikes, children are always among the most vulnerable. That’s why Save the Children has been on the ground, protecting America’s children, in every major disaster since Hurricane Katrina.
Thanks to the support of our donors, our response teams and supplies hit the road before disaster strikes, to help keep children and families safe. We get parents the essential items they need to continue to care for their children, make sure evacuation shelters are safe and supportive to children and families’ unique needs.
We’re also there for the long term, restoring child care centers and preschools – and restarting afterschool and summer programs – so kids can get back to learning and parents can get back to work. Plus, our social and emotional recovery programs, including. Journey of Hope and. HEART (Healing and Education Through the Arts), help children and caregivers understand and cope with the fear and loss that can come in the wake of a disaster.
How to Help Children Impacted by Crisis
Save the Children has been supporting children’s most critical needs in emergencies along the Gulf Coast since 2005, including Hurricanes Ian, Irma, Michael, Idalia and Beryl. We are leaders when it comes to responding to the specific needs of children and families after a disaster through coordinating emergency distributions of child-centric supplies, supporting the recovery of child care centers, and providing mental health support programs to help children and their families cope and build resilience.
As the climate crisis intensifies the frequency and severity of extreme weather events and coastal areas become more populated, millions of children in storm-prone areas face increased risks like floods, landslides, damage to homes and schools, heightened exposure to disease, and even death.
Your donation to the Children’s Emergency Fund can support those impacted by hurricanes and other crises impacting children in the U.S.
Updated June 2025