prairiewindmomma Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 I am not a petrochemical engineer, but I still contend that the petrochemical refineries along the Gulf Coast could and should do more. (This is in the general thread thought of readiness---do people (and corporations) blow it off? Has anyone read this article yet? http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/exxonmobil-texas-refineries-damaged-hurricane-harvey-release-thousands-pounds-pollutants-air/ After this study after Katrina, it became widely known that the storage tanks don't hold up well in hurricanes due to their thin walls and poor attachment to their foundations. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.917.7992&rep=rep1&type=pdf In addition, unauthorized emissions have happened outside of the general shut down. So, TCEQ monitors are down, and they are estimating that over 1,000,000 lbs. of storm-related toxic emissions have occurred. Should they shut down the refineries? Yeah, they probably should. But they should modernize their equipment so that when they do shut down, people's health is protected better. And, units should be sufficiently stabilized so when the storms do hit, they can weather the storm. People are evacuating from Baytown in water with benzene and butadiene in it. Lovely. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 I am not a petrochemical engineer, but I still contend that the petrochemical refineries along the Gulf Coast could and should do more. (This is in the general thread thought of readiness---do people (and corporations) blow it off? Has anyone read this article yet? http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/exxonmobil-texas-refineries-damaged-hurricane-harvey-release-thousands-pounds-pollutants-air/ After this study after Katrina, it became widely known that the storage tanks don't hold up well in hurricanes due to their thin walls and poor attachment to their foundations. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.917.7992&rep=rep1&type=pdf In addition, unauthorized emissions have happened outside of the general shut down. So, TCEQ monitors are down, and they are estimating that over 1,000,000 lbs. of storm-related toxic emissions have occurred. Should they shut down the refineries? Yeah, they probably should. But they should modernize their equipment so that when they do shut down, people's health is protected better. And, units should be sufficiently stabilized so when the storms do hit, they can weather the storm. People are evacuating from Baytown in water with benzene and butadiene in it. Lovely. Yes. Look at New Orleans. Recent flooding again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 For emergency supplies, I strongly recommend a fuel efficient pocket camping stove with gas cartridges. One cartridge lasts us several days on a backpacking trip. They take up little space and you can store quite a few. Better than oil lamps are LED headlamps and camping lantern. They use little electricity and take normal rechargable batteries. No need to store extra oil. One vital item I have not seen on the recommendations here is a water purification device. That would make the top of my list of emergency supplies. A katydin filter is great, life straws are versatile, and some iodine tablets are good as a backup. This will save fuel in case of a water boiling advisory. Water is more important than food. In response to the comment of another poster about canned SpaghettiOs: in a true emergency, when you are cut off from help and supply lines for several days or over a week, it is a question of having something to eat, anything. While I would never consume SpaghettiOs under normal circumstances, I would after several days without provisions. Or eat beans straight from a can. It's about survival, not enjoyment. If space is an issue, freeze dried foods store well and for long times, and only require hot water to rehydrate. The canned food is for when you have eaten everything in your fridge and your freezer, and are still cut off from civilization. Water purification is important--but even a Katydin ceramic filter won't remove viral particles or chemicals. What you probably want is a Seychelle Extreme Rad/Adv filter bottle which removes bacteria, viruses, and VOCs/Heavy Metals. http://www.seychelle.com/types-of-water-filters.html Hepatitis is commonly found in flood waters. And Houston's water has petrochemicals in it. You need a dang good filter. The Seychelle bottle is about $30: https://www.amazon.com/Seychelle-1-10603-HI-FC-Sey-Bottle-BPA-Free-Removes-environmentally/dp/B010MKMH9Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1504132868&sr=8-2&keywords=seychelles+extreme 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 It won't let me quote. Not everyone has a garage. Not everyone has extra cabinet space. But plenty of people do. Most people have high shelves with little on them. You do understand we're talking about generalities, not exceptions to the rule, right? Not everyone is willing to keep things like gasoline in their home. No, but plenty of people do keep at least some, which could make difference in some types of emergencies. We do have an approved gasoline container. Dh uses it to get gas for the lawn mower. I'm not talking months' worth of bread. We literally buy about 4 loaves each week and keep two in a deep freeze. That's our norm. But not everyone can do that. And bread sells out fast so that's why I brought it up as a stock up item. Canned food... yeah, not too much of that being used during a hurricane with no power unless you like cold Spaghetti Os and such The point isn't about preference, the point is having something edible in an emergency when there no way to get to a stocked store for an extended period of time. I also listed canned good along with a camp stove and propane tanks which even car campers can fit in their trunk for several days away from services and supplies along with all their other camping gear. Not a huge expense, not a huge use of space. Are you suggesting it's unreasonable to make general recommendations that people have supplies on hand in case of a disaster if they can financially afford it? I really don't understand your over all point. . I mean if you're lucky you have a gas stove but here the prime source seems to be electric. When I lived in one home in Miss. out of several, we had gas. We used it to cook during a hurricane but nothing great about a hot kitchen when everyone is sweating because there's no A/C. Many people have a gas grill in their yards and as I said, gas camp stoves are another inexpensive option. Honestly, I really don't understand your mindset here. So because some recommendations don't work for everyone, they should be dismissed entirely? Because no one can prepare for every possible scenario, preparedness in general shouldn't be done at all? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 It won't let me quote. Not everyone has a garage. Not everyone has extra cabinet space. But plenty of people do. Most people have high shelves with little on them. You do understand we're talking about generalities, not exceptions to the rule, right? Not everyone is willing to keep things like gasoline in their home. No, but plenty of people do keep at least some, which could make difference in some types of emergencies. We do have an approved gasoline container. Dh uses it to get gas for the lawn mower. I'm not talking months' worth of bread. We literally buy about 4 loaves each week and keep two in a deep freeze. That's our norm. But not everyone can do that. And bread sells out fast so that's why I brought it up as a stock up item. Canned food... yeah, not too much of that being used during a hurricane with no power unless you like cold Spaghetti Os and such The point isn't about preference, the point is having something edible in an emergency when there no way to get to a stocked store for an extended period of time. I also listed canned good along with a camp stove and propane tanks which even car campers can fit in their trunk for several days away from services and supplies along with all their other camping gear. Not a huge expense, not a huge use of space. Are you suggesting it's unreasonable to make general recommendations that people have supplies on hand in case of a disaster if they can financially afford it? I really don't understand your over all point. . I mean if you're lucky you have a gas stove but here the prime source seems to be electric. When I lived in one home in Miss. out of several, we had gas. We used it to cook during a hurricane but nothing great about a hot kitchen when everyone is sweating because there's no A/C. Many people have a gas grill in their yards and as I said, gas camp stoves are another inexpensive option. Honestly, I really don't understand your mindset here. So because some recommendations don't work for everyone, they should be dismissed entirely? Because no one can prepare for every possible scenario, preparedness in general shouldn't be done at all? I'm saying don't expect everyone to have that cabinet space or those empty upper shelves. WTH are those?! lol I have an old house with limited storage. My closets are small as all get out. I'm not gonna install a shelf in my son's closet to store gasoline. I'm just saying don't expect that everyone has these storage spaces just because you can come up with ideas for storage. If you can do these things and want to, great. I'm just saying some people posting here are saying, "why didn't someone store this or that?" For people living paycheck to paycheck it might be hard to justify this stockpile that might very well be destroyed should they evacuate. And it's not practical to shove their stockpile into their one car. Yeah, probably just one car. Because it's so hard to get gas you will probably travel in one car. Between my mother, father, grandmother and I, we took one car out of town. The other three? Flooded and/or smashed. Mine was parked inside a garage at my grandmother's home and got flooded. A camp stove is a good idea. Yes, larger size grills can be used provided the grill lived through the storm and you have food to cook on it. My mindset is just that don't expect all solutions to be realistic for all people and then scratch your head when they don't follow your advice. If they can follow these tips that's great and should be considered. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommyLiberty5013 Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 For food concerns, and taking up space, many companies sell prepackaged, nitropacked emergency foods. They come as meals, in huge 5 gallon buckets. Get five of those stacked up in one column in your garage or basement and they only take up maybe a 18" x 18" square for a footprint. With food, it's about sustenance - there shouldn't be three meals per day for an adult (unless medically needed). Two meals. If you buy what you already use in recipes, just extra, you can easily stock three weeks' worth of non-perishable food. Then the nitro packed stuff can be used beyond that time period. For the car...MREs. Trail mix. Granola. Dried fruits. Each of our vehicles has emergency kits. MREs also work well in 72 hour bags. 3-5 per backpack. I think a lot of prepping is thinking of "what ifs". What if I couldn't flush my toilet? Where would we want our human waste to be located? If I had to evacuate my home in 30 minutes, what would I take? I know these answers and others already. Because I've mentally prepped them. We have lists written for what to grab by room to evacuate in 30 minutes, two hours, or a day. The longer time we have the more we can take out. I whole heartedly agree that people who are physically and even in small ways, financially, able to prep, release immense burden from first responders, charities, and governmental organizations that can serve the elderly in the homes, or the sick in the hospitals, etc.. There will be times we get whallooped by a situation like what happened to many in Texas. No we can't prepare for everything. But better to do something. My philosophy: better to have and not need, then need and not have. It's kind of a mindset. For example, I was in Michael's craft store the other day and saw two huge candles in their clearance section. They are ugly. But they were $.40 each. I bought them. They're in the basement now with my candle/light stash. I am always looking for things to use. If I don't, maybe a neighbor can. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Everyone and their basements and garages :lol: And ironically, I think when Katrina hit we had leftover Y2K ("just in case") food inside the house. Not much good on the road. That's when I lived with my parents and we had more storage. You could say some of us are a bit more on the Marie Kondo path in life right now. But yes, room should ideally be made for important things. Could I squeeze some bottles of water or gasoline in my closet? Yeah, maybe. This is what my master closet looks like (although right now it has Christmas presents in there). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 In all seriousness, this thread has given me some food for thought (no pun intended). We are no longer in hurricane paths but we do get tornadoes and you just never know when you will lose power (like we did a couple months ago during a bad storm where trees fell and we lost power). I'm going to talk to dh about some of this stuff to see how we can be better prepared. Last time we happened to need to travel around that time so we were not in town long without power but even for the short time it was miserable. Besides, my closets are not being used efficiently. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Um_2_4 Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Haven't read all, but for us earthquakes are the concern. Now the BIG one is not an yearly occurrence, so even more people get lax I think. We have small ones frequently so you become kind of immune sometimes. I am 99% sure most of my friends have no emergency kits/stores of water and food or the like. Many figure, well, the gov't will send help. I just rather know I'm ok if it takes them a week or 2 to get to my area. I fully expect that if a really big one hit this area, we would be with out gas/electricity and maybe running water for a couple weeks. Plus where I live is really only accessible via freeway overpasses/underpasses and if those collapse.....well... DH works far away (45 miles approx.) and many freeways away. There is really no side street way to get home. So I put an emergency backpack in his car. It could easily last him 72+ hrs. But he laughed at me (kind of). I hope he never needs it, but if he does..... he has it. I always have extra water, canned goods, lighting (candles, flashlights), crackers, PB, etc on hand and I rotate stock. (We are not to worried about cold weather, heat is a bigger issue.) I have solar chargers for phones and a solar powered radio. First aid and meds are stocked. Always keep cars topped off and charcoal for the grill (it's pretty much always grilling weather here). Things we could use everyday, just extras. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 People should do something...but I get why â¤ï¸ 🦠kinda scuffaws at some of the suggestions. A unique Texan thing: no basements--either because of expansive clay soil or high water table. We do have a garage--not all do here. Many have carports. It is tiny and we park inside of it so there is no room for shelving in it. We had to empty our garage of storage because thieves come through neighborhoods every night ransacking cars. After three of our friends had their vehicles stolen, we decided to park inside the garage. My kids no longer own bikes, and we donated other items we regularly used as well. We are greatly underfunded in our police department and so they have very few officers and do little patrolling. (And this is why so many Texans own guns for self defense.) In any case, I cannot store items in the garage. We gave up our one linen closet to store our 72hr kits. I get why others might choose differently. I really do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 I think people just assume it is an overblown scare. Dh's grandmother never left Miami during hurricanes and never boarded up either. We never worried about being prepped for earthquakes until we lived through Northridge(we weren't even dating yet though, but were friends) and DH had to sleep in tents for a couple of weeks. When it happened, DH walked on glass from a fallen over/broken fish tank in his bedroom. Now, we live in NC and he still sleeps with slippers next to his bed, a flashlight on his bedside table, his glasses within reach, and makes sure we have a supply of water to last a few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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