Whether your home was affected by last week’s storms or you are helping with the cleanup, there are some cautions you need to take.  With so much to do, it’s hard to decide what to do first. Below are tips for taking the first steps.

Take care of yourself and your family first. Make sure your tetanus shot is up-to-date. Get plenty of fluids, eat right, and try to get enough sleep. Talk to your friends and family—it’s the best stress reliever.

Enter any damaged property safely. Wear clothing appropriate to the task:

• Closed-toe shoes

• Long pants

• Leather or work gloves

• Protective eyewear

• Dust masks/filters to reduce the amount of insulation fibers you might breathe and to protect yourself if you are sensitive to dust or mold.

Make sure utilities are off. Do not enter the area if you smell gas or see downed power lines.

Make a record of damage and losses—take pictures or make video recordings.

Prevent further damage as much as possible and secure items from theft. If your roof has been exposed and the house is still standing, cover the roof to prevent water damage that may occur later.

Contact your insurance agent or company representative.

Assemble cleaning supplies and equipment.

• Equipment

• Buckets

• Tools (crowbar, hammer, screwdriver)

• Brooms

• Shovels

• Hoes

• Scoops

• Wheelbarrow

• Dolly

• Bushel baskets

• Throw-away containers for garbage and containers to carry from house to street

• Sponge mop or mop that is easily squeezed out

• Water hose

• Washtubs for soaking objects

• Cleaning supplies

•  Low-suds detergents

• Bleaches

• Disinfectants

• Ammonia

• Scouring powder

• Rubber gloves

Salvage valuable items first, including the following:

• Personal identification: birth certificates, driver’s licenses, social security cards, marriage licenses, birth and death certificates

• Insurance information (life, home, car)

• Medical/medication information, including eyeglasses, hearing aids, or other items

• Financial records, such as mortgage papers, property deeds, legal contracts, wills, bank account and credit card information, and utility bills

• Valuables, such as jewelry, cash, and photos

Discard items that cannot be salvaged.

Use caution when handling clothing, linens, and other textiles contaminated with fiberglass fibers.

• Wash items in a bathtub so the fibers go down the drain. Wear rubber gloves to keep the fibers from getting into your fingers.

• Or put washable items in a washing machine. Be sure to rinse the drum thoroughly to remove fibers.

• Dry-clean items that would be damaged by water. Alert the dry cleaner that fiberglass is present.

• Vacuum items to help remove fiberglass fibers.

Keep detailed records of extra expenses and business activity during the recovery.

Handle clothing with insulation fibers with caution; dispose of wind-blown insulation

Tornado victims and volunteers salvaging clothing after the tornado should use care in handling anything that may contain insulation fibers.

Fiberglass, a common insulation material, can become embedded in fabrics and is very difficult to remove. Fiberglass fibers can irritate the skin, eyes and stomach. Fibers can also accumulate in the lungs and cause tissue changes.

You can wash their clothing in a bathtub so the fibers that come out can be flushed down the drain.  However, it’s not foolproof. Some fibers may remain embedded in the fabrics.

If you’re washing, be sure to wear something similar to Playtex gloves to keep the fibers from getting into your fingers.

If the garments are going into a washing machine, be sure to rinse the drum thoroughly so the fibers don’t work into future laundry loads.

Using a mini-vacuum or a hand-vacuum can also help remove unwanted fibers.

Another option is to have the items dry cleaned, especially if it’s an heirloom item that would be damaged by water. Warn the dry cleaner that there’s fiberglass involved, so the cleaner can take appropriate action to isolate the item or take other precautions to prevent shed fibers from clinging to other clothing.

In many cases, the concentration of fibers may be too great to remove and the garment should be discarded.

Clothing and other fabrics with mold or mildew damage could be problematic too. Repeated bleaching may not completely remove spores from cotton and other fabrics, leaving the possibility of regrowth and contamination of the whole home.

As for insulation that has been blown from a building by a storm — dispose of it.  Insulation should not be reused.  Although some insulation is resistant to mold, when it’s wetted, there is a risk that contaminants — maybe organic contaminants — could be left in the insulation which could potentially lead to mold growth somewhere down the road.

For more information on disaster recovery, please contact Limestone County Extension Office, 256-232-5510 or visit www.aces/eden .