Hurricane Preparations

[73 Mustang Bill]

Long-time resident of Florida, so we get more than our share of hurricanes. Thought I'd offer up my hurricane prep list. Some of these things don't apply to everyone, but maybe it makes you think about your own situation.

1. Cut grass - You don't know the next time that you'll be able to do this.
2. Remove screens from windows
3. Plywood over windows
4. Strap down hot tub cover
5. Secure boat
6. Cut power to boat dock.
7. Do laundry, dishes, clean sheets on beds - Don't know the next time that you'll be able to do this.
8. Gas in all cars and cans, mower, generator
9. Set up and test generator
10. Check flashlights for batteries
11. Food – Raisins, breakfast bars, Fig Newtons, etc. Have enough pet food?
12. Get everything off the dock
13. Prepare chain saw.
14. Locate tarps and leftover roll of Stego vapor barrier.
15. Move couch in front of sliding glass door
16. Move to the Midwest

 

[draglink]

edit...#1 should be restock the bar

 

[NUTTSGT]

edit...#1 should be restock the bar

That is what we did when I was stationed in Japan for the typhoons.


Good list Bill, especially the pet food. I wonder how many people forget about their pets till the time comes.

 

[draglink]

It is a great list, I have restocked the bar and everything is pretty much ready here...still keeping our fingers crossed for a more easterly track. We are supposed to get 80+ mph winds and 8' tide surge on Sat.....oh **** here we go!!

 

[73 Mustang Bill]

Geeze, what kind of frickin' idiots are you anyway? Who lets the bar stock get low?

 

[mudhog]

don't forget prescription drugs its hard to get refills when they can't verify because of zero phones. cash is king. and take your important papers with you like your insurance papers etc.

 

[Wingnut65]

From past FL experience as well...

17. Make sure there are enough batteries for radios and flashllights.
18. Make extra ice - Fill gallon jugs of water and freeze & bag all the cubes you can and let the ice maker keep making them
19. Fill everything you can with water - jugs, bottles, ice chests, bath tubs (Use the bathtub water to flush the toilets)

 

[iatros]

Another Floridian piping in here...

Having lived through Andrew and some other close calls :
20. When they tell you to evacuate... evacuate. Your posessions can be replaced, unless you're dead!
21. Discuss meeting points with your family if you get separated. Might be difficult to get in touch with each other if things get bad
22. $$$ CASH $$$ (already mentioned, but can't stress this enough)
23. Secure any loose pieces outside your house. Those 2x4s that you were planning on making into a bench are now potential missiles into your house!
24. Find a way to secure your garage door. If that goes, the wind can get into your house and UP and there goes your roof!

Good luck! On a side note, after our first 2-3 hurricanes, my dad started having "Hurricane BBQs"... Even though we tried to have fun during the hurricane, we first and foremost PREPARED.

 

[draglink]

Geeze, what kind of frickin' idiots are you anyway? Who lets the bar stock get low?

Well from the night before....duh

 

[RobSmith]

what happens if all is blown away...beer , clean sheets,a mowed lawn and the dishes done won't mean diddly squat. Wouldn't a decent underground "bunker" with all the essentials be more appropriate ? When the neighbour hood is flattened I doubt any one will comment on how nice your lawn looks !

 

[JC23]

What's a Stego?

 

[draglink]

what happens if all is blown away...beer , clean sheets,a mowed lawn and the dishes done won't mean diddly squat. Wouldn't a decent underground "bunker" with all the essentials be more appropriate ? When the neighbour hood is flattened I doubt any one will comment on how nice your lawn looks !

This is low country...an underground bunker would be an underground swimming pool around here....very very few basements in this area for that reason

 

[73 Mustang Bill]

I have a lot of Stego vapor barrier left over from my garage build. Blue tarps were commonly used to temporarily cover roofs back in 2004, when we got hit by 4 hurricanes. The blue tarps would shred after a few months, since there weren't enough roofers to fix all the roofs. If I get any roof damage, I'm covering it with the Stego, since it's 10 mil thick plastic, 14 feet wide. Not the ideal solution, but better than the blue tarps.

 

[JC23]

Thanks. Now I know.

And good luck, buddy!

 

[snorky18]

16. Move to the Midwest

^^ My favorite. Just make sure you stay out of tornado alley...

 

[smschriefer]

Hey Draglink, be safe on the other side of the Coleman. I believe I am prepped and ready to go, but the chaos of reality will try to prove me wrong. Be ready, I'm in the Coast Guard Aux and we have been informed that storm is starting to track slightly more to the west of Va Beach than originally expected and that we will have hurricane force winds for 12 hours and encompass 2 high tide cycles...

 

[draglink]

smschriefer- thanks for the heads up! Yall take care on that side of the York and lets hope for a last minute easterly 'jog'!!

 

[DaleK]

Just think how many people are stocking up on canned goods so they can tough it out, with nothing but an electric can opener in the house......

 

[mpire]

I love the over-reaction.

I was flying kites during the last hurricane.

Its like having a snow day, but no one is going to freeze to death.

Granted I live next to the power plant, and I have never lost power.

So maybe I am spoiled.

 

[smschriefer]

mpire, I believe there are a few million people in your state alone who would beg to differ with you. Granted all you can do is prepare, but "over-reaction" is much better than no reaction and general apathy followed by hands outreached for assistance.

 

[ToolNut88]

Be safe everyone. Don't forget to check on the old folks in your neighborhood and make sure they are prepared as well.

 

[mpire]

Its going to be a category 1 when it gets to New England, so I can't help but think they are over reacting.

Its not like its a category 5. I think they need to worry about flooding and not worry about a little wind.

 

[SuperSocket]

In Michigan when we get storms the only thing I have to do is make sure my windows is up... oh yeah wait, the cars are in the garage.

*carries on watching tv*


This is one reason I don't like that coastal area. However, if I could be given a beach house, I wouldn't say no

 

[4BT]

make sure the generators and chainsaws are working before the storm hits.....

Having been through Andrew in '92 everything under a cat5 is just another rainstorm, hell I was out driving around when Katrina passed over Miami.

 

[PeterT]

Good advice from the Floridians. Now some advice for you. LEARN TO VOTE!

 

[mpire]

Good advice from the Floridians. Now some advice for you. LEARN TO VOTE!

Vote for what?

 

[cowboyjosh]

So i have a 45kw automatic backup generator on both my homes here in flyover country. A cousin of mine in Florida says that you dont want the generator to run during the hurricane powering the house. Is this so that if the house blows away? He says he manually controls his Generac on his house. He also says he has a portable Honda gas unit as a backup to the backip.

Good luck on the East Coast ya'll.

Go Broncos!

 

[4BT]

Vote for what?

nobody worthy to vote for



I love how the national news channels make this little raincloud sound like a national emergency.

 

[mpire]

Everyone who can legally vote in Florida does.

And I would say just as many who can't legally vote also vote in Florida.

 

[4BT]

plenty of illegals vote in Miami, and dead people too!

 

[metal1313]

im only a few miles inland from the coast here in jersey. the issue here is flooding and wind. we have lots of big old trees around here, the ground is already saturated, rivers and streams are higher than normal as well. high winds means lots of downed trees and wires. also we arent used to hurricans so not all of our homes can withstand high winds. i know mine cant well, its 140years old with the origonal slate roof.

we also have basements, there are far more underground tunnels and such that cant stand up to bad storms.

as for me i just prepped my saws, lights, generator, and gas powered pump

 

[smschriefer]

^^^^^what metal said +1
That is the issue, plus something like 20 million people lie in the path of this storm. I can't imagine what New York City would do if the tidal surge flooded Manhattan. Mighty big if, but it is a possibility. Besides the transportation impact and the sewer systems being backed up... can you imagine how many rats would have to come to the surface? That would be insane! Hopefully it degrades rapidly over us in Virginia.

 

[AdamH]

Yeah, when you don't get hurricanes every other year they tend to do a little more damage. Down in Florida you don't worry about this as much because all your **** has already blown over/away from the last one...

 

[mpire]

Just remember that Katrina didn't hit New Orleans. It hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast. All that extra rain overwhelmed the levy and the day after the hurricane New Orleans flooded.

Then again, it was a Cat 5, not a Cat 1, so I think everyone is over hyping it.

 

[subarub4]

From Connecticut here like the people from NY and NJ said a lot of the issue here is downed trees because of a already wet ground.. We already had this early this year and went without power for at least a week.

I understand what you are saying about hype and all but our concern is more so rain combined with wind.. as they are saying 5-10 inches of rain..

 

[nehog]

#0 on the list is a well done hurricane party... Vital to survival.

I did a generator set run-up (uneventful, started right up, bless a big diesel generator!) and will collect some of the small stuff in the yard that might blow away tomorrow. I'm betting (for us) it will be a relatively minor problem. We're a ways inland.

 

[green.bubbly]

Stock up on ammunition.
If you have a small generator, pickup a window air conditioner. It is hot outside folks.

 

[73 Mustang Bill]

One thing that I left off the original list was that I also transfer important and current files to my laptop, making sure that I have email addresses, etc on there as well. I used to ensoure that I had a dial-up connection in case the internet was down but the dial-up still worked, but that was a long time ago. I would now rely on my laptop and a wireless signal at a business to gain email and internet access if my internet were down.

I don't do internet access through my phone.

 

[DHCrocks]

The first thing to go is usually the garage door. Once that blows out, game over the wind will then proceed to take your roof. I bought two of these braces, it's a pretty easy install once you do the initial setup. it supposedly can handle upto 180mph which is more then a cat5.

http://www.securedoor.com/index.php

I also used 2-1/2" lag bolts on the door tracks and added extra brackets to the tracks so that there is one bracket at each door panel location.

luckily we haven't had a hurricane here in maybe 20 years. but it's always a good idea to be ready for it.

 

[green.bubbly]

The first thing to go is usually the garage door. Once that blows out, game over the wind will then proceed to take your roof. I bought two of these braces, it's a pretty easy install once you do the initial setup. it supposedly can handle upto 180mph which is more then a cat5.

http://www.securedoor.com/index.php

I also used 2-1/2" lag bolts on the door tracks and added extra brackets to the tracks so that there is one bracket at each door panel location.

luckily we haven't had a hurricane here in maybe 20 years. but it's always a good idea to be ready for it.

$158.00 a piece seems a little steep but I do like the thought. My door has the wind rated reinforcements but I can see something like this giving it a little extra security. I am not paying that much money however. Think I could make some out of a 4x4 post and a few brackets.

I never really thought about how weak these doors are until I installed one for the first time last week. Yeah, there is not much to them and they certainly require some strengthening to withstand a strong hurricane.