East coasters, you better brace yourselves. Hurricane Irene looks like she's gonna be a real bitch.

You could be essentially 'camping' in your own home for a week or two. No electricity, and maybe no running water.

Please be prepared. Now is the time.

There are many useful links here for keeping up to date, if you have the time to read them.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391843,00.asp

emergency government assistance whenever disaster occurs. What will be the real kicker is that the people who kept yelling "cut spending!" will be the first ones to ask "where's government help?"

"See, look at the pitiful hurricane response, I told you the gub'mint couldn't do anything right!" :crazy:

...Maine, this is just like a nor'easter. So we're ready....

I've got a Coleman stove, a few dual-fuel and propane lamps, a ton of flashlights, kero lamps, battery-powered damn near everything, including the ham radio station -- but for winter storms. We have at least one multi-day outage every winter. At least this time of year, heating isn't an issue. We've been beating down the contents of the freezer for a day now. Some will be cooked off, and put in the ice-filled Coleman chest if it looks dire.

this could result in a "Drunken Hurricane Orgy" segment on the Jersey Shore show. Stay tuned.



:hide:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1811229


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.