I'm sitting at home listening to the radio in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. I am utterly amazed at some of the questions that people are calling in about. The roadblocks have been lifted and people are being allowed back in but they are being warned that power could be out in excess of 4 weeks and the water and sewer systems in most of the cities are compromised so they must be SELF SUFFICIENT!
I am amazed by the questions from people looking for water, ice, food, gas, generators, or medicine.
Our county was under mandatory evacuation orders and provided transportation for anyone who wanted to go to shelters. Everyone who was able to leave on their own were encouraged to go. Anyone who chose to stay was told that they would NOT be provided with emergency services during the storm, or immediately after. They MUST be self sufficient.
Apparently, "self sufficient" means something different to me than it does to others.
Since I decided not to evacuate, I took the following steps:
I went to stay at a buddies house that had a well, septic system and generator.
His house was also a bit further from the coast and higher than mine, so the predicted storm surge of 20' wouldnt be an issue there.
Before leaving, I closed all the interior doors of my house and stuffed towels under them to help slow water intrusion in case of flooding and to minimize damage if I lost a portion of roof.
Exterior doors were also stuffed with towels to help slow water intrusion.
My most important personal papers were put in a dry bag and left with me. Other valuable papers were double bagged in garbage bags and left high in closests.
Ditto for electronics, PC etc. Laptop came with me. Everything else would have to take it's chances.
Generator was left at my mothers house, where I would be staying when I returned because it has the highest elevation and is centrally located. It was fueled and checked prior to leaving.
A 55 gallon drum of gas was left in a secure area, away from any electrical or potential spark sources. Included was an electric pump that works off 12v car battery. Several 5 gallon gas cans were also left, bringing my total up to close to 80 gallons. With careful rationing, that is enough to last me close to 3 weeks.
I took a first aid kit, including antibiotic creams for cuts, tool kit, chainsaw, tow straps, flashlights, electrical test kit for checking for live wires, power inverter, steel toe work boots, gloves, full length rain slicker, portable air compressor and tire repair kits and enough food and water to last me a week with me. I'm sure I'm forgetting somethings too, but I think you get the idea...
15+ gallons of water was left at the house, along with several gallons frozen in the fridge. That helped keep stuff cold til I could get back and check on it and provides cold drinking water as it thaws. Enough canned food was also left to last for several weeks.
When I returned, the first thing I did after checking on our houses was to clear debris from the storm drains so the flooded streets could go down. I also marked downed lines hanging across our street after making sure they were not live (which with 99% power outage in our areas was almost unneccessary) so people driving past wouldnt hit them and damage their cars.
Then I started clearing the limbs from the roadways I was travelling on between our houses and now have started the cleanup around the houses themselves (which thankfully sustained little damage).
So, for those of you who live in areas affected by hurricanes, what steps do YOU take to be self sufficient and contribute to the community when you return?
Just in case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm highly annoyed by those people who are returning to the area, driving around and sightseeing at the damage, ignoring traffic control devices and calling in to the radio station to whine that they don't have power, ice, water, or food!
I am amazed by the questions from people looking for water, ice, food, gas, generators, or medicine.
Our county was under mandatory evacuation orders and provided transportation for anyone who wanted to go to shelters. Everyone who was able to leave on their own were encouraged to go. Anyone who chose to stay was told that they would NOT be provided with emergency services during the storm, or immediately after. They MUST be self sufficient.
Apparently, "self sufficient" means something different to me than it does to others.
Since I decided not to evacuate, I took the following steps:
I went to stay at a buddies house that had a well, septic system and generator.
His house was also a bit further from the coast and higher than mine, so the predicted storm surge of 20' wouldnt be an issue there.
Before leaving, I closed all the interior doors of my house and stuffed towels under them to help slow water intrusion in case of flooding and to minimize damage if I lost a portion of roof.
Exterior doors were also stuffed with towels to help slow water intrusion.
My most important personal papers were put in a dry bag and left with me. Other valuable papers were double bagged in garbage bags and left high in closests.
Ditto for electronics, PC etc. Laptop came with me. Everything else would have to take it's chances.
Generator was left at my mothers house, where I would be staying when I returned because it has the highest elevation and is centrally located. It was fueled and checked prior to leaving.
A 55 gallon drum of gas was left in a secure area, away from any electrical or potential spark sources. Included was an electric pump that works off 12v car battery. Several 5 gallon gas cans were also left, bringing my total up to close to 80 gallons. With careful rationing, that is enough to last me close to 3 weeks.
I took a first aid kit, including antibiotic creams for cuts, tool kit, chainsaw, tow straps, flashlights, electrical test kit for checking for live wires, power inverter, steel toe work boots, gloves, full length rain slicker, portable air compressor and tire repair kits and enough food and water to last me a week with me. I'm sure I'm forgetting somethings too, but I think you get the idea...
15+ gallons of water was left at the house, along with several gallons frozen in the fridge. That helped keep stuff cold til I could get back and check on it and provides cold drinking water as it thaws. Enough canned food was also left to last for several weeks.
When I returned, the first thing I did after checking on our houses was to clear debris from the storm drains so the flooded streets could go down. I also marked downed lines hanging across our street after making sure they were not live (which with 99% power outage in our areas was almost unneccessary) so people driving past wouldnt hit them and damage their cars.
Then I started clearing the limbs from the roadways I was travelling on between our houses and now have started the cleanup around the houses themselves (which thankfully sustained little damage).
So, for those of you who live in areas affected by hurricanes, what steps do YOU take to be self sufficient and contribute to the community when you return?
Just in case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm highly annoyed by those people who are returning to the area, driving around and sightseeing at the damage, ignoring traffic control devices and calling in to the radio station to whine that they don't have power, ice, water, or food!
