Hurricane Preparedness: What You Need
It's Jim Cantore! Hunker down!
As a native Floridian, I’ve been through my share of hurricanes. Heck, I was even married in one. (Yes, an outside wedding and in between the feeder bands of Hurricane Georges in 1998.) Even if a hurricane isn’t passing straight over your house, you will need to be prepared for during-the-storm and after-the-storm effects. Whether you’re staying in your house for the storm or evacuating, you may not have electricity at your home for up to 2 weeks (YES, TWO WEEKS). Camping in your house with no electricity is really what you need to be prepared for in the event that you are affected by a hurricane.
If you evacuate or decide to leave after the storm hits, you will be sitting in traffic like you’ve never seen before. NO JOKE. What may normally take you 3 hours will now take you 10. I’m not exaggerating. If you can evacuate today, I suggest going now. Seriously. Even if you’re not getting hit directly, your electricity may be out for a few days.
FACT: If The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore starts broadcasting from your town, HUNKER DOWN. That’s exactly where the worst part of the storm will pass.
I’ve compiled a list of things you’ll need and things you need to do to prepare for a hurricane. The same can be said for earthquake and tornado preparedness, and the list isn’t all-encompassing. Listen to your local weather people, evacuate if you’re instructed to do so, and don’t forget to pack empathy for others and your skinny-butt shorts. (You won’t need jeans – it’s hotter than a mo’fo after a hurricane.)
TO DO:
- Fill your car with gas TODAY.
- Fill your grill gas tanks TODAY.
- Go to the ATM and take out at least several hundred dollars TODAY.
- Fill your clean bathtubs with water to use for flushing and washing. This can be done about 12 hours before landfall.
- Find a relative or friend within driving distance with whom you can stay if you’re evacuated or flooded.
- Find and book a hotel room. Make sure you ask if there is a cancelation policy and if they accept pets if you have pets.
- Set your freezer to the lowest temperature as it can go and do not open it until your power is restored.
- Cover/seal windows with curtains or sheets. Taping windows will do little to save flying glass and it is impossible to remove.
- Arrange to contact one person out of your area who will email and Twitter/Facebook your post-hurricane status. Cell towers may be out for several days.
- Charge phones and electronics to their fullest capacity.
TO HAVE ON HAND:
- Gallon water
- Individual water
- Box water (for kids)
- Non-perishable foods
- Manual can opener
- Paper plates
- Paper napkins
- Plastic/reusable utensils
- Pet food
- Dog leashes/Cat crates
- Bug spray
- Sunscreen
- Cooler
- Condoms (Check the baby announcements 9 months post-hurricane. Baby boom time!)
- Alcohol & Xanax (Know when to say when, but you wanna be able to live, right?)
- Car charger for phone
- Wall charger for phone (You can plug it in at a store or friend’s house.)
- Battery-operated flashlight
- Batteries – all sizes
- Manual-charging weather radio
- Gas-powered home generator *Optional, but it will make you the most popular house in the neighborhood. (DO NOT RUN IT INSIDE YOUR HOUSE OR GARAGE. It has to be said. Trust me.)
- Filled gas cans
- Important papers, packed in waterproof box
- Prescription medications
- OTC medications
- First aid kit
- Warm weather clothes for everyone, packed in Ziploc bags
- Toiletries
- Wet wipes/baby wipes
- Board games
- Card games
- Books (the paper kind)
- Hurricane tracking map and pencil
HELPFUL LINKS
- FEMA – Government Preparedness Information
- Huffington Post – Live Preparation Updates
- NY Family – How to Spend Time Safely Indoors
- Sesame Street Hurricane Kit
As an experienced hurricane survivalist, I know there are tons of tips even I’ve never heard of doing. If you have more advice for those who haven’t been through a hurricane, please leave your advice in the comments.
Stay safe, and don’t even THINK that those waves are suitable for surfing or that water-logged road is safe to drive through.
image via The Weather Channel
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All great advice! I would add blue plastic tarps. If you have any damage to your roof or windows from wind or tree branches, these can be a life saver. The time to buy them is now and they will be impossible to find afterwards.
Also, yes, O fill your propane tank/s. This will be your main cooking source if you lose power. But do be sure to disconnect the tank from the grill before the storm hits and store both in a safe place, such as a garage.
*That should be DO fill your propane tanks.
One other thing…gather all important papers, insurance contact info, medications etc. and store in a waterproof container – either a plastic bin or plastic ziploc bag.
Yikes!! I live on the west coast (Washington state) and now I’m a little freaked out. I thought Florida was scary because of all the giant bugs, but now I’m scared of hurricanes too. There is no way I’m ever getting to see Disney World! Arg! :)
I LOL’d at the condoms. I can’t tell you how many of my friends ended up pregnant post-Ivan.
Oops! You forgot to mention several gallons of gas for the generator if you have one!
Also, make sure to charge up your phones, iPods, iPads, portable DVD players (lifesavers if you have kids!). And make sure you have a car charger for the phone as well.
We had 10 days without power after Hurricane Wilma. The good news was that was in October and ushered in the first cold front of the season. Otherwise, very hot and very wet!
YES. Gallons of gas for the generator is important!
You’ll want the bottles to any of your prescription medications – pharmacy chains have national records and Red Cross stations can help you get your prescriptions refilled if you have the bottles w/ your doctors info and all the prescription info on it. If you are leaving town, It is also a good idea to “bag” up everything in your fridge and freezer, this way if you lose power the melting/thawing/smell is contained to the bags and you can salvage your fridge if everything sits for a few weeks.
Living in FL, we’ve been through our fair share of hurricanes (I have a kid named Charlie…ring any bells?) :) Here are some things we’ve learned…
Fill up your tupperware containers with water and throw them in your freezer. A packed freezer is slower to defrost when the power goes out, and if it does wind up thawing, you at least have extra water on hand.
Invest in a camping coffee maker so you can at least make hot coffee on the grill in the mornings. Next to alcohol – coffee is 2nd on my list in a hurricane!
Look out for your neighbors. Share what you have and take good care of each other…you never know, the person you shared your coffee with today, may just get their power back a week earlier than you – and you want to be their new BFF!
I live in VA. We were out of power for a week after hurricane Isabel, and I live over 150 miles inland. Power outages are the things that scare me most about hurricanes.