As hurricane season begins, coastal residents along the eastern coast are bracing for Hurricane Earl to hit, and residents are scrambling to prepare for the potential wrath of the storm. Hurricane Earl is the number one search on Yahoo! this week. Searchers seem to be seeking information on the hurricane’s path and ways to prepare. Whether it’s deciding if they should buy a “72 hour emergency kit” or “portable generator,” preparing for a natural disaster can be overwhelming. With Hurricanes Earl bearing northwest, Yahoo! searches reveal people are looking for information on:

Hurricane Earl:

• The path of Hurricane Earl: searches are off the charts on Yahoo! for “hurricane earl path” and “earl hurricane track”
• Searches for the “National Hurricane Center” are up 344% this week
• Searchers are looking on Yahoo! for “hurricane tracking map” up 366% this month

From hurricanes and earthquakes to floods and tornadoes, it’s likely we will all be impacted by the threat of a natural disaster at some point in our lives, yet the unpredictable nature of these events doesn’t mean we can’t establish a plan in advance.

Emergency Preparedness

• Searches for “hurricane preparedness” and “storm preparation” are off the charts this month on Yahoo!
• Yahoo! searches for “72 hour emergency kits” are off the charts this week
• “Portable generator” searches on Yahoo! are up 54% this month.
• Yahoo! searches for “free first aid kits,” “emergency kits,” and “emergency preparedness” are off the charts this month.

***off the charts refers to searches that received little to no searches the week/month before and are now gaining interest***

Disaster Awareness

• Yahoo! searches for “hurricane” were up 53% this month, with 59% of searches coming from men. Top states searching for “hurricane” this month are: Louisiana, Florida, Texas and North Carolina.
• Searches for “2010 hurricane names” on Yahoo! are up 298% this week, with 57% of searches by females and the majority coming from women ages 35-54. Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina were the top states searching for this term.
• Yahoo! searches for “NOAA Hurricane Center” on Yahoo! were up 240% this week.

And, as you prepare for the possibility of a Natural Disaster, Yahoo! Health shares the essentials for your disaster recovery kit, including the following items to name a few:

• Three-day supply of water for each person (one gallon of water per person each day), stored in plastic containers and three-day supply of food, such as canned fruits, vegetables, juices, granola bars and other compact items
• Kitchen items, including: a manual can opener, a mess kit, all-purpose knife, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, and resealing plastic bags
• First-aid kit, including: spare pairs of eyeglasses and prescription medicines
• Fire extinguisher, Crow bar, Heavy-duty gloves
• Portable radio and batteries; solar and hand-cranked radios are available that need no batteries and are better choices for long-term storage of emergency equipment