Hurricane survival tips for those who want to ride it out

We rode out Katrina. Our livelihood and business is here, so we had no choice. We were in the area that took a direct hit, as in, the eye passed over us. Here are my little tips for things you can do now to make life bearable.

1. Land lines most likely aren't going to survive. Make sure you have an alternative way to charge your cell phone, though during Katrina, ours didn't work for several days because the towers were damaged and overloaded with people trying to get through. If you can, get one of those solar chargers today, just in case. I wish I would have done that.

2. Make SURE to fill as many containers as you possibly can with water, including sinks and bathtubs. If you lose water, you won't be able to flush the toilet - that means you have to pour water into the toilet to get rid of the waste. That's one of the most challenging aspects.

3. Fill up your car. We sat in gas lines for three hours once the roads were clear. Remember, you are going to have to travel a lot further than normal if your area is decimated. We were only allowed to buy $20 worth of gas even after sitting forever.

4. Make sure you have ice if you have medicines that need to be refrigerated. The easiest way to do this is to prepare before hand and freeze bags of water. Not only will you be prepared, if power goes out, it will keep your freezer cooler longer so you can at least salvage some of the stuff in the freezer during the next couple of days. Have a cooler or two handy, as well - you are going to need them.

5. A grill, any kind of grill or camp stove is a life saver. At least you can make coffee, and cook any meat or vegetables that are going to go bad in the next few days. Might as well have a barbecue if you can't go anywhere (because roads are gone) and have food that's going to go bad.

6. Boredom during the first few days is a problem. Make sure you have something to do. If you have no electricity, no water, and minimal communications, it's extremely stressful. We felt like we were in a little bubble all by ourselves. No communications also means no animal control or police. If you live in a rural area, prepare for displaced wild life that can become a threat, and realize that you are going to have to protect your pets and family on your own.

7. A lot of your neighbors may be evacuating. Sometimes, they do awful things like leave their pets behind. One of my neighbors did that and we had to take care of his dogs. The poor things were in direct sun in a cage with no food and water. If you have elderly or infirm neighbors, encourage them to leave. It's rough on young, healthy people. It's also NO place for children.

8. If you are going to be involved in clean up, go get a tetanus shot. They usually offer them free, and it's for a reason. Nails, jagged metal, etc. are a massive problem.

If you STILL want to ride it out after the list of conditions I described, if it hits your area hard, prepare for very primitive living conditions. One thing is for certain, it's a great way to meet your neighbors.

My family enjoys power outages. We cook on a campstove (outside on a covered porch) and grill everything we find in our freezer. We wear headlamps and play Scrabble and Illumnati (and drink beer). Stay safe everyone.

Thanks!

Make your own ice -set as many pots as possible in the freezer - keep until you lose power and stuff in the freezer begins to melt then wrap then in plastic and wrap again in newspapers - place in big igloos.

Do not throw away your eggs - fill a basin with salt and cover them. They will last for six months :D.

The grill is great to make a huge pot of soup as well.
Buy lots of peas, noodles, potatoes, etc -baked potatoes with cheese work well on the grill.
Buy salted fish - makes great potato balls
Find the old board games - find your old non-handset land line.
We find that landlines work much better than cell phones following hurricanes but that electric phone won't work. Find your old phone and clean it with disinfectant (cleaned ours last week).

Make sure every important document is already in zip lock bags and make sure they are in a bag you are using if you have to evacuate. Do not place them in the car since that might be damaged and you may forget. Also take the car papers out of the car for insurance purposes.

Buy lots of drinks to lift your spirits :evilgrin:

gr.

that last tip is great! I drank nearly every night for two weeks - unfortunately, it was (warm) tequila. Gotta do better ths time!

For us, land lines were absolutely GONE for a few MONTHS. Even in commercial areas. We had to forward business calls to the cell phones. It does pay to be prepared, though. Not having communications is a killer in the days following.

You cover them completely with salt and they won't spoil? Or salt and water?

but plain salt, sea salt or rock salt will do. They'll stay fresh for months.
Our great grandparents bought eggs in summer because they were cheap and used them to bake at Christmas.

If you are a smoker, stock up NOW. A pack of ancient Salems (I don't smoke menthols) was a miracle, because I didn't count on not being able to get cigarettes. Yes, you should quit, but trust me, the stress of the aftermath is not even the time to consider it. You'll have so many things you are out of that ANYTHING is wonderful

If you drink, stock up now. God knows you are going to need a spirit lifter after all of the crap you will be going through.

Even if you aren't directly involved in clean up, it's still a good idea to get a tetanus shot. Remember, medical care is going to be EXTREMELY limited. Do not wander around outside without very adequate foot protection, and be careful of stepping around boards, etc.

I can't reiterate how important it is to remember that if there is wild life in your area, you need to keep your pets put up. We had wild pigs roaming the neighborhood, and I live in the suburbs.

You might want to prepare to "fight" a hurricane. If you are expecting a direct "hit", and you are planning on staying in your home, it's not the time for a party, it's time for a battle.

1. Get dressed appropriately. Shoes that can get wet. CLOTHES that can get wet, and won't blow off you.
2. Gloves, you may be dealing with broken glass, branches, etc.
3. Put flashlights around the house. When the tree falls on the garage is the wrong time to try to get to them. Place them in various rooms around the house so you can get to them AFTER all goes dark.
4. Rearrange the fridge/freezer now. Consolidate the freezer putting stuff together at the bottom. Plan on not going in there after the power goes off. Get out your ice (including those bags, or 1/2 gal milk jugs you filled) and put them in coolers with the stuff you expect to use. Then leave the rest in there (with more stored ice).
5. Get out tarps and towels NOW and place them around the house. A quick tarp can save a couch or other piece of furniture. But you don't need to be climbing in attic during the storm looking for it.
6. Eat now. You may be busy for a long time and not have much time for cooking
7. Call friends and family and have plans for how to communicate after the power/phone go out.
8. Clean up the yard. Remove lose items and put them in the house/garage. Pull the car in the garage and brace it against the garage door to help support the door.
9. Find all those battery operated items now. Radios, flashlights, lanterns, etc. Make sure everything that can be is "charged".

after you've put all the ice in the coolers, the additional ice will preserve the temperature (and food) longer and give you an additional ice store.

You are absolutely right about getting tarps, etc. and cleaning up the yard. Things you think can't possibly fly away, do.

Powerful beams, last a long time, much much brighter than regular flashlights. Worth every penny.

We have LOTS of extra batteries on hand.
I keep mine next to the bed, but during storms, close by my hand.
We also have LOTS of candles and lots of oil lamps and oil refills.
I have been surprised at how often we have had to use them during just "normal" storms.

'Cause sometimes you need your hands free. :)

It's always good to remind people just how difficult life is in the aftermath of a hurricane. Maybe more of them will do the smart thing and leave. When the roads are blocked and you have no electricity or communications, things can get very frustrating. I understand that many people, for different reasons, aren't able to leave. But if your reason is a trivial one, or makes no sense, such as 'I have to stay to watch my stuff,' then you really need to leave. You'll be better off and the police, fire, Red Cross, etc. will be less burdened.

We stayed for several reasons, but mainly because of the business. Once you evacuate, you can't get back in (but if you left, you don't want to go back!). It's NO place for kids, the elderly or the infirm, seriously. It's dangerous, you have no a/c, no water and no power. Medical care is EXTREMELY limited. Police and animal control are non-existent except for extreme situations.

It's nothing to fool around with. It might end up being not so bad, but it might end up being like Katrina.

Seriously. Go to a shelter. Brick/concrete block structures survive hurricanes well: trailer parks are death traps. I'm a nurse who's lived in Florida for thirty-five years, and I know what I'm talking about. Even if you're not directly in the path of a major hurricane, they can spawn tornadoes.

Let the Red Cross take care of you. I'm not their biggest fan, but your chances of surviving in a shelter are pretty good.

If you are in a mandatory evacuation zone, DO NOT DEFY IT. People died because they ignored it, and when 35 feet of water rushed inland for over a mile, it even lifted an airplane fuel tanker out of the ground and washed it up onto I-10. I'm talking a tank as big as two semis - it blocked two lanes of eastbound I-10 for days.



What do you think is going to happen to your mobile home with that much wind and water? Hell, they had to empty the jails here, and good thing they did, because they were under 30 feet of water, along with city hall.

I live in a mobile home in Georgia and I wouldn't even think about staying here were a hurricane approaching. I am terrified when I hear the tornado sirens blaring because there is no time to go anywhere. Those sirens only give you moments to prepare and no time get out.

the two weather radio sirens go off, and then you hear the tornado sirens whaling in the background. It's downright erie and frightening, especially in the middle of the night. I know exactly what you mean.

Here in Oklahoma they track storms from development to fizzle. IT SAVES LIVES. I don't understand why all the weather people in EVERY STATE aren't that diligent! We just need to clone Gary England so that you guys have time to get to your shelter!
Duckie

I have not lived in OKC for over 25 years and all our weather people in North Carolina seem like children just "playing" weatherman when compared to Gary.

...And she'd haunt me if I didn't watching him and only him. LOL

...if you are evacuation, don't be awful like some of the people in my neighborhood and leave your pets behind. Someone may agree to come over and feed them, but remember, the roads are going to be trashed. Unless it's a direct neighbor, don't rely on someone else. Take them with you.

I watched thousands of people PARKED on Interstate 65 out of Mobile, during a hurricane, because they had all waited too long to leave, it was wall to wall cars for 50 miles, no one knew the side country roads, it was one giant parking lot for most of one day as the hurricane blew over them.
Honest to god...I was on the overpass heading towards a safer area and saw this.

If you are not gone 48 hours before landfall,it may be too late.
Remember all the tv pictures of millions of people crawling on the freeways at 10 miles an hour, running out of gas before they even made it halfway out of the state? Time and again, thru various hurricanes.

And AFTER the storm, it could be days before power comes back on.

I have been thru hurricanes, and now I WILL pack up and head out of state.
Camping out with no power, with a zillion mosquitoes, in hot humid muggy weather, is NOT a good thing for me at my age.
And I have no problems deciding THAT.

It was horrible.

My dogs are my kids, and I would never leave them behind for anything!! I couldn't just lock them up and leave them to die! I'd rather die in my house with my dogs than be safe knowing something might happen to my babies. That is unconscionable!!

Stock up on water in preparation for extended power outages even if you're inland. We have two 55 gallon drums to collect rainwater so that we can flush the toilets should the power go out. We have numerous large camping-like containers of water to use to cook with. Then we have several cases of bottled water for drinking.

POWER UP all cell phones and computers now and keep them at full power.

If you have a generator (we do as we lose power all the time), make sure you have enough gasoline to run it for at least a week.

Yeah - do stock up on those food items you'll use a lot. During the big east-coast snow in 2010, I ended up having to bake bread in my crock pot powered by the generator. It was good but the crust didn't brown.

WATER WATER WATER. If that goes, it's misery to have to lug five gallon buckets from down the street just so you can flush the damn toilet.

I do this anyway, but some folks are grossed out by it. Get over it! It'll be the least of your problems.
Edited to add: don't forget to have some cash on hand. ATM's and credit cards may not be usable for a while.

I can't believe I forgot that! Yes, having cash on hand saved our behinds. When the bank has a boat through it, you probably aren't going to be able to get any cash (yes, that happened).

making change will not be easy.

down here, a lot of the tips in this thread are habit by most folks...keeping the gas gauge full, having a BIG "hurricane box" that you can grab in 2 minutes, basically thinking thru and preparing to live off the grid for 2 weeks.
When Ivan closed down our entire area in 2004, there was no power for 3 weeks.
took days before side roads in neighborhoods could even be cleared of downed trees and poles.
That is why leaving BEFORE TSHTF is recommended.And if you can't leave ( there ARE good reasons for not leaving)
then living without outside support for a few weeks is a real possibility.

you get the chance. They make very good bread. You'll be very happy if you are ever again without commercial bread for a while, and you'll appreciate it all the time otherwise.

I like to set the delay on my bread machine so that my alarm goes off just as it's finishing baking. Unfortunately, the wonderful smell of baking bread usually wakes me up even earlier.

- and I couldn't get to it at the time due to 3 feet of snow. I need a new one - mine is one of the originals and I wasn't fond of how the bread would come out. I would use it to make/rise the dough but - hey - that's all the fun of bread making!

Nuts, beef jerky, and dried figs are also good to stock up on.

just curious
and how much of what they run on, do they need to run?

just asking since hurricanes tend to knock out all power
and running a 'oven' on a generator isn't something i'd like to do

i mean if a bread machine runs of butane or propane, then disregard this completely

For $60 to $75 you can buy a backpackers water filter that can make drinkable water from nearly any water source you can find. I have a Katadyn that will make about 75 gallons of fresh water from brackish standing ponds, and about 400 gallons of fresh water from reasonably clear river or lake water (the dirtier the water source, the faster the filter plugs).

I bought mine because I'm a hiker, but I've always been a bit suprised that people don't use them as an emergency water source more often.

i don't depend on it 100% since it won't filter out everything
(least mine katadyn pocket) won't

specifically some virii, to effect hepatitis c and b for instance
which with potentially feces contaminated water ...
are too small for the filter unless they are attached to particles larger than
...for the pocket...0.2 micron or 200 nm since hepatitis comes in at 50 nm

at that point it's double or triple treat the water

filter AND boil
filter AND water treatment

i don't know why people don't have them either
but they are expensive if the only use is for emergencies

yours actually removes salt as well?
which model is that?

Know your source. If there's a sewage plant upstream, or if you have no idea what's in your water, it's a good idea to back up the water filter with a UV source like a SteriPen, just to make sure it's clean.

As far as desalinization goes, mine actually does NOT (I have a Hiker Pro). Thing is, you don't need it. Brackish water, by definition, isn't saltwater. It's a mix of fresh and salt waters, and usually has a much lower percentage of dissolved salts than seawater. The human body can handle some salts without difficulty, and can actually retain water better when a small amount of salt is present (which is why both Gatorade and Pedialite have added salts).

Brackish water, especially if you pull from the top few inches (salinity increases with depth in brackish ponds), is typically drinkable by humans if it's properly filtered first. You will taste a small amount of salt in the water, but it's well below the threshold where it would cause health problems.

Of course, it will also trash your filter pretty quickly. As I said, my 400 gallon filter would be toast after about 75 gallons. But, in a survival situation where it may be the only water source available, it's a viable way to keep yourself alive.

both skill and equipment

yep knowing water sources is nice, but can't always be done in a big city, it's from the tap, it's under boil water order, why? they don't always say, when they don't say, assume the worst

had to go look up that hiker pro, nice looking filter
katadyn does nice filters

i think i'll stick to my pocket
at least till katadyn rolls out something like the pocket that does desalination and neutralizes all virii
with the same capacity and field servicability (and lastability)

i'd be all over it (to the point of pawning a kidney)

in pure survival (unprepared) one has to put equipment through things that will 'shorten' their life
preparation can save a lot of that, not sure i'd like to shorten life by a factor of 10+ though
those filters are expensive ($120 ish) for mine

i've never run my pocket against salt or brackish water,
don't think i will unless i'm in very dire need indeed
as in, can't build a solar still, or find another solution

classification of brackish water is 0.5-3.0 percent ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brackish_water )
the lower end i don't have a problem with, the higher end i've got huge issues with

actually anything over 0.9%(body balance) (call it 1.1) starts carrying risk depending on person
since that's from water alone, any food will probably carry more salt

the human body can't really rid itself of anything higher concentration than that(0.9%) by urination, so it starts pushing out water to get rid of salt (increased urination)
yes, sweating will get rid of some extra(depends on person, some people sweat a lot of salt, some almost none), but eating food (especially canned (usually high in sodium)) will add more

fine balance to walk, since most people won't be hauling a backpack in terrain and getting rid of salt through sweat

kind of amusing is that i don't use the pocket for hurricane prep at all, it's in my evac bag, but i don't normally use it
for day to day 'no power boil water situations' due to the virii limitation,

it does get used daily on camping trips though

different strokes for different folks i guess

i think some of us in the threads need to get together at some point
dump all the threads into one, and have a mod put it sticky somewhere
heck while we are at it, make one for cold weather, one for earth quakes and so forth

a lot of the knowledge is on the surface right now
and the motivation exists right now

you have the "old-fashioned" kind.

I know it sounds silly, but in this automated world....folks forget the basics.

Get used to the dark--your sleep schedule will change as you get accustomed to it...

Costco.com sells vacuum-packed emergency food supplies that have a 20 year shelf life. And it only costs about $90 for a 60 day supply for two.

I've got a couple. Gotta feed the neighbors too.

I have a vacuum sealer, and I'm starting to learn how to can. My grandmother and my aunt used to can for like a week. If that makes me sound paranoid, oh well. I know now how handy having extras on hand can be (and sometimes, how necessary).

n/t

made getting cash from it quite difficult for a long time LOL.

We live on the gulf coast. I have a business here. But we still bug out about 200 miles to the homes of friends or family whenever a Hurricane is approaching. Unless you are a first responder or medical staff or someone else who is required to stay behind, don't. Why?

1. There is little you can do to protect property from a Hurricane even if you're there. Trying to tarp a couch in 100 mph winds and stinging rain, in the dark, when there is probably a water moccasin in your den, is simply not worth the risk to your life and limb. I suppose afterwards there are some things you can do to lessen the losses, but its still just not worth the risk. Look around your house and ask yourself if there is anything there you'd jump in front of a bullet for? Really? There is nothing in my home or in my office that I can't find a way to replace, or learn to do without. Both are insured (I know that doesn't always work out, but still), and its just stuff. Back up your hard drive, batten up the house as best you can, take anything really important to you, and GTF out.

2. Friends and family will worry themselves sick for you, might not hear from you for days and will imagine the worse. Don't put them through that.

3. You can get back into a hurricane hit area fairly soon - a day or two - unless it is catastrophic. If that's the case, there's no reason to get back quickly anyway.

4. Looters are not really the problem the media makes them out to be. They're just not. Does it happen? Yes. Is it complete anarchy? No. Not unless the situation becomes what happened in New Orleans following the levy breaches. If that kind of thing happens, you don't really want to be there to engage in a firefight with looters to protect your big screen TV and your weed eater, do you? The MS gulf coast was devastated by Katrina to an extent I could not have imagined. For miles inland, there was nothing to loot. For the next 30 miles, there was no one to do the looting - only people like the OP trying to dig out and survive. If a survivor wants to rummage through the ruins of my house to find things to help them and their family survive - fine. I would give them permission if I were there. If they go in to get my TV and weed eater, I'm not going to lose sleep over it?

5. If it really hits like Katrina hit the MS coast, you might survive and make out OK like the OP. But unless you're a young, fit person with good survivalist skills, or otherwise really lucky, you're more likely to be a burden on emergency response personnel. They're probably already busy. I don't want someone else to perish because I absorbed EMT resources. I voted for Reagan once as a young man - so I already have enough on my conscience.

6. Go to the house of a friend or family member, get a bottle of whiskey, have a good meal, and watch The Weather Channel intently for 27 hours. Spend time with people you like and care about, but don't get to see often because they're 200 miles away. That is a much better way to ride one of these thing out. JMHO.

"The MS gulf coast was devastated by Katrina to an extent I could not have imagined. For miles inland, there was nothing to loot"

There literally wasn't, and no way for you to get there even if you could loot because there were no roads, and foot traffic in some places was even impossible for a few days. When there is twenty feet of water standing in stores, what exactly is there to "loot"?

People don't realize that there is NOTHING, and you do need strong survivalist skills and to be prepared for it. I'd do it again, but then, I'm not just everybody. Would I want to? Oh hell no. It was horrible.

If you aren't ready to deal with water moccasins, alligators, wild pigs of all things, you certainly aren't going to be worried about looters. Walking around outside is dangerous unless you are dressed with strong soled shoes that won't pick up nails and if you don't have heavy gloves.

That's why I made this post, so people could consider the ramifications of just how *rough* rough can be.

we go to a nice little hotel that takes big dogs in a small North Texas town. It is affordable, has laundry, and little kitchens in the rooms. We call it our Hurricane Vacation.

if you have not stocked up on supplies by now.

and be sure to take a large cooler with you. On your way back you'll want to stop about an hour before your destination and fill your cooler with groceries (also fill your gas tank). In areas that are hit bad it will take them awhile to restock the groceries and gas stations. I know, I've been through this. If your house has been without power more than a couple days you'll also be cleaning out your fridge/freezer before you can use it again.

4 foot of water in your house? Best bet is to load those photo albums and get out now.


Take some photos of the house, inside and outside for insurance purposes, and leave.

Since if the infrastructure is messed up there is a chance there won't be more available for a month. Don't wait for the last minute because you don't want to run out. One of the things we did post Katrina was insulin delivery (and other meds) around the gulf coast a couple weeks later since pharmacies weren't up and running and supplies were short.

For some reason I see beagles when I think of Pearlington. Maybe someone there had beagles?

Business is in Waveland - Not that far from Pearlington. I live in the burbs in Hancock county, but I'd rather not disclose where we live. If you are from the area, however, you can probably figure it out.

am from wayyyyyyyy up there in NW.

Going around adding "MS and AL" to the "katrina didn't cause much damage only the leveee failing" comments.

Did a bit of mobile medicine and rx delivery, deconstruction of home afterwards. It was a mess indeed. Don't know why beagles pop into my mind, maybe someone had them at the school where they were doing stuff/food?

Delete the personal info, know how it goes.

Thanks for the tips, Aerows.

make the decision whether to stay or leave, OR helps someone who decides to stay have an easier time, it was worth my time to make the post. I've got the people about to face Irene in my thoughts. If you are prepared, you can get through just about anything, though sometimes, it's best to just go.

Crank radios/flashlights can be helpful
Snacks like graham crackers, ready made soups, cartons of juice
Groceries will have gallons of water (I bought mine at Kroger earlier this month)

I've lived here 7 years and evacuated twice (small children). With Ike we left and it was a week before we came back. Our neighbor is a police officer - sent his family out of town and kept an eye on our houses. We still had a refrig/freezer to clean out when we got back. And that was a best-case scenario because we got out of town quickly.

If there are trees down, you need to have enough for a while.

Off vacation in Illinois and back to Connecticut by Saturday morning.

Well, it will be a tropical storm by then. Or so I tell myself.

Great timing, and all that.

Well, somebody's got to man the pumps and the generator. Without those, we'll have three feet of water in the basement. And I live in the basement!!!


Shitballs.

The last thing anyone needs when doing cleanup when there is limited medical attention is to injure themselves when it's preventable by wearing gloves and thick soled/steel toed boots. You don't want to discount the possibility of snake, either. There was a slew of them right after Katrina. Who wants to survive a hurricane only to get bitten by a snake or step on a nail when there is very limited medical help.

be poison oak, poison ivy, or poison sumac. Plant life assaulted by high winds isn't always easy to recognize.

We found out after Andrew in '92 that, while we could call out, people couldn't call in. I was so bemused and confused by my first (and only thus far) hurricane and its aftermath that I didn't even realize it was national news and had no idea my family was frantically trying to reach us to see if we were OK. I sure got an earful when I called a few days later. And there I was feeling sorry for myself that no one even bothered to check on us :shrug:

someone outside our area and then ask them to contact other family members.

and as the eye passes over, close that side and crack the other side windows

the air pressure difference between inside and outside will blow out your windows

http://www.ehow.com/way_5691327_should-crack-house-windows-hurricane_.html

And here's a more detailed explanation:

http://www.weatherimagery.com/blog/windows-and-tornadoes/

http://campingsurvival.com/waemdrwast.html


This site has a bathtub bladder to store 100 gallons of water on sale for $19. Amazon lists it for $30. You can store water in it for 4 weeks.

I'm getting one because I worry about accidents and natural disasters that could require the city to turn off our water supply.

It's called a water bob.

advice. I would add "Bicycles". They became necessities because all our cars were dead or washed away. I saw one boy riding a bike pulling his wagon behind him, towing ice bags home to momma. One sight was like a Norman Rockwell painting. A young Southern lady dressed in her finest summer wear, hair done up in a scarf, daintily trooping down the sidwalk towing her little rolling ice chest to the FEMA tent for ice. I froze milk jugs full of water, and then moved as many perishables to the freezer to make them last.

when a hurricane is trucking along. I too would advice to leave, but for those unable to, make preparations as the OP outlined.

and am now scared shitless!! I'm in Delaware and it's coming right up the coast. I'm not in the area being evacuated though..

After the hurricane, there clean up to do.

Is you house nice and strong, mine was built to restand another 1900 Galveston hurricane.

The worst will be the sound of the wind.

I used tin on our windows and had the window open a little for air.

The sound will be scary.

I didn't need to spend the day alternating between different tv channels and different web sites, in case I miss anything.
I wish it would get here already so I would know how bad it is.

I knew Ike was coming at us, I prepared early.

The the long wait.

Ike hit us a night so we had a long day to finish up.

People were still putting up boards late into the afternoon.

The sounds of saws and drills.

I took a walk around neighborhood and took pictures.

We stayed outside on the porch until the wind started to blow.

The sky got really red, the trees started to move.

Then the wind started to howl.

It is a relief for the hurricane to start.

Stock up on pot and have an extra set of guitar strings handy and you're set

mentioned but I'm going to mention it anyway. Please do not get drunk during the storm. You never know what a hurricane is going to do like produce tornadoes and you need your wits about you.

I had friends who were in Homestead, FL when hurricane Andrew devastated it. They were huddled in a small downstairs bathroom with 2 small children for HOURS - I remember correctly it was like 10 hours. The roof was ripped off, windows blown out, stuff flying everywhere, both cars destroyed by falling stuff. After it was over the mother of the children suffered PTSD to the point she lost it. She started drinking, drugging and left her husband and almost lost her children. The hurricane destroyed their lives.


PLEASE get out if you can and if not have a plan.

I hope to God I'm wrong but this storm feels like it's going to get very ugly.

(if you are in an area for direct hit, I would evacuate...this list is for a level under that)

I am not at the coast and not in Florida, but what tends to happen where I live is losing power from limbs hitting power lines. I don't think they have the tree problem in most of Florida.

I have been hearing that the ground is saturated up north and if the wind is severe, it might topple trees which increases the possibility of losing power. I am not in a low lying area, so don't have to worry about water. If you are, you might want to hang out with friends or relatives. Lots of rain at once can overwhelm the system and water can rise rapidly.

If you have a gas stove, you will still be able to use the burners so I have spaghettios, top ramen and things like that to cook. There is always the PBJ which would not need refrigeration (Jam) for such a short time. Neighbors use their gas grills to cook....since I didn't have one, we used to use the camping stove outside. I traded out the electric stove for gas when it died.

If you have a basement and it has ever flooded, get your stuff off the floor. If you have a sump pump and no battery backup, it will fail in a power outage.

Your portable phones will not work if there is a power outage so make sure your cell phone is charged (it might not even work) or you have a land line. Have plenty of gas in your vehicle.

I always keep lots of candles on hand for obvious reasons, plus some flashlights.

I also keep paper plates and paper cups handy.

If you have things which can get blown around, secure them. This includes trash cans, wind chimes, plastic furniture, hanging plants, you get the idea. You don't want something blowing into your balcony door and cracking the glass.

Have some cash on hand...the ATM might not be working.

Get your shower in before you lose hot water. Cold showers are not fun.

I start filling an ice chest with ice ahead of time using the ice maker. If the power goes out, ice will be in short supply at the stores...that is if they even open.

Batteries for a portable radio are also a good idea. The last hurricane, the announcers used it to advise of where you could get food, ice, or shelter in case your home was damaged, etc.

Don't go driving around in the midst of this. I was listening on a police scanner during my first time and heard of all the trees coming down over the roads making them impassable. I don't want anyone out there risking their lives to sight-see.

Stay safe, don't panic. Think of it as possibly camping indoors, but without the mosquitoes.

Expect to see lots of babies born about 9 months after this event....lol.

You can store water in them in a pinch, too.

re-think about evacuating. It is a far better choice than you may believe. Until you have sat for 4 to 8 hours in the center hallway of your house listening to the windows rattle then blow out, big things bouncing off your house, howling wind, and trees crashing down and through things all around you, you will be tempted to underestimate these storms.

If you are going to stay, all the above are good bits of advice.

Having a few new tarps about to dry-in some portion of your damaged property is a fairly good choice. Having some first aid supplies handy, clean, and dry is another.

If you live in an urban or suburban area, count on your neighbors doing some pretty novel and unsafe things with tools, beware of brand new, "just out of the box" chain saws and the things office rats might do with them.

Alot of people respond well in a crisis and become more neighborly and helpful, a few react in exactly the opposite direction, be aware of this and leave these few plenty of space as needed.

- For those of you bracing for Hurricane Irene, stay safe and prepare. Food, water, flashlights, batteries.

More info: www.Ready.gov

So you have enough cat food/dog food/fish food/hamster food or whatever. And don't forget the extra kitty litter.

Just think about what you'd need if you had to rough it for three days. EXPECT no help for three days, and imagine what might go wrong and how you could head that off or at least be able to weather it (no pun intended). That's what we've been schooled to do in earthquake country. A bad scenario that it's essential to plan for - is to anticipate that no help will be able to reach you for at least three days.

Are your prescriptions sufficient?

Got enough batteries?

Fresh drinking water?

And remember, in the bathroom - if it's yellow, it's mellow. If it's brown flush it down. Water conservation of all sorts may well come into play.

Here's something my friend Karen Sloan posted at the A.P.:

How to stay connected during Hurricane Irene

(snip)

- Even if cellphones work, wireless networks may be overloaded by people calling to check in on each other or surfing the Web. Tuesday's earthquake on the East Coast triggered such an overload, even though there was no physical damage to towers or lines. Cellphone companies recommend text messaging rather than calling in any disaster, because text messages use much less network capacity. They also don't use much battery power. Using Facebook and Twitter can be tempting, but try to keep usage brief and use the apps rather than web browsers if possible, to minimize network use and battery drain.

If you have a battery-powered radio, use it to get your news updates rather than taxing the wireless network and your phone battery.

- Keep your phones plugged in so that they're fully charged if the power goes out. There are various products available that can recharge a cellphone from a larger rechargeable battery, AA batteries, or through a car adapter.

- Corded landline phones may work even if the power goes out, because they're powered from the phone jack, which in turn is powered from the phone company's facilities. These are usually equipped with generators or backup batteries. Cordless phones won't work if your home loses electric power, nor will Internet phone services like Vonage and Ooma.

(snip)

More at -
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRENE_HOW_TO_COMMUNICATE_?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Good luck, everybody!