Hurricane tips?post em here and get em here

[SwampG8r]

i will start

before a storm go to 7/11 and stock up on individual mayo mustard and whatever condoiments you need
sauce from chinese restraunts and taco bell

save these and
they stay fresh without refridgeration
a small pack of mayo and relish in a can of tuna makes a passable tuna salad

anyone else got one?

[Behind the Aegis]

1. Stock up on fresh water.

Be sure to include pets in the calculations. Have a "doctor's bag" of medicine, band-aids, etc. Have emergency kits for each of your animals. AND....map out possible escape routes and if you have animals, look for places which allow pets (though many will during hurricanes, not all will honor this).

[Dogmudgeon]

2. Lock the house up and board up the windows, and visit some far away friends.

--d!

[jobycom]

4. That's easier said than done. Problem is that most of the time the hurricane

hits somewhere else, and then you've wasted a lot of gas, and are a state or two away, and you have to make it back in time for work the next morning. And you have to do that three or four times some years. So you think "I'll wait until the last moment to see where the storm is going," and then you wind up on the road in complete gridlock with no way to stop and get gas because the RVs have already emptied the tanks, and you have a storm barreling towards you and all the others stuck in traffic around you. Oh yeah, no bathrooms, either, because all the store owners have already evacuated.

Not saying don't do it. Just saying it sounds easier than it is, so everyone does risk assessment based on how close to the water they are. And someone always guesses wrong.

[texanwitch]

8. I watched traffic crawl along I-10 near my house.

At night it was sea of red tail lights.

Everyone can't just jump into their car and leave at the same time.

My house is very strong, build for hurricanes.

I will take my chances at home.

[jobycom]

3. Buy a Prius.

After katrina gasoline was the last thing that got back to normal. I live in Austin, and went over to help out family the Saturday after the hurricane. Gas lines were several hours long (not that anyone had anything better to do) in the heat for a four gallon limit. Half, at least, of the vehicles in that line would need those four gallons just to get back home. I passed a couple of tanker trucks, and they had a tighter police escort than the president (who flew over my head in a helicopter while I was there. I "saluted.")

I could go sixty miles on one gallon in the Prius. It was enough to drive my parents someplace with hot food and normal living conditions and actual supplies they needed.

So, stock up on gas, or buy a Prius. Remember, others need gas to evacuate and some people need it to power generators to keep people alive, so don't be greedy.

Also, if you have friends or family coming in for the cleanup, tell them to bring gas, not water or ice. They will have water and ice available (your mileage may vary in New Orleans) within a couple of days, but gas takes longer. I loaded my car with water and ice and food they didn't need, and my aunt coming in from California did the same, when what they really needed was gas.

[texanwitch]

6. So true about the gas.

After Ike gas was hard to find.

I had to drive almost 60 miles to find gas for the generators.

Stations in Houston either had gas but no power or power and no gas.

[meowomon]

5. Move to Canada.

No Hurricanes plus you get Universal Health care and Gay marriage.

[Skink]

7. Canada pioneered death panels.

All done in smoke filled back rooms.

[SwampG8r]

12. those arent all mandatory are they?

[tkmorris]

9. Wet Naps

Sounds silly I know, but after a hurricane you likely have no power and limited water. Once you've covered the stuff everyone knows, i.e. you have food, light, batteries and yadda yadda, all you can do is wait for things to get better. Around day 2 you start mentally working out just how much you'd be willing to pay for a hot shower. Wet Naps can go a long way towards keeping you feeling like a human being when all there is to do is sit and sweat.

A Coleman camp stove and a supply of mini propane tanks to run it is nice to have. You never know what you are going to really need until you actually go through one of these events, and the thing that I was surprised to use as much as I did was that stove. I can cook practically anything on it and it works better than my smooth-top electric does easily.

Books, games, and other activities, for you AND the kids. You wouldn't believe how boring it can be for two weeks without power. Bored children can make a bad situation damned near unbearable, so keep them entertained if you can.

After the storm you are going to want to open every window and door you can, including ones you normally wouldn't. If you have pets and you don't want them wandering outside at will you need to plan ahead to find ways to open that door to the air while keeping the dogs etc inside.

If you have a generator, obviously you will acquire gas for it. However, many people forget to check their generator before the storm arrives. If there is gas in the tank and you didn't condition it, drain it out and fill it with fresh. Take it outside and start it. Let it run a few minutes, just to be sure it works smoothly. The last thing you want to be doing after a storm is troubleshooting a sputtering or completely not running gennie.

We found ourselves using a clothesline to dry clothes a LOT after our last storm. My wife thought to buy that one, I never would have, but I was sure glad we had it.

Make sure all portable power tools are charged to the hilt and acquire a spare battery pack for your cell phone. Cellular service will generally return far before landlines will.

If you have a propane grill, check its tank. You don't want to run it dry the day after because it was almost empty and you didn't know.

Lastly for now, before the storm arrives join the conversation with the good folks at www.Storm2k.org . IMHO it's the best site on the internet for discussing tropical type storms, and many a professional meteorologist (amateurs too) tracks storms there. The forum discussions are fantastic.

[smalll]

10. Drive away before it gets there.

My sister and her husband lost their New Orleans home in Katrina. However, as they were both non-natives, they were smart enough to drive away 2 or 3 days before it hit. So beyond property issues, they had a drama-free experience.

accuweather.com / NOAA works! Doppler radar is no joke! Leave before it gets there!

[lib2DaBone]

11. Fill one gallon plastic milk jugs with water and freeze them solid..

When the electricity goes out (which is the FIRST thing that goes) stick your frozen blocks of ice in the fridge and don't open the door unless necessary.

It will keep food cold inside the fridge for 3 days and also provide cold drinking water.

[lib2DaBone]

13. Buy a battery operated fan.. or rig a fan that works off a car battery...

If you have a spare car battery... you can always put it in your car or truck and re-charge it. (if you have enough gas stored).

Surviving in the 90 degree heat and humidity after the storm with no A/C is MISERABLE.

During Katrina and Charlie.. our electric was off for 2 weeks... impossible to sleep or even sit without misery. An electric fan would have been heaven.

And BTW.. make sure you have an old-fashioned manual Can opener! It's a PIA trying to open a can with a screw driver.

Propane gas grills are nice and you can even get by with cans of sterno. We heated cans of Beenie-Wienies in a chafing dish with sterno underneath.