Chaotic42
Lifer
Hurricane season started June 1st, and I know that we have a lot of new employees from outside the Zone of Doom (all of the zones have names like that in the Area of Unspeakable Evil) have no real concept of hurricane preparedness.
So I give you:
NOAA's Hurricane Preparedness Week
And from old Chaotic himself, keep the following on hand *and* take it with you should you evacuate:
-At least two changes of clothes
-Several flashlights
-Batteries
-Small battery-operated radio
-Fresh water for two weeks (fill the tub up the night before)
-$200+ in cash
-Any medicines you or your family needs for a couple of weeks
-Pet supplies
-Canned/dried food for two weeks
-Important documents in a waterproof container
-Gasoline
-First aid kit
-Spare tire/Fix-a-Flat
Notes:
-Keep your car filled with atleast half of a tank of gas all season. Gas gets nutso when hurricanes come near.
-If you have a house and want a generator, get one now. Don't wait for a storm.
-Fill up bottles of water and put them in your fridge/freezer before the storm hits. This will keep your food colder for longer when the power goes out.
-Regularly clean trash/debris from your yard during the season.
-Keep boards handy for your windows.
-Be aware of any elderly/helpless neighbors in your area. They may be unable to provide for themselves and the world gets *really* small during a storm.
-MREs are good food to have on hand, but they are survival food. Don't eat them unless you have to (trust me 😛)
-Have a plan of securing your home and evacuating. Know where your going. Make sure your whole family knows the plan (kids too)
-Finally, don't freak out. Keep calm and keep patient.
Pro-tips from BUTCH1:
-Also trim all tree limbs near the house that may damage it when whipped around by high winds
-If you have or going to get a generator buy several quarts of 30W oil, most of these motors call for 30W and guess what, it sold out everywhere. Some folks just ran their genny's for 2 weeks straight and never changed the oil, they showed a repair shop with dozens of genny's with seized motors, warranty voided as the owners neglected to read their owner's manual and change oil when needed. Also get plenty of 5 gallon gas cans in advance, these will become impossible to find as a storm approaches
-I thought of one more thing, rabbit ears (TV antenna), when the power lines go down so usually does the cable TV. Of course now that broadcast is switching to digital you will need one of those converters as well unless your set is a newer one with a digital tuner already built in. You need access to local stations to see WTF is going on in your area and to track storm movements..
Pro-tip from xchangx:
-Be careful when working with generators. If you don't know what you are doing and plug it into your house, you can back feed power through the power lines and kill service men working on the lines.
Pro-tip fromr keird:
-The Eton radio works well and be sure to get the correct adaptor for your cell phone. Hand cranked radio/cell phone charger/light/siren all-in-one
Pro-tips from Darwin333:
-One thing I wish I had during Katrina that I have now is a solar charger (or crank) for my cell phone.
-I know its already been touched on but having fuel on hand can not be overstressed. I have lived through the aftermath of over a dozen storms and by far the most valuable commodity is gas.
So I give you:
NOAA's Hurricane Preparedness Week
And from old Chaotic himself, keep the following on hand *and* take it with you should you evacuate:
-At least two changes of clothes
-Several flashlights
-Batteries
-Small battery-operated radio
-Fresh water for two weeks (fill the tub up the night before)
-$200+ in cash
-Any medicines you or your family needs for a couple of weeks
-Pet supplies
-Canned/dried food for two weeks
-Important documents in a waterproof container
-Gasoline
-First aid kit
-Spare tire/Fix-a-Flat
Notes:
-Keep your car filled with atleast half of a tank of gas all season. Gas gets nutso when hurricanes come near.
-If you have a house and want a generator, get one now. Don't wait for a storm.
-Fill up bottles of water and put them in your fridge/freezer before the storm hits. This will keep your food colder for longer when the power goes out.
-Regularly clean trash/debris from your yard during the season.
-Keep boards handy for your windows.
-Be aware of any elderly/helpless neighbors in your area. They may be unable to provide for themselves and the world gets *really* small during a storm.
-MREs are good food to have on hand, but they are survival food. Don't eat them unless you have to (trust me 😛)
-Have a plan of securing your home and evacuating. Know where your going. Make sure your whole family knows the plan (kids too)
-Finally, don't freak out. Keep calm and keep patient.
Pro-tips from BUTCH1:
-Also trim all tree limbs near the house that may damage it when whipped around by high winds
-If you have or going to get a generator buy several quarts of 30W oil, most of these motors call for 30W and guess what, it sold out everywhere. Some folks just ran their genny's for 2 weeks straight and never changed the oil, they showed a repair shop with dozens of genny's with seized motors, warranty voided as the owners neglected to read their owner's manual and change oil when needed. Also get plenty of 5 gallon gas cans in advance, these will become impossible to find as a storm approaches
-I thought of one more thing, rabbit ears (TV antenna), when the power lines go down so usually does the cable TV. Of course now that broadcast is switching to digital you will need one of those converters as well unless your set is a newer one with a digital tuner already built in. You need access to local stations to see WTF is going on in your area and to track storm movements..
Pro-tip from xchangx:
-Be careful when working with generators. If you don't know what you are doing and plug it into your house, you can back feed power through the power lines and kill service men working on the lines.
Pro-tip fromr keird:
-The Eton radio works well and be sure to get the correct adaptor for your cell phone. Hand cranked radio/cell phone charger/light/siren all-in-one
Pro-tips from Darwin333:
-One thing I wish I had during Katrina that I have now is a solar charger (or crank) for my cell phone.
-I know its already been touched on but having fuel on hand can not be overstressed. I have lived through the aftermath of over a dozen storms and by far the most valuable commodity is gas.
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