Blog Brigade

Kelli

The very first time I experienced a hurricane guess where my husband was? If you said GONE and NOT AROUND you would be absolutely correct. He was deployed. I had six kids and three dogs. Four kids and three dogs slept in my bed that night. Hurricane Ophelia came and sat directly over my house for over ten hours. While she wasn’t one of the strongest hurricanes to hit our area, she stuck around longer than usual dumping tons of water and ripping our fences apart like little white vinyl toothpicks.

I had electricity and Internet through the early stages of the storm and sent picture updates of the recently installed fence flying away to Iraq.

*Important Note* My husband was completely against putting in the vinyl fence. To this day I have yet to get away from comments such as “WHO wanted a vinyl fence because it was pretty?” Why in the heck did I send him picture updates of it flying away? I can only claim hurricane insanity. Pretty sure it’s a real syndrome.

Secure the area!

I had barely lived in this area a year and so eagerly accepted offers of help to prepare the outside of my home. The area surrounding my home was secured to include completely disassembling our trampoline and storing it in the garage. Some folks just turned theirs upside down and loaded items on top, but the possibility of a metal spring becoming a projectile and shooting through someone’s window was not something I wanted to be responsible for. In fact, not much was left outside that wasn’t secured in some fashion.

Have provisions on hand!

We were well-stocked with food, especially bags of assorted chips, crackers, and cookies. I might have made sure I had a cake. I’m not totally admitting to that. I also had several cases of water, a couple of gallons, and two bathtubs filled.

Having some way to cook after the storm is over and the power is still out is a must. Dutch ovens and charcoal or camp stoves are fabulous.

*Important Note* Be sure to cook outside in a well-ventilated area. DO NOT use any alternative cooking methods inside your home during the storm. It’s unsafe and just not necessary. Contrary to what some nutritionists might say, birthday cake can sustain life until the hurricane passes.

Let there be light!

I was almost giddy as I pulled down our “hurricane lamps” that I had never used in a real hurricane and made sure the wicks were trimmed and the oil was plentiful.

Safe alternatives (and I highly recommend stocking up on them and batteries) are battery operated camp lights, personal flashlights, and my boys’ favorite, head lamps!

*Important Note* Be very cautious about using candles or hurricane lamps inside, especially if you have dogs or small children. No, nothing happened, but I had a well-meaning neighbor who was very concerned I was using them with all the little people and dogs in my home. Who knows, maybe I avoided a catastrophe because he so strongly urged me not to use them. His warning rings in my ears every time I pull my lanterns out.

Get everyone involved!

During a relatively mild hurricane the whole family prepared. My husband worked with the kids preparing our home (which included removing every panel of that horrible vinyl fence and stacking it in our garage). I assisted by documenting the efforts in pictures. I’m the family historian. My two youngest and I became somewhat distracted when they discovered a tiny frog in the bushes with their new headlamps. Now they had seen plenty of frogs before, BUT NOT WITH THEIR NEW HEADLAMPS.

Should I stay or should I go now?

The thing about hurricanes is you decide whether you are going to leave based on predictions made well before the storm hits. If you wait too long and then decide you need to leave and a few other folks get the same idea, you are quite possibly going to ride the storm out in your car, on the highway, in bumper to bumper traffic.

We have only evacuated for one hurricane: Irene. We both felt like it would probably be okay to stay; we had children and dogs and that limited our emergency shelter options (because of the dogs, not the kids). Plus I really don’t like sleeping on a cot. Hurricane Katrina was fresh enough in our memories that we didn’t want to risk it. We loaded up and left.

We lost our fence, again. We now have a wood fence my husband installed and it is not budging. We hung out at our son’s university, slept in air-conditioned comfort, went hiking, and ate like kings out of our crock pot and electric skillet.

Here are a few things you can do before the storm hits:

Have cash on hand in small bills. Most places will lose electricity and you won’t be able to get change back if they are dependent on electronic cash registers.

Fill up your gas tanks as soon as you know there is a storm brewing. Gas goes fast.

Have an evacuation plan. Take into consideration your family’s unique circumstances, i.e., special needs, pets, etc.

Don’t think you are a wimp for evacuating. Go with your gut. Better to leave and have nothing happen than to stay and experience extreme hardship or tragedy.

Have activities on hand for small children or big children.

You can’t prepare for everything but you can prepare for some things. So while the sky is blue and the birds are singing, make your list, check out websites like www.fema.gov, www.ready.gov, and www.redcross.org. Get ready now!