Storm prep hacks

In My Humble Opinion
1

What is your little secret thing to make life safer, more comfortable, and easier if you’re preparing for a storm/probable power outage?

(I’m doing the obvious stuff, like collecting buckets and Rubbermaid bins of drinking water, and filling yuckier bins and trash cans with toilet flushing water. Got the industrial supply of food, batteries and flashlights, bleach, generator, fuel, siphoning pump if we need to borrow gas from a vehicle, plenty of books, plus coloring books and crayons for the Littles, etc.)

So far, my 2 new ones for Irma are:

Be a dirty hippie. Put together a temporary commune. By pooling our supplies and abilities, Mama and I are both better-equipped and more emotionally comfortable than if we were to be worrying about one another. I have the generator and the ATV with a big winch for moving trees off dirt roads. She has the bigger freezer, and a stick-built house with a big screened porch with a summer kitchen. We can cook a meal for 7, or 10, or 15 people with about the same amount of scarce propane as it would take for 2 or 5 people, and suddenly our 5 tanks seem plentiful. My dad is too blind to be any help with a temporary roof repair, but he sees well enough to watch the dogs and the Littles while I drag a tarp up a ladder. My husband is also disabled, but he can advise on lots of matters, from first aid to how to winch a tree out of the road. I am a great quartermaster and a decent problem solver, plumber, carpenter, and cook. My OCD mother is the ideal cook and sanitation officer for such an operation. (And Mama and I together are better impromptu problem solvers together than separately. We have a few decades’ of shared experience and non-linear thinking.) And in spite of stretching supplies, we’ll be even better off if my college aged son and his roommates, and/or my niece and her family join us for the storm period: we’ll add their resources, plus 1-2 mechanics, an Eagle Scout, some more strong backs, and so on.

My other new hack is much more mundane. I live in the land of iced tea, and I’m a caffeine fiend. So, to conserve cooler/freezer space, I’m making tea cubes: brew the tea, sweeten, freeze in ice trays, and store in zipper bags. Use to keep other perishables cold, and add a cube or 2 to a glass of water for a refreshing beverage.

2

in the interest of conserving flushing water, pee outside whenever possible.

3

Actually, since the farmhouse has only one toilet, and the population may swell to 20-25, more if necessary, I’ve already dug a trench out at the fence line. After the winds have passed, every sitting event, from anyone physically able to walk that 400 yard round- trip, will be required. But I have an orthopedic potty chair and a Cabana tent for comfort and privacy. And the boys can pee on trees during everything except the worst of the storm. (It will be Cat 1-2 overhead, based on the latest models. The guys can piss on the front porch during that, for all I care. And I have a bucket for us girls, if the septic system is swamped during.)

Another thing that may or may not be obvious: ahead of a storm, cook frozen and refrigerated meats, package well, and re-freeze. If you’re cooking on a camp stove or grill, it costs less fuel to heat up than to cook from raw. And if necessary, you can sustain yourself until tomorrow on a pound of ground beef if it’s thawed, but still below 40°F. (Safer than tartare!)

4

In case of flooding, the dishwasher, being watertight, is a good spot to stow things you want to protect. Just make sure to anchor the dishwasher so it doesn’t float away!

5

Make an Ambient Light Out of a Water Jug

6

If applicable, a valve/cock for the water heater tank. If there is crazy flooding or damage that hurts the local water supply, shut off and disconnect the inlet and then put the valve on the ‘outgoing’ supply/from tank. 30-60 gallons of clean water for the duration. Sponge baths only and use the dirty water to flush the toilets.

7

My “secret” is a whole house generator.

8

Not according to a the Tampa Bay Times

http://web.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/hurricane-irma-5-myths-about-hurricane-prep-to-forget/2336675

9

Very true. Dishwashers would probably be considered as “weather-resistant” and not “water-tight.” For example, your dishwasher vents hot, humid air during the drying cycle. There’s obviously a vent for this and it’s going to allow water into the unit. Rule-of Thumb: If you can’t pressurize it, it’s not water-tight.

10

I just remembered that my cordless drill has a USB port on the battery. Gotta charge that up - could be useful!

11

The push lights designed for closets and garages which are sold at Dollar Tree shed a lot of light. Especially compared to candles. A book light with a clamp (or two) can be handy if you need light on a subject, but both hands free.

And as we learned in Texas two weeks ago, fill up your gas tank (and gas-powered outdoor tools) now before anything hits. And do NOT panic and join the panicky people when they start screaming “gas shortage!”

12

Download lots of extra reading material to your kindle.

13

My mother would fill the bathtub, planning to use that water for flushing the toilet. It’s convenient, as it’s already next to the toilet, has a faucet right there, and can be easily drained if there’s no power cut.

14

There’s only a shower up at the farm, but it will be a handy spot for a big bin of water. We also fill up the washing machine, but that requires a top loader. (And mine is new-fangled, so I have to manually fill it.) The Boy and his roommates are filling their washer with ice and canned drinks, because they’re college students, and cold beer is preferred over warm beer.

15

You mean Porn, right?

16

Brace your garage doors. I read an article where post hurricane they went through a neighborhood and every home whose garage doors had failed was destroyed. The wind gets in and lifts the roof causing catastrophic failure.