Web site aims to ease kids' storm fears

September 16, 1999
Web posted at: 12:03 p.m. EDT (1603 GMT)

(CNN) -- Because children are among those most frightened by natural disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has created a Web site, "FEMA for kids", to help them and their parents cope with the anxiety they feel when events like Hurricane Floyd occur.

The site contains information about any number of natural disasters including thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, wild fires, tsunamis, winter storms and more at www.fema.gov/kids/.

Each section fully explains the various disasters and tries to address concerns children might have. For example, the hurricane section includes information on pets and disasters, as many children worry about the family pet when bad weather hits.

Hurricane prompts flood of e-mail

Since FEMA's Holly Harrington launched the site, it averages 200,000 hits a month, but during disasters like Hurricane Dennis and now Floyd the system has been overwhelmed with e-mails from young people across the country who read the site.

Wednesday Harrington received an e-mail from a child in Orlando who was extremely frightened by the storm and her parents' reluctance to talk about it.

"She knew that Floyd was coming and that she was really really really scared. She writes, 'My parents have not spoken a word about the hurricane, I guess we are just going to die,'" Harrington read.

FEMA's site tries to help children who feel helpless by answering any questions they might have about a natural disaster.

To help lessen children's fears, the FEMA site lists these disaster facts for children:

1. Disasters don't last very long.

2. You can get a new routine even if you can't go home for a while.

3. Look to your parents or other adults for help when you feel scared.

4. Sometimes it helps to write or draw pictures about what has happened.

5. It's okay to cry during a disaster.

6. You may be able to help out.

Experts say when facing a natural disaster helping children find a task, even at evacuation centers, will help them to feel more in control. It is the little things that ease their uncertainty.

"Allow the child to choose some things that are important to him or her to take with them, important pictures or maybe items that give them comfort like a special blanket or pillow," said Dr. Wendy Schuman of the Children's National Medical Center in Washington.

Most important, according the experts at FEMA, is that parents find some way to reassure and calm a frightened child.