First, there was Hurricane Irene. Now Hurricane Katia is out in the Atlantic, and weather pros are warning about a storm in the Gulf (Hurricane Lee? Maybe.) Predictions are currently that the storm will hit Galveston/Houston next Thursday.
One week.
I’ve written before on how to decide if you’ll evacuate or stay, and things to consider if you evacuate.
Today I’ll tell you how I prep- for storm prepping.
We may or may not have a serious weather event next week, so this weekend I’m going to:
Catch up on the laundry, and make a serious effort to stay caught up through next weekend. Laundry is my achilles heel- I hate doing it. I usually do a load or two per day, save it all up, then fold it all in one big laundry marathon while watching episodes of Hoarders.
Start prepping the freezers. I have some juice pouches I keep on hand for impromptu outings, and I’ll tuck them into the freezer along with pop bottles and bags of ice cubes to fill in empty spaces. A free way to prep the freezer, if you have warning: freeze ice cubes and then pack them into quart and gallon Ziplocs.
Check the propane, buy charcoal. It’s a joke around here that after a hurricane, on the third day the charcoal rises again. That’s because everyone has to cook the meat from their freezer. I have a gas stove which should work if the electricity is out but I’ll need matches (find them, put in an easy to find spot.) I also have ways to cook if the gas is shut off. We have a propane burner and a charcoal grill. Have a backup plan.
Clean out the fridge and pantry. I need to see what we have and what we should stock up on, just in case. I try to keep food for 72 hours on hand. I’ll check how many cans of fruit we have left, make sure we have crackers to go with the canned tuna, and so on.
If you have NO food storage, stop right now!!! Make an emergency meal plan for 72 hours. Just jot down a list of things your family would eat (don’t forget snacks), and what you would have for dinner. Even if it’s Chef Boyardee. Your family is going to want food. Now make a list and go buy it! Don’t worry about finding freeze dried organic peas or buying yeast and flour if you’ve never baked bread before. Pick foods that your family likes and will eat, and that require minimal preparation. Pick up a manual can opener if you don’t have one, and put this food away where it won’t get eaten before the storm hits.
Clean out the car. Our car is usually pretty messy, since we use it to haul 11 people around. Frankly, car cleanliness is waaayyy at the bottom of my priority list because I have more pressing things to spend my energy on. But we’ll muck it out so it’s ready just in case we need to leave town. Also, so the health department doesn’t condemn it. Does the health department condemn cars, or only buildings?
Top off the tank and keep it above half a tank. A good practice in general, we’ve fallen out of the habit.
Find the flashlights, check the batteries. My kids love to play with flashlights, so I’ll make sure the batteries aren’t dead. We have a emergency flashlight runs on solar, handcranking, or batteries and will also charge up cell phones. We have candles, but flashlights are preferred when there are young children; also it’s very difficult to read by candlelight.
No flashlights? My suggestion is to go buy an LED headlamp for each adult because really, they are beyond useful and are hands free. I buy cheaper flashlights for the kids so they each have one- it limits fights and empowers the kids, while serving as entertainment.
Backup your files, and make sure your camera, phones, and laptops are fully charged. Keep them fully charged until after the storm hits. If electricity goes out, disable all but the most basic functions on your phone so the battery lasts longer (turn off GPS and BlueTooth, for example, unless you are actually using them.)
Check your medicine cabinet. Get your pills refilled now, because after a storm it could be a couple of weeks before pharmacies get fully restocked, depending on flooding and road conditions. Make sure you have basic pain relievers and allergy remedies. Restock the first aid kit, or at least dig out the box of bandaids so you’re not fumbling for it in the dark.
Download some free resources to your Kindle or Nook. These books might come in handy, and e-readers usually have long battery life. If you end up not using them, you can always delete them later. You can’t go wrong with free ebooks, right? (Not free but good if you are just beginning to learn about preparedness: Preppers Pocket Guide: 101 Easy Things You Can Do.)
There are free manuals for childbirth, medical libraries,making knots and splicing rope, how to build a fire, camping resources, how to garden and trap animals, survival books, and more. Most of the free books are old, but that doesn’t make them worthless and it might be a fun read after dark when there’s no TV, radio, or other entertainment. In that vein, the kids might get a kick out of the free HandShadows Thrown Upon the Wall. You might like this one:
The Practical Distiller: A Guide to Making Whiskey
OK, that last one is to prep for the Zombie Apocalypse. If there’s a complete collapse of civilization, you might need a drink.
Are you doing anything to prepare?
Karen (1)
Raso @ lasagnarec... (1)
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Ice. Check. Batteries. Check. Propane. Check. Charcoal. Check. Gin. Check. I’m ready.
Greetings from Friendswood!
Seriously– get as much cash as you can out of the ATM and stash in a safe place. I bought a phone off of Amazon (E-Bay?) that is like the old kind–requires no electricity. Plugs into the wall on the landline, so if power goes out, you can still use the phone since cell phones will be disrupted.
Got a great little emergency TV/radio/cell charger that lasted almost 24 hours on batteries and can also crank. After using it during Ike I loaded it up with fresh batteries and lent to friends without power. We are on the emergency grid so our power is never down for very long. Also have just refurb-ed upstairs bedrooms, playroom and bath in last few weeks–all ready for all of my power-less friends/family to stay in if need be. Unless the storm is a 4 or 5, we will stay put. We did not flood during Allison, so pretty safe to say that unless we get 20 inches of rain *oh please* in a short time, we won’t flood. But we bought insurance anyway LOL.
Good list. It is very similar to my bad storm/maybe tornado/likely to loose electricity list.
I clean the refridgerator whenever I watch Hoarders. Whenever he sees me on my hands and knees scrubbing the fridge with its contents on the kitchen table, he asks “you watching that hoarding show again?” The fridge is always one of the grossest parts.
We’re going to charge spare cell phone batteries, flashlights, and buy charcoal tomorrow. (Home Depot has 40 lbs for $7 and I have a $3 off coupon)
We’re set on beans, and bandaids, and I have a sharp machete. Who needs bullets.
Oh, chocolate. I need chocolate.
Great ideas, my mother was hit last week by Irene and Still has no power. The power has been out for more than 72 hours. People in her neck of the woods are running out of their supplies and the stores do not have them. Supplies like kerosene and wicks for lanterns, batteries and ice. So my suggestion is that even a storm is not headed your way use this as a time to take stock of your own supplies and replenish what you need to.
@Lisa,
Absolutely! After Hurricane Ike, our power was restored withing 72 hours. BUT most groceries were closed and the couple that were open were not well supplied. You had to stand in line to get into the store, they were only letting a certain number of shoppers in at a time. And the food was rationed- we were only allowed to buy 1 doz. eggs, there was no milk or bread, etc.
I’m working on a 30 day food supply, and will make sure we have at least 2 weeks worth of everything (shampoo, soap, toilet paper, etc.)
Two weeks is a good place to start. I know I need to stock up on some of my emergency supplies. Food wise I am almost there, but I will be adding some of the emergency stores to my basic shopping list and stocking on things like wicks, and lantern oil.
We easily have a 2 week window for food, not counting friends who have food thawing from freezer. Started collecting empty pop litre bottles from kids, washing thoroughly and putting distilled/purified water in them. Maybe not enough water if I had to wash my hair or take a bath but it will take a while for us to dehydrate. And enough oatmeal, apple sauce, peanut butter and instant eggs to keep us going when the meat runs out. Still haven’t found recipe or ready made protein bars we would care for. Anything to keep from going to store.
We’re still working on the water aspect. FEMA recommends 1 gal per person per day, but that’s a bare minimum. It’s very hot here- we could go through a gallon just drinking. Also we’d need extra for laundry, or at least washing diapers.
The recipe in the Kitchen Stewardship ebook on my sidebar is pretty good. She has a basic “Larabar” recipe and lots of variations. (I am an affiliate for her book, because I like it!) The Clifbar cranberry/orange bars are pretty good. I hate Lunabars though, and most protein bars!
Now, I have to be carefull about how I say this. My Finnish husband and his Norwiegan friend discussed how they made vodka with white sugar, water and bread yeast and then distilled off the alcohol and then diluted it properly with water WITH THEIR DADS. It did not happen here, okay, so nobody needs to call the ATF. But then my hubby mentioned it to a certain plumber, whom you know, and asked just how such a distiller COULD be made, not that he ordered it or has made vodka. Because that would be illegal. Thought you might find that interesting!
Well my sister was way into brewing beer, so I wouldn’t be *too* shocked, LOL. There’s a whole section about moonshine (tips n tricks!) in the Foxfire books- fascinating!