Thread: Preparing for a hurricane!!

We are now 6 days out from the beginning of hurricane season. We could post a massive list of everything you could have on hand, but I will post the MOST important tjings you will need if you are hit by one and lose power, then we can add to it!!


Canned food and water, munchies, bread, juices for two weeks, I know the books say 3 days, but reality is if it is a decent hit it could take two weeks to get power returned and stores restocked.

Manual can opener

Batteries of all sizes

If you have a BBQ grill get propane, you can cook hot stuff and boil water outside

Paper plates, cups, bowls, silverware, napkins.

If you know you are going to get hit, fill up washing machine and tub with water. You can use it to wash up, and use to flush if city water is turned off.

NOAA radio

Fill up your car gas tank, don't wait till the last minute, long lines and gas WILL run out.

Take cash out of the bank, if you lose power so do banks, can't use ATM's

Have a safe room ready, bathroom, inside room with no windows. have a set of jeans, long shirt/top, sneakers and gloves. if you have a lot of damage and you have to crawl out you will be glad you have them.

Backup everything for very young children, you can't go buy it.

I suggest buying a few blue tarps, have hammer and nails and duct tape at the ready if needed for your roof, it could still be raining when it is over. You need shelter.

I have 7 6-gallon gas cans that I fill up for running the generator for me and my neighbor.

Awesome JV we have one as well, do you have a whole house one?? We don't, wish we did!!

Originally Posted by sue miller

If you know you are going to get hit, fill up washing machine and tub with water. You can use it to wash up, and use to flush if city water is turned off.

and a bucket to scoop it up with...

if money is not object, something from here:
Portable Satellite Internet Systems - Case, Laptop, In-Motion

A cell phone with a non-local area code can prove useful when disaster strikes. The local exchange can be overloaded, but calls to a different area code can get through (if there is any cell service)

Five Days.

Originally Posted by sue miller

Awesome JV we have one as well, do you have a whole house one?? We don't, wish we did!!

Our next-door neighbor is a contractor. He brings in a huge one that will power both houses. I provide the gas. It won't run the AC, but it will power refrigerators, lights, computers, etc.

From: CFNEWS13

Discuss the type of hazards that could affect your family. Know your home's vulnerability to storm surge, flooding and wind.

Locate a safe room or the safest areas in your home for each hurricane hazard. In certain circumstances the safest areas may not be your home but within your community.

Determine escape routes from your home and places to meet. These should be measured in tens of miles rather than hundreds of miles.

Have an out-of-state friend as a family contact, so all your family members have a single point of contact.

Make a plan now for what to do with your pets if you need to evacuate.

Post emergency telephone numbers by your phones and make sure your children know how and when to call 911.

Check your insurance coverage - flood damage is not usually covered by homeowners insurance.

Stock non-perishable emergency supplies and a Disaster Supply Kit.

Use a NOAA weather radio. Remember to replace its battery every 6 months, as you do with your smoke detectors.

Take First Aid, CPR and disaster preparedness classes.

Here is a really good er... should be required reading. EVERYBODY PLEASE READ THIS!



TALLAHASSEE | As Florida warily enters another hurricane season, the images remain of federal and state officials plucking survivors of Katrina off rooftops in New Orleans or tossing food and water to Floridians hit by seven hurricanes in 2004 and 2005.

But Craig Fugate, director of the state Division of Emergency Management, says Floridians need to forget all of that and focus on taking care of themselves.

"The lessons we learned from Katrina aren't the right lessons," he said. In a worst-case hurricane that nails Miami and exits the state near Tampa Bay, "we don't have enough search-and-rescue teams. We don't have enough mobile kitchens. We don't have enough stuff for that kind of population."

. . . more

Fugate's target is what he calls "the culture of the victim;" the conviction among residents that the first fallback after a disaster is government aid.

It's led Fugate to drop the word "victim" and to replace it with "survivors" as he urges those left in a disaster's aftermath to take care of their families and their neighbors while government helps the most needy.

"There's an expectation I think we've created that if a disaster strikes a community, (people think) 'I'm supposed to play the role of victim. I'm supposed to wait until somebody comes in to take care of me,'" Fugate says. "You're a survivor. You're actually part of the solution."

Here's a link to the entire article: Unflappable Emergency Chief Lets State Sleep Better, Governor Says | The Ledger.com | The Lakeland Ledger | Lakeland, FL