Hurricane “To-Do” List

A tropical storm or full-fledged hurricane has its sights set on your neighborhood-what do you need to do to be ready? I’m assuming that your supplies are already in place. That type of advance emergency preparation will be covered in a forth-coming post. But once you know you are “in the cone”, what needs to get accomplished in the days and hours ahead?

In my fifty-five years of living in a hurricane-prone area, and having gone through Hurricane Andrew as well as numerous smaller storms, these are my recommendations:

• Make sure there are no loose or weak branches on trees and bushes on your property- if there are, remove the loose limbs, cut into manageable-sized lengths, bag, and store in a garage or other sheltered area where they will not become missiles in the wind. (This presumes that you have kept your trees trimmed; a storm warning is not the time to trim.)
• Bring in or secure all loose items in your yard and patio.
• Turn your refrigerator/freezer to a colder setting (don’t go too cold for the refrigerator, or any fresh produce you have will be damaged and eggs will crack).
• Make and bag-up extra ice. Fill empty, clean soda, juice, or water bottles with water- leaving expansion room at the top- and place in your freezer to help keep your freezer and refrigerator cold when the power goes, and be additional water storage after they thaw.
• Charge all portable electronics: cell phones, music players, e-readers (like Kindle), laptop, pads, rechargeable lanterns and emergency radios, etc.
• Back-up computer files to a portable drive or the cloud, and store away from your computer. Cover your computer with plastic. Your important hard copy files and photos should be kept where they will stay dry.
• If there will be a garbage pick-up before the storm, clean out your refrigerator and freezer of items that are out-dated. If not, double-bag them and keep in freezer to discard at the next pick-up.
• Wash ALL of your laundry; you don’t know when you will have power to do it again.
• Keep all dishes clean immediately after use; you don’t know when you’ll have hot, clean water again.
• Vacuum all your carpets; again, you may not have power to do it again for awhile.
• When you are sure the storm is headed your way, pre-cook your fresh meats, so they can be eaten cold (i.e. meat loaf, chicken, pork roast.) Almost any meat you may have can be prepared in advance to be ready to eat cold as a sandwich when you have no power. Also, use eggs to make a quiche, deviled eggs, or hard-boiled eggs for peeling. For vegetarians, cook your beans and grains in advance.
• If you have storm shutters, put them in place before the wind picks up.
• Scrub the bathrooms, then use caulk to seal and fill the bathtub; leave a small bucket nearby. This water will be handy to fill the toilet tank for flushing.
• Fill every clean container you have with fresh water. After the start of a hurricane, do not drink, wash your hands, or brush your teeth with the water from the faucet without treatment for pathogens. The ‘boil order’ could last days or weeks.
• Plan when you will take your dogs outside on storm day, to miss the worst of the storm (you may not be able to take them out for 4 or 5 hours.)
• Choose where your family (including pets) will sit out the storm, preferably a room away from windows. Make sure pets are crated or leashed- you don’t want them running out in the storm if your house opens up.
• Keep your lantern, cell phone (for texting family; don’t expect calls to get through), radio, and anything your family will need during that time (water, snack, pillows, baby’s pacifier, games, cards, etc.) there in your safe room.

After all this advance work, if the storm arrives you will be more comfortable both during and after. If the storm heads another direction and misses you, then you can sit back and relax for awhile; after all, you’ve already done your housework, laundry, and cooking for the next couple of days!

Brenda