Are you Hurricane Ready?

August 17, 2008 – 11:33 pm

As a non-Florida native, after moving to the west coast of Florida I had to bone up quickly on what to do if a hurricane was heading toward my area.  Here are a few tips I’ve learned that might make getting ready for a potential disaster easier for you.  This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list, but rather some tips you might find helpful.

I should note that since I do not live in a flood zone and am inland from the coast, I have somewhat less preparation than is required for others.  There are many web sites that give information on how to board up your home to protect it from hurricane force winds and debris, so I will not cover it here.  However, I am including links at the bottom of this article.  No matter where you live, if you are in the projected path of a hurricane you will want to gather up any loose items around the exterior of your home and take them inside or place in your garage.  This includes your patio furniture, gardening tools, sprinklers and hoses, flower pots or other items typically placed outside your home.  You can also use masking tape in a large X shape to keep glass from flying on windows not boarded up.  Again, links to more information are below.

At the beginning of hurricane season, I like to stock up on certain supplies I might need.  It’s amazing how quickly store shelves are emptied of these necessities once you’re in the potential path of a hurricane. 

  • Extra drinking water.  I buy 5 gallon drums of water.  It requires a deposit, but it’s much easier to lug than 10 one gallon bottles.
  • Batteries of all sizes, but particularly flash light batteries.
  • Flash lights and other battery operated lighting.
  • Manual can opener.
  • Food that doesn’t have to be refrigerated or cooked, such as canned tuna, crackers and peanut butter.
  • Paper plates and disposable utensils.
  • One or more large coolers.
  • Masking tape.
  • Clear packing tape.

I do not recommend buying candles or anything that requires a flame because of the risk of fire.

Once you learn a hurricane potentially may be heading your way, there are certain supplies you’ll want to have on hand.  If a hurricane hits your area, you probably won’t be able to run to the store and grab groceries — they will likely not have power or be out of what you need.  These items include: 

  • Extra drinking water.
  • Water for bathing or flushing toilets.  Some people fill up their bathtubs with water.  I have a pool so can use the water in it.
  • Propane or charcoal for your outdoor grill.
  • Ice.  I freeze bags of it, but some people save milk cartons and fill them.  Bags of ice can keep items in your refrigerator or freezer from melting/spoiling if the power isn’t off for long.  If it is off, then you can transfer items to your cooler.
  • Prescription and over the counter medications.  Just to be safe, it’s best to have at least a 1 month supply of prescription medications.
  • Pet food.
  • Bread and other staples.
  • Easy to heat canned foods, such as stew or soup.
  • A full tank of gas in your car.  You can use it in order to evacuate or to siphon if you have a generator.  If you lose power in your area, then your local gas station may not have power either.

Diva Kimberly Llewellyn said that as she prepared for her first hurricane she didn’t know what supplies would be most helpful.  However, she figured it out very quickly when she went into her local grocery store.  The shelf stock was low in quantity for the items that were in most demand.  She grabbed everything that seemed sensible if it was low in stock!

If you don’t own one, you will want a battery operated emergency radio.  If local TV stations aren’t on the air, then you may have to get your news via radio.  Speaking of TV, during the last hurricane that hit our area, one of the first services we lost was cable.  Now that TV broadcasts are changing to a digital signal, if you don’t own a battery-operated TV that is digital, then you may wish to purchase one before the changeover if you want to get local TV during a power outage.  I found it reassuring once I was able to see TV, so this is high on my purchase list before the 2009 hurricane season.

Telephone service is important after a storm has hit your area.  If you have a cable phone or rely on a cellular phone, the service could be out for days afterwards.  It’s a very good idea to have a land line as well as a wired telephone unit (not wireless).

What plans do you have for your children?  If at all possible, you will want your family to leave in sufficient time so that they don’t have to take up residence in a shelter if a deadly hurricane heads your way.  A hurricane can be extremely frightening to small children, so you want to make preparations ahead of time.  When my children were young, I had a rule that if a Category 2 or higher hurricane was heading toward us, then I left right away with my kids, pets and family heirlooms.  Since I live further inland and my children are older, I now leave if threatened with Category 3 or higher.  If you wait too long to leave, then you may have to contend with horrible traffic and a lack of hotel rooms along your route away from the danger area, so please take that into account as well.

Before a hurricane heads your way, you’ll want to preplan what to do about your pets.  If you have pets and may need to evacuate, plan in advance what you will do with them.  Will you leave in time to take them with you?  Do you have friends or family who live further inland who will care for them for you?  I can’t tell you how sad it makes me when I realize how many people don’t make these plans in advance for their dearly loved pets.  If you have to go to a shelter, you usually can’t take your pets with you and you sure don’t want to leave your poor pet to fend for himself!  So please, have a plan in place.

I’m very fortunate because my husband likes to preplan as well.  Once hurricane season was well past, he purchased a generator for our use and we’ve had more than one occasion to use it.  Generators may only be used outdoors in a well ventilated area.  The carbon monoxide released is deadly.  Here’s a tip we learned through experience.  Hurricanes come with lots of rain and we prefer to keep our generator dry.  As a result, we set it up on our covered patio just outside our back door.  However, we have to insulate the sliding glass doors because the fumes can penetrate the seams and leak into the house.  We use a generous amount of clear packing tape on all of the sliding glass door seams.

List of helpful links: 

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/disaster_prevention.shtml

http://www.floridadisaster.org/family/

http://www.onestorm.org/Default.aspx?ReturnUrl=/OnePlan/

http://www.ready.gov/america/beinformed/hurricanes.html

http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/21/pf/saving/willis_tips/index.htm

http://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/maintenance/weatherizing/hurricane-proof-your-home/

http://www.floridapets.net/petfriendlyshelters.html

http://www.essortment.com/all/explaininghurri_ttot.htm

My greatest wish is that if you should ever have to face a major hurricane in your area, you, your family and pets will all remain safe and weather the storm easily.  It’s always good to plan for the worst but hope for the best.

Diva Kathy Carmichael

By DivaKC | Posted in Around the House, Heart & Soul, Well-being & Fitness | Comments (1)

Frogmore Stew Alaskan Style

August 16, 2008 – 7:30 am

Many years ago, when I was the wife of a Marine, I lived in Beaufort, South Carolina.  We had a lot of military friends who, like us, didn’t have any family around.  So, we became each others family. 

On weekends we would go to the beach and we’d cook a big pot of Frogmore Stew.  It didn’t have any frogs in it.  :-))  It was named for a small community there.  A typical Frogmore Stew would consist of a big pot of boiling water over a firepit seasoned with vinegar and other spices.  Today I use a store-bought seasoning–Old Bay TM. 

To the boiling water we would add whatever we’d brought.  It was kind of like making Stone Soup, but usually we had potatoes, corn on the cob, onions, sausage, chicken, and shrimp.  When it was done, we would drain the water, line a picnic table with newspapers, and then dump the contents of the pot out on the newspapers.  Everyone would sit around the table eating our way through the pile of meat, seafood and veggies.  If you like butter on the corn, put a stick in a Ziplock bag, throw an ear of corn in and roll it around.  Pass the bag for everyone to do the same (before they start eating the corn, of course).

While I was in Alaska recently, we did an Alaskan version of Frogmore Stew.  We had the same vegetables, but we added large tiger shrimp, chunks of halibut, and Alaskan King Crab legs broken into pieces to fit into the pot.  It was YUMMY!  If you’d like to try your own version, just add the items that take the longest first like the potatoes.  5 minutes later add the onions and sausage.  5 minutes after that add the corn, then the seafood.

Best wishes,

Diva Dolores

 

 

By DivaDolores | Posted in Kitchen & Recipes | Comments (0)