What are you doing to prepare for Hurricane Season?

[bostonsmama]

With Tropical Storm Alberto already barreling towards Tampa, FL and up the east coast, I think it's about time to find out what the East and Gulf Coast mamas are doing to prepare for the hurricane season we're already in. I've read that there will be an increased rate of storms hitting from the mid-atlantic up through the upper east coast. So, from NC to NY (and of course LA across to FL)...meteorologists are asking folks to prepare.

What are you doing?

Has anyone purchased flood insurance after seeing what happened during Katrina? We're in an x flood zone, so not very likely to flood, but it's intriguing. Also, starting to stash water, canned food and thinking about a generator.

We have a great storm preparedness guide with lots of local information (such as evacuation routes, local emergency numbers and radio stations, tracking maps) and general info for the amount and types of food and essentials to stock, emergency family/pet plan tips, plus how to prepare your property, house and yard for damaging wind & water. So, I'm posting the link just in case it's useful to anyone.
http://www.wvec.com/weather/hurricane/hurricanewatch2006.pdf

Place to get a flood map of your area...note, type in your address or you'll spend forever searching. I believe you need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view: http://tinyurl.com/bk3u3

Curious how everyone else is preparing, especially w/ little ones.

Larissa

Baseline appt July 25th! Tentative retrieval ~Aug 10th, transfer ~8/13 or 15

Proud Aunt to Jack Dorian, born to my bro & SIL 3/06
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/32719.jpg

[kdeunc]

I live in Eastern NC which flooded terribly during 1999 (Hurricane Floyd). Our house is not in a flood plain however. We do have a generator and some water, etc. I was in the Raleigh area during Hurricane Fran and many people were without electricity for 10-14 days so I like the idea of the generator. My parents live about 3 hours west so we always have the option to leave if necessary (not usual this far inland). DH's family has a cottage on the Outer Banks and during hurricane season everytime anyone leaves it gets "hurricane ready", screens come out of the porch windows, lawnmower, grill, etc get moved to inside. Last year we were surprised down there when what was supposed to be a tropical depression with a little rain turned into a strong Cat 1 hurricane overnight. We came within an inch of our truck being completely flooded. Won't "ride-out" any storms if given the chance (especially with a 7 month old, 2 1/2 year old and a very nervous MIL :))

It would be interesting to hear how much the storms last year have altered people's preparations this year.

[brittone2]

I'm curious what everyone is doing too. This is our 2nd summer now in central NC and I guess we should stock up on a few supplies.

We have two large pantries in our kitchen, and I like to have a lot of extras on hand for cooking in general, so we could go for a while with what we have here on a regular basis. Sadly though, I have no idea where my manual can opener is, so that would eliminate a lot of things off of the bat!! I have to buy one ASAP.

We have a generator, which is not a huge one, but enough to run the refrigerator and well pump according to DH. So that's at least somewhat of a help.

We generally have batteries on hand but could use more. We also have a cooking/camp stove in our attic that we could use.

I don't have water on hand but need to stock up on some.

Thanks for the reminder to actually do a few of these things that have been on my mental "to do" list for a while!

[abigailsmom]

This is my first season on the Gulf Coast and I am a little concerned. My husband has been here for 5 years, but he has been lucky to not have any really close scrapes, but I need to get prepared.

Any suggestions that Mamas may have would be VERY appreciated...

Thanks,

[bostonsmama]

We actually bought life jackets just in case there was catastrophic flooding. We even have one for our small dog. I wish I had a picture...it was soooo adorable.

We have a few MREs (meals ready to eat) which you can get at Army-Navy or outdoor supply stores open to the public. Two cases of water plus a 5 gallon jug of water treated with 2 Tablespoons unscented bleach. The biggest problem actually is that I don't have anymore unscented bleach, which is needed to treat water when mains break or ravines become contaminated. Gotta get that.

We stocked up on Campbell's Chunky Soups when they went on sale for $1-1.19. Great meal you honestly don't have to heat for it to be good.

We got lots of Space Bags and used them to waterproof/seal important documents and photos (wedding album, my baby book, insurance papers, phone book, warranty/product manuals, our receipt file for everything we own. We even backed up our entire hard-drive using Norton Ghost Writer for both the laptop and PC, and we put the CPU off the floor and away from windows. I'm using past tense b/c this is what we did before Hurricane Isabel, which trashed our town, and was only a Cat2, then Cat 1.

We also called relatives at our intended evacuee spots (in MD and Georgia) to make sure everyone was in town and willing to put us up in case we had to leave. We have a 10-gallon gas tank in the garage that we'll likely take with us in our SUV if we wind up evacuating since many people ran out of gas w/ all the traffic during Katrina.

For the yard, we cleared all debris and did a special drop at the dump for any loose tree limbs. We put our swing on the side of the house and tied it to the fence w/ 500lb strapping. When we had a convertible car that was low to the ground, we put it up on oil ramps inside the garage. We also swept and cleared the street gutters and sewer drains. We lost our phone, TV and internet pretty early in the storm. The power was soon to follow, so we had a cooler w/ drinks so we wouldn't be opening the fridge door so often when the power was out. An instant read thermometer was essential to check the temperature of our mayonaise and milk to see if the temp had creaped above 40 degrees before we were able to get power back.

That's about it for now. I'd like one of those Farrady shakable flashligthts...but all in good time.

Larissa

Baseline appt July 25th! Tentative retrieval ~Aug 10th, transfer ~8/13 or 15

Proud Aunt to Jack Dorian, born to my bro & SIL 3/06
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/32719.jpg

[karolyp]

Actually, I am really doing nothing. After Charley slapped Central FL in the face a few years ago (and I spent the night in my closet at 5 months pregnant praying that our house wouldn't get blown away and then a week w/o power) I learned a couple of valuable lessons on what to do if a hurricane is approaching. I had posted these when rita threatened texas, but I wanted to repost in hopes that they help someone.

First of all, if they tell you to evacuate, then leave!!!

Fill up all your cars with gas, even spare gas containers

Have local emergency phone numbers handy

Buy lots of batteries/water/dry foods. These usually sell out quickly in the stores, so some other good offbeat places that still may have some supplies include dollar stores and pharmacies. I even found personal fans/lamps at bed bath and beyond.

Buy some tarps (to cover your roof if it gets damaged), concrete screws to hang up the wood to cover your windows (these sell out just as fast as batteries and the people at hd/lowes can tell you which ones you need), and a portable radio

A good place to get wood to board up your house (if home depot/lowes are out of wood) is to buy it from local home builders. We got wood to cover our windows from our builder. Plus there is a great article on boarding windows from redcross:
http://www.redcross.org/static/file_cont47_lang0_25.pdf

Set your fridge to the lowest level so that it can stay cold longer if you lose power. Start making lots of ice in your freezer as well to use if you lose power

Fill up your tubs with water so that you can have water to clean, cook, and/or flush with

Set your AC at low levels so your house can stay cooler if you lose power

Tape up window/door seals to help prevent water leaking in. You can even make temporary sand bags to place infront of doors with some dirt and plastic bags

Go around your house and check for loose gutters, shingles, fascia (I think that's what it's called) and secure them if they are loose

Your garage door is the largest opening in your house. If it blows in then your house will probably be destroyed. You can either call a garage door company to have it reinforced or you can reinforce it yourself by backing up a car to it, and/or installing additional struts. If you don't have a garage door and park your car outside do not park it by any trees that can fall down

Trim trees that are in close proximity to your house but keep the clipings inside as they can become airborne. Also move lawn furniture inside and walk around your house and surrounding areas to pick up or tie down lose things that can become airborne

And check your home-owners policy. Hurricane deductables are much higher and my insurance will no longer covers damage caused by mold/mildew. They dropped that after Katrina.

ETA a few more things and fix my horrible grammer

[Alys the Cat]

Ugh! I'm in South Florida, and I'm starting to feel like an expert on this topic. :(

We have a generator, safety gas cans (metal, not plastic) for fuel storage, and a full set of storm shutters. We also bought a window AC unit we can run off the generator. I still need to get a CO2 detector so I'll feel a little more at ease.

I've already stocked up on water and shelf-stable food, as well as flashlights, batteries, etc. I've also got a few cases of Pampers and wipes in reserve! :)

We went through two storms right after DS was born, and the whole situation really wiped me out. I was on maternity leave at the time, so at least I was able to concentrate on keeping him cool and safe. I was back at my job (I'm an "essential employee," required to work during emergencies) when Hurricane Wilma clobbered us last year, which was horrible. I just wanted to be home with my family!

We're not in a flood zone, but we do have flood insurance. It's relatively cheap, and I'm not willing to risk being without it.

Sending safety vibes to all our coastal mommas! I dread this time of year!

[jennabear]

We've been looking into flood insurance but they have yet to get back to us. We're near the water in Delaware. But my parents just bought a vacation home in Tampa. That has made me nervous since they told me they were buying it. I really hope this year isn't going to be what they say it will. >Praying for everyone.<