Hurricane Irma survival tips

[CaribGator]

Mods, I started this in the main sports section as that is the one most people go to. As the hurricane is threatening all of Florida, I wanted as much exposure as possible, your choice to leave it here or move it.

My fellow Gators, having lived 25+ years in various places in the Caribbean, I've been through this drill many times, and living in 3rd world places, you learn little things to make it easier. This thread is for everyone to contribute to help one another.

The most common things you already know, have batteries, flashlight, candles, gas, water, food,

Some things I have done that have worked well.

1 - Get a Brita filter, a new 50 gallon plastic trash container, wash it with bleach, fill it using the brita water from the tap. Save yourselves the long lines or no water situation, can be used for cooking, cleaning, bathing if you have other drinking water sources soon after the storm.

2 - An empty liquid detergent container works great for washing hands or dishes, the little bubble dispenser limits the water so it goes a long way. (this is for when the running tap water is off)

3 - Get a small inverter to run a basic fan (don't get those fancy electronic ones, they have a hard time with the inverter AC) and a deep cycle battery, having a fan on at night to sleep when there is no electricity goes a long way. Keeps you from running a generator at night for just a fan and a light or two

4 - Have some cards, books to read, it gets really boring waiting on electricity to come back and roads to be cleared.

5 - Put your valuble papers in ziplock bags with contact information, will keep them dry and if blown away, possible found and returned.

6 - Get what you can in a backpack of your most valuables, if you have to leave, it's ready to go

7 - Have another backpack with 2 days of clothes, 2 days of food, water, basic survival stuff, your BOB, Bug Out Bag, if trapped somewhere, you'll have 2 days minimum to get yourself out of the situation

8 - Use screws instead of nails when possible to secure things

9 - Trim the trees around your power lines, internet, if needed, and if you can, this way if service stays on you won't have a problem, and if it goes off, when it does come back, you will be one of the first to get it in your area.

 

[ppinesgator]

Great stuff, Carib. Especially the important information about Ox. And don't overestimate how boring long power outages can be.

One suggestion - don't trim the trees before the storm unless you have a trash pickup, can burn it or have some other way to get rid of it before the storm hits. Otherwise, those limbs might help make a further mess of your house or your neighbor's house.

 

[g8tr72]

Those cheap solar powered lights can be used as lamps.

Invest in a siphon hose if you need to use a generator for extended periods of time.

If you evacuate, and are concerned about the freezer's contents defrosting, place a coin on top of an already frozen cup of water, and place the cup inside your freezer. When you return, if the coin is at the bottom of the cup, your freezer's contents are probably trash.

 

[oxrageous]

By the way, the hurricane better not keep people from visiting this board. If you've got internet, you had better be right here.

 

[g8tr72]

For insurance purposes, video your home and it's contents on your smartphone.

 

[oxrageous]

If you evacuate, and are concerned about the freezer's contents defrosting, place a coin on top of an already frozen cup of water. When you return, if the coin is at the bottom of the cup, your freezer's contents are probably trash.

Do you put the frozen cup inside the freezer?

 

[g8tr72]

Do you put the frozen cup inside the freezer?

Ah, yeah.

 

[GBHOR]

Having lived in PR, plenty of beer is always on the list

 

[GatorJ]

If you were driving is limited, fill your vehicles up with gas at least two days before the hurricane hits.

 

[skinnyquinton]

I am in Southwest Georgia if anyone needs a place. And after watching the game Saturday, I have plenty of liquor.

 

[playzwtrux]

charge up all of the power banks you can to keep your phone charged, or any other device you could charge via USB.

 

[ppinesgator]

I am in Southwest Georgia if anyone needs a place. And after watching the game Saturday, I have plenty of liquor.

Yahoo! On my way.

 

[ppinesgator]

Oh, and if I see you taped your windows, I'll knock on your door and punch you in the mouth when you answer

 

[LighthouseGator]

Take out cash from the ATM if you don't usually keep a stash.

 

[ppinesgator]

By the way, the hurricane better not keep people from visiting this board. If you've got internet, you had better be right here.

Already spend next month's advertising check, huh?

 

[Bait'n Gator]

I am in southeast georgia and if any of you fcks head this way I'll kick you in the nutts. Stay home and take it like a man.

 

[AlexDaGator]

This is a list I put together for people who haven’t experienced hurricanes before. It’s mostly based on my 2004 experience when we got hit by 3 hurricanes. Feel free to share with your friends.


Alex.


HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS TIPS FROM A LIFE-LONG FLORIDIAN


General:

Newer homes in subdivisions where the power lines are buried underground are less likely to lose power and if they do, more likely to get it back sooner. Older neighborhoods with lots of mature trees and power lines lose power all the time. They will fix power to hospitals, police, fire fighters, etc. first, then commercial areas. Even if your neighborhood has no juice, a convenience store or grocery store or fast food joint near you might. Look around the outside of your house. Imagine super high winds and driving rain. What threats do you see? During the storm itself, the safest room is an interior room without a window (might be a laundry room, bathroom, or closet). Another threat is flooding. You could be stranded for a couple of days until the water recedes even if your house is undamaged.


Primary:

--Turn your refrigerator and freezer colder before the storm. If you lose power, don’t open them unless you must. Don’t forget to turn them back after the storm if you don’t lose power. I also set the A/C a few degrees cooler. Another thing I did was put a few bags of ice in a cooler and use those to chill beverages after power loss. Don’t put a bag of ice in your fridge or freezer unless it is in a waterproof container big enough to hold it if it all melts. I have put dry ice in a fridge and that works but as the gas expands it will pop open your fridge door to escape, fine for old fashioned fridges where the doors close on their own, if you have a fancy French door fridge, you have to pay attention and close it yourself.

--Stock up on your prescriptions (for pets too).

--Flashlights that work, battery powered radio, and extra batteries for both. A lantern. Flashlights aren’t good for lighting a room. Often your best choice is to shine the flashlight on the ceiling to light the whole room. Lanterns are better at this. Also, some candles and matches/lighters.

--Bottled water.

--Some meals you can eat right out of the pantry (peanut butter and crackers, chips, cookies, candy, honey, jerky, bananas, raisins, etc. those little packs of pre-made cheese and crackers are great, lots calories and energy) and some meals that you can quickly prepare on your gas grill without extra ingredients (cans of beefaroni, chili, corned beef hash, etc.). A working can opener. Food for your pets as well. Instant coffee. Toilet paper (and an idea of where you might poop if you can’t use your toilets).

--Pull out plenty of cash from the bank in advance (credit cards don’t work without power).

--Do all your laundry (you don't know when power will come back on and you don’t want to handwash dirty underwear in a sink with cold water). Also, some of the new front loaders lock shut and won’t open without power. Get everything out of there.

--Wash all your dishes (no power means no dishwasher and it’s hard to handwash with cold water). If you lose power, think about using paper plates, plastic utensils, and solo cups instead of your regular stuff.

--Fill up all your cars with gas, and maybe even that old tank you used for gassing up the lawnmower (no power, gas pumps don’t work, and there’s always shortages).

--Fill your grill's propane tank or buy a spare and fill it up. This may be your only way to cook. If you don’t have a propane grill with a burner you can cook on, buy a campstove that runs on the small green propane bottles, or a single burner that runs on a butane can (like the kind they use to make omelets at a buffet) or get a case of sternos and a stove you can use with them. Something you can use to heat up a can of food.

--Fully charge all your cell phones, battery packs, tablets, and laptops, etc. Write down important numbers before your phones lose power. Don’t forget to charge the batteries for your portable power tools. Especially if you put up hurricane shutters or plywood; if you lose power you will want to remove the shutters or wood after the storm and open your windows and that’s easier with power tools.

--An old fashioned alarm clock you wind by hand. You may lose power but your office has it. You will still be expected to go to work (and enjoy the A/C and charge up your devices while you are there). You need something to wake you up.

--Deck of cards and some board games suitable for dim light.

--Drain your pool down a few inches. Do NOT drain it completely or it is liable to float up in wet soil.

--Move potential projectiles in your yard into your garage or other sheltered area. Don’t forget your BBQ grill.

--Figure out how to open and close your garage without electricity. The day of the storm, manually lock your garage door shut. Don’t forget to unlock after the storm. Practice this.

--A tarp, old shower curtains (my favorite), or really thick garbage bags. Make sure you have some basic tools and materials where you can easily access them. If they are in your garage and blocked by your car (or your grill) and you don’t have power and can’t move your car easily they are useless to you.

--A good first aid kit.

--Take a shower and shave. You don’t want to get sweaty and dirty putting up plywood all day and then lose power and not have hot water for the next few days.

--Portable power supply. These are the portable jump starters. Some are like car batteries with jumper cables attached (heavy) others are small and lightweight and use lithium ion batteries. Charge them before the storm--can be used to recharge devices, power fans, lights, etc. (check to see what kind of power output they have, typically the heavy ones have a regular AC outlet built in, while the small one may have a usb and cigarette lighter style plug only)


Secondary:

--Clean your gutters if you have them and they clog.

--Clean your house. Vacuums don’t work without power and if you do have power, you may have unexpected houseguests.

--Collect some sandbags.

--Board up your windows. This is a LOT of work either with plywood or the metal hurricane shutters in your garage and it’s rarely worth it. If you are looking at something serious, do it. If you have the kind that go on with wing nuts, buy a wing nut driver so you can use your power tools.

--Generator (the little ones with the muffler are great but not very powerful, they will run a fan and your fridge though, and provide “clean” power for your tech devices, and you can sleep with them running, the larger ones are more powerful but very, very loud).

--Chainsaw

--Portable single-room A/C.


Don’t Waste Your Time:

--Taping windows. Makes a mess and doesn’t do anything.

--Filling your tub with water for drinking. Yuck. Use bottled. Some people recommend this for water to flush the toilet. I have never, ever lost water pressure. I’ve been on boil water notices, but never lost water pressure. If you want to do this just in case, have at it.

--50lb bag of rice from Costco. Great for Armageddon, but not for losing power for a couple of days.


Meet your neighbors, check up on each other, lend a hand in prep and in clean-up, grill up some of that meat that melted in the freezer, and make a party of it. Don’t forget the booze!

 

[ppinesgator]

A bit early for it, but's here's some after the storm suggestions:

Don't be the asswipe driving around after the storm to see what happened. This is particularly important when there's flooding, as you could easily drive into a canal that you did not realize was there. You are just in the way of people trying to sort things out.

The best thing you can do to help others after the storm is to donate your time to relief agencies. If you've got a skills to apply, like running a chainsaw or hauling supplies in your truck, that's the best help people can get. My boss let me donate all my time to relief effort after Andrew for two weeks Don't wait for someone to tell you what to do. Figure it out yourself.

The second best help is the donation of useful supplies, such as packaged water and food, that you didn't need afterall. Don't donate used clothing - I saw mountains of donated clothes on the side of the road after Andrew. Give that crap to Goodwill.

Don't expect government help any time soon. It took people going hungry for days until the C-5's started bringing in portable kitchens after Andrew. It took ten days for a crew to clear away what was left of the mahogany trees in front of my house after Wilma.

 

[MidwestChomp]

Stay safe my friends

 

[GMDGator]

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