Hurricane Preparedness Tips (2 Viewers)

[muzzy]

Something many of us learned from Katrina is that some things are unreplaceable. We've already made a list of things such as family photos, heirlooms and such. I know this isn't a survival tip, but of all the things my mother lost in the storm, losing old family photos bothers her the most.

Yeah, the personal items were the toughest to lose. From now on, part of my hurricane preparedness plan will be to move as many of my valuable and/or priceless items upstairs before I leave in case the levees fail again.

 

[SharonT]

People used to laugh at this one: keep an axe or hachet in the attic.

For Post-Storm; No electricity:

* Dig out an old non-electric corded phone that will work if you lose power, but not phone lines.

* Have a bucket for flushing toilets if you lose water/pressure or want to save your potable well/tank water. Fill tubs beforehand for this or even use outdoor water (pool/pond/jacuzzi.)

*Have some large Citronella pots ready for when it's so hot, you have to sit/sleep outside on the porch at night.

 

[cajuncook]

People used to laugh at this one: keep an axe or hachet in the attic.

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Or maybe some freshly charged cordess screw driver/drills to take apart a roof vent? like the windblown non electric ones? Might be easier to handle by a person not having a lot of strenght to cut a hole in the roof with an axe.

And dont forgot the radios and batteries for same.

might be a good idea to put some paper products and trash cans, (small seat sized) or 5 lb coffee cans with liners in case you are delayed in the attic and need to improvise a rest room area. Use a sheet to drape off a privacy area.
Thats an old small fishing boat trick ... probably used by campers too?

For those with toddlers, etc, bring along 1 or 2 favorite toys.... keep one hidden to swap out with whichever they are playing wiht when they get bored. Hide the bored toy then for a while. (I did that with two whole boxes of toys when my daughter was little--and rotated them about each 2 weeks,,,,,,, was like Christmas every 2 weeks for her, and saved on the pocketbook.)

 

[Zhenderson]

The longevity of ice

This is an old trick used by paddlers on days long canoe floats:

When I was preping for Katrina, I didn't have time to make much ice in the freezer, so I went out and bought all the ice I could find, and then packed two large coolers full. If you duct tape the seam formed by the lid and the chest, the ice will last a long time. Use the ice from one first, and leave the other sealed. For better results, wrap your spare cooler in blankets and comforters, and tape up again. Keep the cooler in the shade, and for a little umfff, you can keep the blankets damp. The evaporative effect will help keep the contents cool. Even this far north and west of the eye's path, we were without electicity for 11 days. I unsealed my backup cooler around day 5, and found it still to be filled with sweet, glorious, ice!! By that time the National Gaurd started showing up with ice trucks.

If possible, I would try to make big chunks of ice in the freezer. The larger the chunk, the longer it takes to melt.

 

[SharonT]

I see Bulldawg's posted his first hurricane thread, so it's time again. Bump!

- make new ice and refill jugs with fresh water...
- Got my latest insurance papers and re-did my emergency folder, too.
- Checked over contact numbers - updated new cell phone numbers, etc.

 

[Richard]

2884 wanted me to post this website so folks could track tropical weather:

http://www.wunderground.com/

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/?index_region=at

 

[chrisandersen]

Why do you need so much ice if you are evacuating?

 

[Dave Worth]

The ice keeps your fridge and/or freezer cold so the food won't spoil as quickly. After Katrina we had to throw our fridge out because the rotten smell wouldn't go away. Our house was basically okay, but it smelled like something died when we got home. My mother in law spent a week scrubbing the unit every day, taking every piece apart and soaking it in bleach.

Plus, when the ice melts you have cool drinking water.

 

[st.tammany]

Maybe out of left field but it's something I noticed after Katrina. I got hit hard and had to do a lot of physical labor for weeks and wasn't in shape so it was a real struggle.

It sure would have been nice to be in shape so one item to PREPARE is your body.

Gustav. We hate you.

 

[4saintspirit]

I will begin with the ice tip since it takes time to make the ice.

Use containers such as gallon milk jugs,etc... fill with water to about 4 inches from top and freeze.. while freezing, keep lid off, but replace when ice is frozen.
Lable as "drinkable" any bottles that were properly washed and safe for drinking... (ex: you would prob not use a washed cooking oil bottle for drinkable water, but you would a washed milk bottle.)
Freeze as many containers as possible in the spaces you have in your freezer...... they can be used in your refrigerator in the vegetable bins and turn your refrigerator into a massive "ice chest"....
you put the ice into the fridge as the last thing you do before evacing or when power is about to go out if riding out the storm. Spread tighly closed bottles of water around on various shelves in boht freezer and refridgerator. Lids help prevent water spillage as the ice melts .
Large tupperware square or rectange containers work great..... to make blocks up to 3-4 inches thick, and then popped out and bagged in a large ziplock or wrapped in serveral grocerery plastic bags, taped tightly shut in order to reuse the hugh "ice tray"/

I do the freezing of ice each year as spring comes to an end.... while eating out of the freezer to minimize quantity of food therein as it is used. Then when a storm is headed in just a few more need be prepared.

I have a side by side freezer/fridge and an upright freezer... as I use food from the sidebyside, freezer section, I replace the space wiht ice.... and free up more space to make ice in the big freezer...... Sometimes jugs are not removed for a few years if the space is not needed. c

good tip -- but a gallon zip locked bag filled with water frozen works very well also -- creates nice blocks of ice that can be used to keep things cool --

 

[4saintspirit]

Another important tip - make sure you have some cash on hand -- at least a weeks worth -- after katrina many places could not even accept credit cards -- and ATM machines were tapped out

 

[SharonT]

One more! Cancel immediately your autopay with your phone and cell phone carriers. That burned me bad last time - they gave me no service (for months) but gladly took my money! And you know the fight trying to straighten out that mess!

 

[billinms]

Another important tip - make sure you have some cash on hand -- at least a weeks worth -- after katrina many places could not even accept credit cards -- and ATM machines were tapped out

And small bills are better. I cashed my last paycheck and got it in all 20s. After Katrina a lot of places couldn't/wouldn't take large bills and almost everything I bought at first was in convenience stores.

 

[st dude]

Some practical hurricane tips for our Texas friends

Here are some preparedness tips for our Texas friends who plan to ride the storm out. This is based on my family's experience with Gustav and not having power for a week.

1. Get a generator now if you do not have one and plan to stay in your home, you will lose power if your are in the path. If you have one make sure its working. Generators that have been laid up for a year may not start and may have bad gasoline in them.

2. Get a stand up portable fan for your den area and a small window ac unit from walmart for your bedroom(about $100). Get plenty of extension cords and a couple power strips. Dont run everything off of the same cord and try to keep your cords as short as possible. Your generator can run your fridge, some lights, a fan and a small ac easily, but it will lose powere if your cords are too long. You also should run several cords from the generator, do not plug everything off of one cord. The cord may not be big enough for the juice. Long cords use more juice than short ones.

3. If your water stays on during the storm and your generator works, you can stay at home comfortably until power gets back on. If your water goes out, leave until it comes back on. Its miserable without water.

4. You will need a half dozen or so 5 gallon cans for gas. That will run your generator almost three days depending on whether you run a little ac which draws a lot of power.

5. You cant have enough bottled water. You need food to eat that doesnt need preparation. Peanut butter is good and cold cuts if you have a generator. Get some bbq stuff for when the storm passes and get ready for the neighbors.

6. You need flashlights and batteries of course. If you have a lot of trees, get your chainsaw ready. Test out your generator and get it all set up the day before the storm. Figure out how you will run cords now, it gets crazy during the storm. Count on your cell phones going out.

7. If you live near storm surge area or where you will take cat 3 winds, get out. If you are in a mobile home where you might take any hurricane winds, get out. If you are inland in a sturdy home and have a generator, you can consider riding it out. We rode it out and it was wilder than i thoguht it would be. We took a lot of damage but we were safe i thought unless a tornado hit.

8. Good luck to all. Make sure your vehicles are gassed. Dont wait another second, the lines might be too long to get these things.

 

[FLIPPY]

And don't put the generator in the house, like some idiots tend to do.