A few weeks ago New Orleans was the hot-spot for COVID-19; now the hot-spots have moved to more rural areas in Tennessee, Arkansas, Indiana, and Rockland, NY. With an estimated 35 percent of the population being asymptomatic, it is difficult to ascertain if the overall reduction in cases can be relied upon.

Hurricanes and floods are bad enough without the presence of the coronavirus. As we've seen in prior years, floods and hurricanes require additional resources in the affected areas – lodging, clothing, blankets, food, water, for those displaced by the hurricane, but also for adjusters, utility crews, and contractors to start making repairs. Those resources often come from across the U.S. in droves to help those affected. But COVID-19 already has many people quarantined in their homes, without travel across state lines except in emergencies. Certainly hurricanes and floods are emergencies, but how can people show up in droves to provide needed services and resources while keeping social distance? As states open up, stores are requiring employees to have their temperatures checked before beginning their shifts, masks and gloves are required, and cleaning protocols have been enhanced in order to control the virus. Aside from that, many people are out of work due to the quarantine notices; people moving into quarantined areas in order to shelter from a storm may not be able to get the services needed.

Where will those dislodged by water go? Usually churches, schools and other facilities open their doors to those needing a place to stay, and each family is given a small area with cots to sleep on. While every available cot is being sent to hospitals, there likely won't be any left for displaced flood victims. And will there be enough facilities available to allow victims to stay while maintaining social distance? And what about health workers? Many, even those in retirement, are volunteering their services in hospitals to help during the pandemic. Health and medical resources are sure to be stretched thin. Flood victims may be forced to go even farther away from home in order to find shelter in a safe location, so that adjusters, medical personnel and utility workers and contractors can do their jobs. Hotels could be pressed into service for housing but what about the hotel workers? They may have left the area because of the storm the same as other residents.

Carriers need to make preparations now so that claims adjusters will be able to advise policyholders as to where to go for safety and resources, and begin now to work with local authorities to determine where adjusters will be able to stay in order to view damaged properties and adjust claims.

Communications need to be set up between displaced residents, public health officials, essential workers, adjusters and contractors in order to handle the crisis smoothly. Most states have a department of emergency management that coordinates efforts in a disaster; talking to those departments now about potential plans for hurricanes can be beneficial and make things run smoothly when a serious storm occurs.

Hurricanes aren't the only issue. Wildfires present their own hazards as well.The wildfire season in Northern California is also predicted to be higher than normal along with the usual large, significant burning that occurs in Southern California. Being exposed to wildfire smoke impairs firefighters immune systems, making them more vulnerable to the coronavirus. Not only that, traditional base camps where firefighters cluster together to eat, sleep and bathe while fighting fires must be reconfigured to spread out firefighters, caterers and contractors.

The CDC recommends fire personnel maintain social distancing, limiting close interaction, not sharing kitchens, living spaces, bathrooms, or household items when on duty. Base camps will have to take up much more space.

When shared spaces must be used, as it's impossible to establish a base camp that large, frequent cleaning and disinfecting of high touch surfaces, wearing of cloth face coverings, sleeping in opposite directions – head to toe – not using bunk beds, and increasing ventilation are steps that should be taken. Base camps are known for passing illnesses among those there. The CDC advises that in clustered base camps temperature screenings should be conducted daily and for everyone entering the camp. Showers, sinks, bathrooms, portable toilets and handwashing stations should be cleaned twice a day, morning and evening after heavy use, and commonly touched surfaces in dining areas should be cleaned before and after every meal.

Incoming personnel to duty stations should be provided space to socially distance themselves from others for fourteen days if possible. If that is not possible then personnel should maintain social distance, wear face masks, not share utensils and common areas should be sanitized frequently. Once the fourteen days are over they can then work as a unit as long as they do not have regular interactions with other people. Proper hygiene must be maintained, but crews working as a unit do not need face coverings unless someone is not feeling well or is interacting with the public.

When traveling between assignments or to fires, social distancing is impossible when traveling together in vehicles and fire equipment. Proper sanitation is key; frequent hand washing, when someone leaves a vehicle they should sanitize it, when traveling in a vehicle ventilation fans should be turned on to high and in noncirculation mode, and windows should be opened to maximize the intake of outdoor air. Crews will not be able to share equipment, more vehicles will have to be used in order to keep crews socially distant, and adhering to proper COVID-19 preventions may restrict the ability for crews to fight the fires.

In order to try to contain fires, all fires must be knocked down immediately instead of allowing smaller fires that don't pose a risk to the public are allowed to burn and burn out the undergrowth, thus reducing the risk of larger fires later. Aircraft will be used heavily in order to reserve staff resources, however aircraft are not as effective against the large, wind-driven fires that tend to cause the most damage. Five water-dropping helicopters are being prepared to be deployed during the day and night throughout the summer, and two air tankers from Canada are being contracted to come in a month earlier than normal to be prepared for the season.

Another issue is staffing; because of the spread of COVID-19 within prisons many minimum security inmates have been released early to reduce crowding and slow the spread of disease. Unfortunately 242 of those released were inmate firefighters; These inmates make up 43 percent of the state's firefighting force. Residents of Los Angeles voted against a measure to hire more firefighters and paramedics, adding further to staffing concerns.

Citizens will be expected to perform the proper brush clearance in order to prevent fires, and later in May crews will be used to inspect vulnerable homes to ensure that there is defensible space between the home and vegetation. Other issues include narrow roads and parking of additional firefighting vehicles, as well as crews moving into areas that are currently being evacuated. Some crews are packing vehicles with fourteen days' worth of rations so that if a firefighter gets infected and has to quarantine, he can take the rations into the woods and eat and sleep where they work instead of returning to base camp and risk infecting others in the crew.

In any disaster, it can't be stressed enough that one of the safest things for people to do is to evacuate. If people don't leave when told to, that puts rescuers at risk and more lives are lost.