Hurricane/other disaster prep

[happyhomemaker25]

What do you keep on hand in case of disaster? I am in FL so I'm focusing on hurricanes, but it could apply to other disasters as well. Not real big canned beef stew and spam people so I try to make sure we have bread, peanut butter, tuna fish, powdered milk, beans, some canned veggies that we could eat cold if we had to, water, cold brew tea, and the like. I forgot to restock our batteries (and a tropical storm is on it's way this afternoon), but I usually have a stock of batteries, a few flashlights, some safety candles, bleach, vinegar, clorox wipes, and lighters.

Do you have to run out to the stores and stock up as soon as you hear the storm is coming or are you ready? We are usually ready, but this one came up quick and I have not restocked from stuff we already used. To late to go to the store now, but I think we'll be ok with what is in the pantry. It's just a tropical storm and we are pretty far inland. Our power lines are buried underground so that helps us keep power more often. The only thing I really miss when our power is out is the AC! I hate that hurricane season is during the summer. It can get pretty miserable.

So tell me what you do to prep.

[hthnmamax2]

Campfire coffee pot, coffee, babywipes or bathing wipes, dog food, a weeks worth of meds and our "Holy Cr*p" binder in case of evacuation, large first aid kit and a stash of iodine tablets. We used to live just a few miles from a nuclear power plant and they would issue the tablets yearly.

 

 

The HC binder has our passports, social security cards, birth certs, marriage certificate, copies of drivers licenses and military ID's, emergency credit card, insurance papers and any other important paperwork we'd need in case of emergency evacuation. It also has up to date pics of the boys and everyone in the family and their fingerprints as well as the dogs vaccination records and emergency contacts.

[frugalmama]

Campfire coffee pot, coffee, babywipes or bathing wipes, dog food, a weeks worth of meds and our "Holy Cr*p" binder in case of evacuation, large first aid kit and a stash of iodine tablets. We used to live just a few miles from a nuclear power plant and they would issue the tablets yearly.

 

 

The HC binder has our passports, social security cards, birth certs, marriage certificate, copies of drivers licenses and military ID's, emergency credit card, insurance papers and any other important paperwork we'd need in case of emergency evacuation. It also has up to date pics of the boys and everyone in the family and their fingerprints as well as the dogs vaccination records and emergency contacts.

 

:iagree: Except we do at least 2 weeks worth of meds if possible, as we deal with some medical issues and MUST take medication daily.

 

Food for up to a month too - things that can be heated and things that don't need to be.

[Jane in NC]

Tree trimming. That is the first thing we do to prepare for hurricane season.

 

Otherwise not a whole lot since I tend to keep a stocked pantry. We usually buy some water when our area is placed on a hurricane watch.

 

The document binder another poster lists important papers in case one needs to evacuate. That should not happen with Beryl though.

[Lady Florida.]

Tree trimming. That is the first thing we do to prepare for hurricane season.

 

Otherwise not a whole lot since I tend to keep a stocked pantry. We usually buy some water when our area is placed on a hurricane watch.

 

The document binder another poster lists important papers in case one needs to evacuate. That should not happen with Beryl though.

 

This. Dh usually trims trees in May. Everything else we pretty much always have, including batteries. Bottled water is the only thing we go buy when we hear of a hurricane possibly coming our way. We're expecting a good bit of rain from Beryl, but that's all. We're just south of where the tropical storm warning ends.

[happyhomemaker25]

Its funny because where I live we get a ton of warnings and then it turns and we are safe. Sad to say it has made us a bit lazy out here. I usually don't get our stuff ready until June. Lesson learned.:tongue_smilie:

[Slipper]

Paper plates/napkins, plasticware, cups, etc. Also, baby wipes, hand sanitizer and basic first aid kit. We also keep a fully stocked pantry and have manual can openers in different locations.

 

We have a storm shelter that should be installed soon. It's interesting to see how my neighbors are outfitting theirs and what items they consider important enough to keep down there.

 

I live in a small, rural area. The most shocking thing I saw after last year's tornadoes was that our area simply didn't have food. Electricity went out and the two grocery stores in town had to throw out all cold stuff. Since many people lost their homes, food was sought after. Two churches lost their storage space in the tornado that contained clothes closets and food pantries. I remember going into town (not realizing the power was out since the roads weren't passable for several days so it took a bit to actually get to town) and being shocked that shelves were literally bare. Trucks couldn't run to our rural town due to trees being down and dangerous situations (power lines still on roads).

 

It was very sobering and some people around here were without power for over two weeks.

[pqr]

Given the looting, rapine and societal breakdown that many places see when the power goes out a FL buddy of mine always ensures that he has a few extra boxes of shells for his 12 ga and for his pistol.

[Jane in NC]

Given the looting, rapine and societal breakdown that many places see when the power goes out a FL buddy of mine always ensures that he has a few extra boxes of shells for his 12 ga and for his pistol.

 

(Shudder.) Fortunately my community is far different than that in which you buddy resides. If anything, we find that neighbors help neighbors.

[hillfarm]

In a hurricane situation, I think you need to remember what you would need to "bug in" as well as what you would need to 'bug out".

 

The main things would be water, essential medications, food, and shelter. Why wait until a storm is pending to stock up on water? Get several cases and store them under beds or in the backs of closets, then you will never be caught at the store staring at an empty water shelf, feeling the panic rise. Most of the other needs are a little more flexible, but water is critical and stores quite well.

 

For staying home, don't forget extra tarps and trash bags to cover things and protect them from weather if your roof would get damaged, and the tape or other fasteners to secure the covers. There would probably be no a/c without power and you will be sweating a lot so stock up on some of the sports drinks to replace electrolytes and keep a few salty snacks on hand. Don't forget protective hats, sunscreen, work gloves, rakes, etc. in case you have to work out in the heat to shore up a damaged home. And finally be sure you have plenty of bleach, buckets, spray bottles, etc. to sanitize and disinfect so that your home doesn't succumb to mold while waiting for repairs.

 

If you leave, remember all the essentials and add all your important papers and also documentation to prove you are a resident of your neighborhood since they sometimes will let residents only back in to secure their damaged homes in order to prevent looting. Don't forget food, restraints, documentation of vaccinations, and special hygiene supplies for pets in addition to the things for your family.

[Susan C.]

I cook almost everything in the freezer and get it cold (usually chicken breasts). I also keep ice containers (that attach to lid of large cooler) in the freezer so when the fridge is too warm, then things can move to the cooler. The canned/non-refrigerated stuff would be used last. I also bake banana bread (for breakfast). But the storms never hit..... and this one is nothing. The worst might be power outages (but I doubt it), so we just need to have things on hand that we can eat w/o cooking (or use the grill).

[FaithManor]

Well, the Great Lakes have yet to produce a Hurricane :D, but we can get ice and snow storms in the winter that knock out power for days. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, the unprepared have been known to get cold and hungry!

 

We keep a very well-stocked first aid kit with a mylar warming blanket and a couple of splints besides the regular items. We also keep some bottled water, lamp oil for the Aladdin lamps, candles, striek anywhere matches, dry foods (I don't have to worry about canned food because I preserve so much at harvest time that there is plenty to eat in the pantry), propane tank for the camp stove, extra blankets, flashlights and batteries for them, the rechargeable flashlight is always handy, 40 gallons of gasoline for the generator so we can spark it up if we lose power in the summer and keep our freezer and refrigerator foods from spoiling, etc. (We don't have to run it continuously.)

 

If I had to think about a major Hurricane, I'd probably consider getting some military MRE's. The food is not tasty, but you don't have to have access to cooking items if your house is badly damaged. I'd consider keeping some vitamins on hand because the MRE's really aren't too well balanced in terms of veggies and fruits...they are designed for carbs and protein to keep the men going when they are away from a Mess Hall.

 

Faith

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

43 yrs living in Louisiana and I knew what to keep on hand for hurricanes until Katrina hit. If a 'real' hurricane hits, no matter how many days of food and water you have on hand it will not be enough. The 'experts' tell you 3 days supplies for each member but if a hurricane hits the area a minimum of a week for anything to get up and running if the hurricane is not too destructive.

The normal shelf foods plus:

Fill tubs with water to use for non drinking water.

Baby wipes

As many jugs of water as you can possible have (we went through a 5 gallon jug in one day for a family of 6)

Medical supplies

Batteries

Extra Gas in cans.

Put your cars in different locations. We saw many families stranded because the cars where on the driveway or in the garage and a tree landed on them or blocked them in

Have a special location away from the city you make as a meet up point just in case you split up and have your children marked with name and other important info plus the meet location. We met a family who's child got swept away in the flood. Another man who was separated from his wife.

And as another poster said...have a gun or other means of self protection. We lived in a crime free area but after a Katrina it was not safe.

[Ibbygirl]

This. Dh usually trims trees in May. Everything else we pretty much always have, including batteries. Bottled water is the only thing we go buy when we hear of a hurricane possibly coming our way. We're expecting a good bit of rain from Beryl, but that's all. We're just south of where the tropical storm warning ends.

 

same here. I have all my food on hand already and tons of batteries and lamps. I usually just buy water when the storm is on the way. We keep root vegetables and apples on hand too once "the season" starts.

 

I can't believe it's not even June yet and it's already starting. sheesh! I hope we don't have a repeat of the 2005 season.

[*Michelle*]

We try to make sure we have multiple backups. For instance, cooking: we have extra propane for the grill, charcoal, a camp stove, a solar oven, plus a camping Dutch oven. Water: we get bottled water, but we also have a Berkey, plus purifying tablets and a couple of Katadyns. Lighting: flashlights and batteries, but also propane lanterns, oil lamps, 100hr emergency candles, and light sticks. Food varies. We keep extra on hand and would focus on using up our perishables first before opening cans. We also know where to run for dry ice to add to our chest freezer if needed.

[Live2Ride]

(Shudder.) Fortunately my community is far different than that in which you buddy resides. If anything, we find that neighbors help neighbors.

 

I hate to break it to you, but people can get pretty desperate when they are hungry.

 

We keep water and ways to purify if need be. Gas grill with two propane tanks. We also have a generator as we have large freezers to keep running. We keep our mulitple gas cans full during hurricane season. We also have guns/ammo and a large dog to warn us (and others).

 

Easy to prepare foods are helpful, but since we have ways to prepare food (gas stove too) we just store what we eat. We purchased a portable A/C unit that we install in our bedroom and all sleep there at night.

 

First aid supplies are good too as well as meds for two weeks. A large variety of things.

 

Don't forget the pets.

[Jane in NC]

I hate to break it to you, but people can get pretty desperate when they are hungry.

 

 

Hmmm...when the National Guard was sent to my community after a weather related disaster, everyone pitched in together. I know that people can be desperate when they are hungry--but I also know that emergency situations can bring out the best in people.

 

I cannot approach life with suspicion. I shall reap what I sow.

 

Best regards,

Jane

[pqr]

Hmmm...when the National Guard was sent to my community after a weather related disaster, everyone pitched in together. I know that people can be desperate when they are hungry--but I also know that emergency situations can bring out the best in people.

 

I cannot approach life with suspicion. I shall reap what I sow.

 

Best regards,

Jane

 

Ahhh were it always so, but sadly it is not. The vast majority of people may behave in an exemplary manner but a viscous few can do great harm.

 

Two words "New Orleans".

Edited May 27, 2012 by pqr

[SebastianCat]

We keep a cabinet in the laundry room stocked, but it's long overdue to be rotated. We have more than a week's worth of food, plus paper goods, baby wipes, toilet paper, lanterns, batteries, candles, etc.

 

When we know a storm will be close, we fill up old gallon jugs (like Gatorade type jugs that we keep on hand, empty) and freeze them. Then we use them to keep a cooler cold for a few days.

 

We also keep several full tanks of propane to cook on the grill or turkey fryer if necessary.

 

One other useful thing to have on hand is a 5-gallon bucket and some heavy duty trash bags for use as an emergency toilet. Yuck. Haven't had to use this one yet.

 

We have friends and family in Miami who invested in generators and window unit AC's after the 2005 hurricane season. That way they can at least have *one* room cool enough to sleep in at night.......that is, if they can buy gas for the generator.

[Susan in TN]

W don't have much to worry about here - no hurricanes, earthquake maybe, flood, well we had that a couple years ago, a very weak tornado went through our yard last month :glare:. But we have some minimal supplies - basically 3 backpacks w/ a couple days worth of food, basic 1st aid, disinfecting supplies, copies of important docs., and a few gallons of water. Dh and ds are serious Boy Scout backpackers/campers so we have lots of camping and outdoor cooking supplies available.

[Berta]

Ahhh were it always so, but sadly it is not. The vast majority of people may behave in an exemplary manner but a viscous few can do great harm.

 

Two words "New Orleans".

 

I agree. There are people out there that will do anything to feed their starving children. There is a book called "One Second After" by William Forstchen, very good read. It will give you an idea of what can happen to humanity in the event of a major crisis.

[nono]

If I am staying I just make sure I know where the keys to all the neighbors houses are. And, in addition to filling up our bathtub, I might fill up one of my neighbors... We take our screens out on the east side of the house. We tie down everything that can move. Food's kind of an afterthought, because well, we have keys to 5 part-time neighbors houses, and if it goes bad for very long, we'll eat their stuff too, because it'll go bad otherwise!

 

If I'm leaving, I pack a cooler of food, our papers, and go have a big barbeque inland. (With kids, we leave if we have the notice. However, my experience living here is that we never get notice for the ones of which we'd really wish we'd have left town...:001_huh:)

 

I, like a few others, have no fear of anyone on this island going insane and trying to loot. Shoot, we've had hurricanes (yawn), several NorEasters (!) and a couple of blizzards (!!!) in the last 5 years that have taken the whole place down (Some parts of town for up to 3 weeks in the winter with no electric). We have poor sections of town, unlike some swank areas of the shore. I think crime went down during/after those times. It certainly didn't turn into a war zone. But folks here also know this too will pass*, and we'll all have to live together again as a community in a week or two. You screw up at the moment and go crazy, and it's all over. There's no going back into the community after that. I think in larger places with a lot of anonymity, it's much easier for things to go wrong.

 

*This place has a long history of disasters and recoveries too, which probably helps. Practice makes more perfect, I guess.

[kroe1]

Currently I'm having all the glass sliders changed out to 130 mph tolerant sliders in our house. I did the same with our beach apartment 2 years ago. Then I'll start on the windows.

 

It's not so much the hurricane that scares me, it's the flooding afterwards. I'm sure our entire island will be under water if a hurricane gets close. Our house on the mainland is surrounded by little lakes so I'm sure it will flood too. Even the swimming pool can't pump out water fast enough when it rains hard so I'll probably die because of my own swimming pool. :001_huh:

 

In regards to the little things, about all I store is water. I could stand to lose a few pounds, so a week without solids would do us all some good. :001_smile:

[Mama_Rana]

I'm going to post without reading just based on my experience, so if I repeat, I apologize:

 

* Jugs or something you can fill with water at the first indication of an approaching storm

* a generator enough to power the fridge at least and gas to run it

* charcoal or gas for the grill to cook with if your stove needs electricity to start or run it

* Pepto-Bismol or Immodium or soemthing--We all got sick. Some said it was a flu that blew in with the storm. In retrospect, I suspect we all had food poisoning or else that the water supply was compromised.

* sturdy clothes for clean-up [hard to chop down fallen trees, rake, etc. in flip-flops and shorts

* If you're sheltering in place, this may not be an issue, but if you have to evacuate: books and/or other small portable things to keep the kids entertained without power

* crates for any pets

 

 

Ok, that's all that I can think of right now. It's a beautiful, wonderful area, but I'm thankful not to live on the Gulf Coast any more. :(

[Lady Florida.]

(Shudder.) Fortunately my community is far different than that in which you buddy resides. If anything, we find that neighbors help neighbors.

 

That's been my experience too. Of course the worst of the worst is what makes the news. Neighbors helping neighbors sadly doesn't make for good ratings.

 

My brother, who is in construction, went to South Florida after Andrew to help with rebuilding. He lived in a tent city (there weren't any structures left to house the workers), and saw both good and bad. He said the good far outweighed the bad.

[Amber in SJ]

We live in earthquake country so there is no advance warning to go out & get water or batteries.

 

That being said, we are also LDS & preparedness is a pretty big deal.

 

We have:

 

72 hour kits in grab & go form for each member of the family. These get rotated 1-2X/ year. These have food that can be eaten cold/dry, lightsticks, solar blankets, change of clothes, aquablox, medication, comfort items, first aid kits.

 

3 months supply of "short term" food storage- regular canned food like fruit, veggies, beans, chicken, pasta sauce, granola bars, cereal, packaged pasta, pet supplies, other pantry supplies like oil, baking supplies and baby supplies (when we had babies.) I also have three months supply of cleaners, bleach for disinfecting and medications.

 

6 months-one year supply of long term food storage-dry beans, rice, pasta, sugar, oatmeal, dry fruit, hot cocoa mix :D all in #10 cans for long term storage. Seeds for a garden. Can opener.

 

All the camping equipment you can imagine and 2, 55 gallon, food grade drums of water and a major first aid kit.

 

The long term storage may sound a little survivalist to some but it is not only for natural disasters, but for personal emergencies. When dh was unemployed/ underemployed from 2008-2010. We ate out of our food storage and our garden. My food budget was little to nothing. We managed to make it out without going into debt, missing a mortgage payment or taking any kind of assistance. We are slowly starting to rebuild our savings & our food storage.

 

Amber in SJ

[*Michelle*]

Flood insurance! I'm watching rain from Beryl pool in our yard right now. I doubt we'll need it, but it sure is nice to know we have it.

[Parrothead]

43 yrs living in Louisiana and I knew what to keep on hand for hurricanes until Katrina hit. If a 'real' hurricane hits, no matter how many days of food and water you have on hand it will not be enough. The 'experts' tell you 3 days supplies for each member but if a hurricane hits the area a minimum of a week for anything to get up and running if the hurricane is not too destructive.

The normal shelf foods plus:

Fill tubs with water to use for non drinking water.

Baby wipes

As many jugs of water as you can possible have (we went through a 5 gallon jug in one day for a family of 6)

Medical supplies

Batteries

Extra Gas in cans.

Put your cars in different locations. We saw many families stranded because the cars where on the driveway or in the garage and a tree landed on them or blocked them in

Have a special location away from the city you make as a meet up point just in case you split up and have your children marked with name and other important info plus the meet location. We met a family who's child got swept away in the flood. Another man who was separated from his wife.

And as another poster said...have a gun or other means of self protection. We lived in a crime free area but after a Katrina it was not safe.

Those big class 5 hurricanes can leave on without power for much longer than 3 days. I wasn't in the area for Katrina, but I lived in Charleston when Hugo when through. We were weeks without power. I'd suggest weeks worth of water and food. Propane and other types of cooking fire are nice, but make sure you have enough to put on the fire.

[readwithem]

Tree trimming. That is the first thing we do to prepare for hurricane season.

 

Otherwise not a whole lot since I tend to keep a stocked pantry. We usually buy some water when our area is placed on a hurricane watch.

 

The document binder another poster lists important papers in case one needs to evacuate. That should not happen with Beryl though.

 

(Shudder.) Fortunately my community is far different than that in which you buddy resides. If anything, we find that neighbors help neighbors.

 

We had this happen simultaneously :) Our neighbor came over to help trim our trees (he loves power tools); and we cleaned out our freezer in anticipation of losing power and fed the neighborhood. It was a blast. And we ended up only losing power for about 15 seconds:001_huh:

[Ibbygirl]

That's been my experience too. Of course the worst of the worst is what makes the news. Neighbors helping neighbors sadly doesn't make for good ratings.

 

My brother, who is in construction, went to South Florida after Andrew to help with rebuilding. He lived in a tent city (there weren't any structures left to house the workers), and saw both good and bad. He said the good far outweighed the bad.

 

That was my experience too. I lived through Andrew. There are always some people who are opportunists and will take advantage of a situation to steal or commit some other crime, but from what I saw, most people were trying to make the best of it and waiting for help to come. In my neighborhood, everyone helps everyone else to prepare for the hurricanes when they're coming (helping people put up their shutters etc.) and after they've gone, (cleaning up etc.)

 

And yeah, in Florida you're supposed to have at least 2 weeks worth of food on hand as standard hurricane prep. When a big one hits, you will be out of power for weeks even into months in some cases.

[happyhomemaker25]

Those big class 5 hurricanes can leave on without power for much longer than 3 days. I wasn't in the area for Katrina, but I lived in Charleston when Hugo when through. We were weeks without power. I'd suggest weeks worth of water and food. Propane and other types of cooking fire are nice, but make sure you have enough to put on the fire.

 

Just baby Beryl coming through has left some here without power for 3 days now and it could be this weekend before it all comes back on.

[happyhomemaker25]

For a class 3 hurricane or higher we head out. We have a lot of the backroads to get out of here plotted on a map so we would not have to touch the highway. We evacuated once before and hopped on our backroads and were out of here before some people could get on the highway.

[bamagirl]

Our biggest threat is tornadoes, we've had several devastating ones very close to home in the past year. We have the obvious food/batteries/first aid/documents, etc but one thing that I've become aware of lately is to wear a good pair of shoes during a warning! If your house gets destroyed, you want good footwear so you aren't cutting your feet open. I used to always go to the basement during a warning, esp in middle of the night barefooted or with just socks, now I get all of us dressed in tennis shoes.

 

We also now keep our bike helmets in the corner of our basement so we can put them on, unfortunately now the kids call them "tornado helmets". :glare:

[Ibbygirl]

Our biggest threat is tornadoes, we've had several devastating ones very close to home in the past year. We have the obvious food/batteries/first aid/documents, etc but one thing that I've become aware of lately is to wear a good pair of shoes during a warning! If your house gets destroyed, you want good footwear so you aren't cutting your feet open. I used to always go to the basement during a warning, esp in middle of the night barefooted or with just socks, now I get all of us dressed in tennis shoes.

 

We also now keep our bike helmets in the corner of our basement so we can put them on, unfortunately now the kids call them "tornado helmets". :glare:

 

That is a really good point and wise piece of advice. :)