My hurricane preparations

[wmw999 2,621]

We really had a pretty decent hurricane experience, and it wasn't hard. Just in case anyone else is wondering -- dang, how'd she get so good , you, too, could make your hurricane experience a little easier.

Water --
- 1 collapsible 5-gallon plastic jug per person for drinking. They don't take up much space during the rest of the year, and you can always use them camping. And with those, you don't have to go rushing out to the store the day before the storm to stock up.
- toilet & washing -- fill all the bathtubs. If your area is likely to have serious problems with supply, consider filling up a couple of trash cans too.

Food --
we froze a couple of large metal bowls full of water a day or two before the storm. We still had frozen meat in the freezer 3 days without power. Not all of it, but we're throwing away very little.
And do keep those energy bars, nuts, etc. around. We had salmon, chicken, and fajitas. Oh -- we also chilled a couple of bottles of white wine, so that we wouldn't be limited to red

Power --
all the gadgets (including power drill) were charged up before the storm, the cars were gassed. We have a small battery-operated camping fan that we used to keep cool the first night when it was hot. That made a noticeable difference. Oh yeah -- we had a couple of batteries for it.

House --
yeah, we boarded. Had the boards cut in the garage, along with the clips. We also chose wisely () in that the house is 4 houses in along the wind line. But I keep the seams & window caulking in good shape by re-caulking every few years. That way there isn't a whole lot to do the day before.

So our post-storm activities consisted of cleaning up the yard (a couple of branches), putting in a temporary fence to keep the dog in, and painting the ceiling (just because it's dingy, and we can do that without lights).

Really, storm prep is all about having the stuff ahead of time, so that you don't have to rush all over the place the day before. The only things we bought on Friday were chocolate (gotta have good chocolate for dessert ), and we rented some videos (so that when the cable went out before the power we'd still be laughing).

Remember -- even if you're out of power for a month, someone close by will have it again long before that. If your city is way devastated, you will probably leave for awhile after the storm if you stayed. If not, you can always go elsewhere to go shopping -- this is the US, not outer Mongolia. Have enough to have a reasonable week, and expect to replenish after that.

That ends my public service announcement.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[danornan 79]

Don't forget the water that you have in your 40-60 gallon hot water heater. Most have a valve on the bottom to drain/drink. Just be sure to turn off the power first and label it so that it is not turned on by mistake, burning up the coils....... Tip from Florida.

Dano

[JohnRich 4]

You're obviously a hurricane veteran. Good preparations.

I would just add a couple of points to that.

1) Cell phone. You can't recharge it at home if the power is out. Make sure you have a charger for your car, so you can recharge it from there. If the phone lines go down, it'll be your only means of communication.

2) Have one or two 5-gallon gas cans on standby. Fill them up before the storm, for use after the storm. Houston is now 5 days past hurricane Ike, and gas can still be difficult to get. Stations are either out, have no power to pump, or have very long lines, and high prices. I've seen tanker trucks bringing fuel supplies getting police escort through traffic jams. And police have been stationed at some gas stations to maintain order. Be ready to pay cash, since credit card validations may not work. Plan on waiting in a long line, and fill up at the end of the day, not on your way to some important appointment - because you'll be late. Save yourself all that misery - an extra 10 gallons will give you enough for another 200 miles or more. Enough to get you past the shortage and long lines.

3) Fridge. Do the ice thing like Wendy said. But then when you need something from the fridge, think about it beforehand. Know what you want to get and where it's located. Open the door, grab it, and shut the door. Minimize the amount of cold air you let out. My fridge stayed at 45 degrees with just a couple of jugs of ice inside.

4) Battery powered radio for staying informed while power is out. I had a crank-powered radio, which was a pain in the ass. A full minute of cranking would only give about 5 minutes of listening time, and that got old quick.

5) A good lantern. I like the battery powered LED types, as the batteries last forever, they're quiet, and don't give off CO2 from burning fuel. The more LED's, the better. The 12 LED types don't put out much light. Or at least a flashlight or candles.

6) Eat your perishables first, out of the fridge & freezer. Save the canned goods for last.

7) Ice: buy as much as you can fit in a cooler a couple of days beforehand. Here in Houston, it's pretty much all sold out for a 50-mile radius, still. FEMA is giving it out, but in limited places, and only two bags per customer. Two hour lines. And you have to use precious gas to go get it. Then do it all again every two days.

8) Have clean-up supplies beforehand, because the hardware stores are going to be all sold out after the storm. Chainsaw or bow saw, rake, leaf bags, plywood for covering broken windows, tarp/plastic for covering leaky roof, etc.

Okay, that was more than just a couple of points - I got carried away.

Be ready to take care of yourself! Help your neighbors.
Don't depend upon the government to save your ass.

[akarunway 1]

Quote

You're obviously a hurricane veteran. Good preparations.

I would just add a couple of points to that.

1) Cell phone. You can't recharge it at home if the power is out. Make sure you have a charger for your car, so you can recharge it from there. If the phone lines go down, it'll be your only means of communication.

2) Have one or two 5-gallon gas cans on standby. Fill them up before the storm, for use after the storm. Houston is now 5 days past hurricane Ike, and gas can still be difficult to get. Stations are either out, have no power to pump, or have very long lines, and high prices. I've seen tanker trucks bringing fuel supplies getting police escort through traffic jams. And police have been stationed at some gas stations to maintain order. Be ready to pay cash, since credit card validations may not work. Plan on waiting in a long line, and fill up at the end of the day, not on your way to some important appointment - because you'll be late. Save yourself all that misery - an extra 10 gallons will give you enough for another 200 miles or more. Enough to get you past the shortage and long lines.

3) Fridge. Do the ice thing like Wendy said. But then when you need something from the fridge, think about it beforehand. Know what you want to get and where it's located. Open the door, grab it, and shut the door. Minimize the amount of cold air you let out. My fridge stayed at 45 degrees with just a couple of jugs of ice inside.

4) Battery powered radio for staying informed while power is out. I had a crank-powered radio, which was a pain in the ass. A full minute of cranking would only give about 5 minutes of listening time, and that got old quick.

5) A good lantern. I like the battery powered LED types, as the batteries last forever, they're quiet, and don't give off CO2 from burning fuel. The more LED's, the better. The 12 LED types don't put out much light. Or at least a flashlight or candles.

6) Eat your perishables first, out of the fridge & freezer. Save the canned goods for last.

7) Ice: buy as much as you can fit in a cooler a couple of days beforehand. Here in Houston, it's pretty much all sold out for a 50-mile radius, still. FEMA is giving it out, but in limited places, and only two bags per customer. Two hour lines. And you have to use precious gas to go get it. Then do it all again every two days.

8) Have clean-up supplies beforehand, because the hardware stores are going to be all sold out after the storm. Chainsaw or bow saw, rake, leaf bags, plywood for covering broken windows, tarp/plastic for covering leaky roof, etc.

Okay, that was more than just a couple of points - I got carried away.

Be ready to take care of yourself! Help your neighbors.
Don't depend upon the government to save your ass.

And keep plenny ammo around.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[porpoishead 8]

seasoned lifelong resident of new orleans.

make sure my insurances are payed up.
close the storm shutters
secure the property
empty the fridges
secure valuables heirlooms and guns in both safes that are waterproof and fire proof.

load up my dive gear gonna need it after the storm as my phone will be ringing off the hook non-stop from every diving company and then some to come back to work.

grab the kids, dog, briefcase with vital records and other important documents,**skydiving rigs and gear** and get the fuck out of dodge.

i've ridden many hurricanes out here but I have kids now and I don't take the chance with them. kids do stupid shit and if one of them was to get hurt or something and there is no emergency services, hospitals etc. around i would never be able to live with myself for making the mistake of staying.

i get my people clear, when it's safe for them to return i bring them back home.


its like a surprise vacation...what fucking hurricane??

if you want a friend feed any animal
Perry Farrell

[FlyingJ 0]

Quote

1) Cell phone. You can't recharge it at home if the power is out. Make sure you have a charger for your car, so you can recharge it from there. If the phone lines go down, it'll be your only means of communication.

Another EXCELLENT option is a small device designed for wildland firefighters. The standard fire radio is made by Bendix King and there is an adapter you can use to power 12v devices using the radio's AA battery pack. Links to both below.

http://www.firecache.com/prodinfo.asp?number=90.6400

http://www.firecache.com/prodinfo.asp?number=90.6505

$11.50 for the adapter and $22.50 for the clamshell (battery pack). I've been able to charge a cell phone 5 or 6 times using batteries that were far too dead to power my fire radio any longer. Probably could have gone longer but have never needed to. I imagine a fresh set of batteries would keep you going for quite a while. I often spend upwards of 10 to 12 hours working in the field using a PDA w/ a battery draining combo of ArcPad and gps receiver. I switch back and forth between charging the PDA and my iPod and I've got power to both all day long. They are becoming more common in the fire world, but I know about two dozen Red Cross volunteers that went out and bought them after mine got passed around our staff shelter that had no power.

The adapter was designed and is built by a former Hotshot that sadly became disabled after a snag burned through and came down on his head. More here:

http://crew13.com/adapter.htm

Killing threads since 2004.

[FlyingJ 0]

If you will be gone and may or may not know how cold your freezer stayed it might be a good idea to put some ice cubes in a bowl or plastic bag. If your power is back on when you get home you can check out the bowl/bag. If you have a solid chunk of ice it got warm enough in there to melt the ice and it's a no brainer that you need to think twice about what you eat.

If you have two freezers, you might do some prioritization. When power loss is pending, I put items that I think I might want access to in the freezer part of my fridge. I pack my chest freezer with stuff I have no plan to need and plan on never opening it for any reason. I've had the power off for up to 5 days w/ meat inside still solidly frozen. It also doesn't hurt to have a thermometer that you can read from outside the freezer. I have one similar to this: http://www.partshelf.com/marf02.html.

One last thing that others touched on...If you've got room in the freezer, pack it with ice. At minimum, the power goes off and your freezer turns into a cooler. Might help turn defrosted (yet still cold) meat into dinner rather than trash.

Killing threads since 2004.