Hurricane Preparedness
Hurricane Earl is roaring up the East Coast, and millions of people are wondering if it will hit their area hard. Forecasts for hurricanes are helpful, but far from guaranteed to be accurate. The next 24-36 hours should tell the story. Hopefully it will have a happy ending, if you are one of those threatened.
Emergency Supplies
Even now there may be time to make a little difference. I suggest you do what you can. In the areas most likely to be hit, stores have already been overshopped, and crowds have made getting things difficult. Hopefully there are some items left on the shelves. Question is… is it worth going to the store? If it is dangerous, no it isn’t. If you can get in and get some things and get out without a confrontation or being hijacked, sounds like it may be still worth a try. Use wisdom.
When disaster strikes, stay away from stores. You’ll only find trouble there at that point in time.
Let’s assume you can get to a store and they have some stock left. If it were me, I’d get things in this order:
Water. Always water. It is the one thing no one can do without for very long. More than you think you will need. As much as you can get without taking more than your share. That’s a tricky one. A moral question. Best answer I can think of is, be fair, and always leave some for the next guy.
Filling up the bathtub has pros and cons. Hurricanes can slosh the water out and/or contaminate it. Best is bottled water. Cases of it. Also, If there are any left, get some containers made for water. They usually come in about 7 gallon sizes. Read the pages of this website to find out how to fill it up with tap water and treat it for longer storage treatment. If you are out of water after the hurricane, you have no idea how long it will take FEMA to get more water to you.
It would be nice to have a water filter such as those you can order from sources on this website, but it’s probably too late for that now.
Food. Same as water. Get what you can without endangering yourself.
First Aid Supplies. It’s a little late. Even if you get supplies, unless you have been thinking about these things and have gotten some training in first aid or wilderness medicine, the supplies will be of limited use. Still, maybe someone around you will know how to use things, so it is still a good thing to do.
You might want to go heavy on splinting materials, and read up on first aid for head injuries. Those seem to be very common needs if the hurricane hits with enough force to do damage.
A CPR class would have been nice, too. It actually works best in cases of drowning and electrical shock, both of which are common in hurricanes.
Btw… stay AWAY from downed power lines, lest you get included in that last item yourself.
Light. I hope you have at least 2 flashlights, waterproof, for each person. Batteries for 2 weeks, 4 hours a day. That is a LOT of batteries. If you get rechargeable batteries, be sure to get a converter so you can recharge them from your car battery. Get candles. Get oil lamps, if you feel safe using them. Get propane lights and propane, if you feel safe using them.
LED lights give you much more light for much longer than old style bulbs.
Duct tape. LOTS of duct tape. Do not get cheap kind unless you have to. There is a big difference in sticking power and longevity.
Proper clothing. Good luck there, with so little time. But think about it. Including footwear. Maybe some waterproofing is still available at the stores. Maybe not.
Emergency radio. Very helpful in hurricanes. Both before and after. Again, may be a little late to get a good one. But if I were you, I’d try. If the hurricane misses you this time, with the current weather situation, you never know when the next one will be passing by.
There are a lot of other things that would be good to do, and you will find a lot of helpful information on this website. But you have only so much time, so I thought I’d try to do a quick version for those of you who are on the brink.
For the rest of us… look at this one. Disaster emergency supplies are always good to have on hand. You never know when it will be too late to get them.
