If you are here on the East Coast, you may be preparing for Hurricane Irene. It is times like this, a stockpile could come in handy. I already went out and did my shopping – just in case. I am praying this hurricane loses power before it reaches the eastern seaboard.
If you are not quite sure what to do, here are some tips from Ready.gov:
Step 1: Build A Kit / “To-Go Bag”
Get an Emergency Supply Kit, which includes items like non-perishable food, water, a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, extra flashlights and batteries. You may want to prepare a portable kit and keep it in your car in case you are told to evacuate.
Step 2: Make A Plan
Prepare your family
Make a Family Emergency Plan. Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so it is important to know how you will contact one another, how you will get back together and what you will do in case of an emergency. You should also consider:
Step 3: Prepare Your Home
- Cover all of your home’s windows with pre-cut ply wood or hurricane shutters to protect your windows from high winds.
- Plan to bring in all outdoor furniture, decorations, garbage cans and anything else that is not tied down.
- Keep all trees and shrubs well trimmed so they are more wind resistant.
- Secure your home by closing shutters, and securing outdoor objects or bringing them inside.
- Turn off utilities as instructed. Otherwise, turn the refrigerator thermostat to its coldest setting and keep its doors closed.
- Turn off propane tanks.
- Install a generator for emergencies
- Reinforce your garage doors; if wind enters a garage, it can cause dangerous and expensive structural damage.
- Ensure a supply of water for sanitary purposes such as cleaning and flushing toilets. Fill the bathtub and other large containers with water.
- Find out how to keep food safe during and after and emergency by visiting www.FoodSafety.gov.
Source: ReadyGov
If you have been thru a hurricane before, do you have any suggestions for us East Coasters who are not familiar with hurricanes or earthquakes!
Cathy says
Toys r us has gallons of water 3 for $2, which saved me a trip to Target after I got some baby stuff. That was the only thing I was really hurting for… Thanks for the info!
Katherine says
Look at what’s in your freezer and fridge and consider what you can do with it in case you lose power for long periods of time. We lost power for 3 days with Ivan (and we were the lucky ones) and had two whole chickens in the freezer (among other things). Thankfully, we had a gas stove, so we lit it and cooked the chicken and then made chicken salad sandwiches to take to the firefighters who were clearing roads of downed trees and power lines on the first day (which used up other refridgerated goodies too). If you won’t be able to use it all up yourselves–consider how you can bless others (especially first responders).
theresa says
water is your key issue – for bad and for good – elevate anything you want to prioritize to keep away from water coming up in the house and fill every available sink, tub, pitcher, bucket, plastic storage bin, etc. – and i agree with melissa, fill your fridge with water to keep it cold (do not open it at all for the best shot at keeping your food if you are out of electricity for more that 2 days – put a few things in a cooler full of ice and you can preserve your fridge items better) not having electricity is inconvenient for most healthy people, but not having water for drinking and cleaning is a problem for everyone and every hurricane i have been in (4!) has knocked out both – and pray! the Lord knows everything that is going on!
Melissa says
If you fill your fridge with bottles of water it will help keep the other contents cold longer in the event you do lose power.
Karen M. says
Just an update – CW Philly just reported Irene has been downgraded to a category 2, and should be a weak category 2 to a category 1 by the time it hits Philly. They are predicting 4-6 inches of rain here.
Shannon says
Im very concerned about our Jersey Friends too :(