JMII
Weather Master
Reged:
Posts: 546
Loc: Margate, Florida
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Seeing as we've got a few people that have never been in a tropical system I'll offer some advice, hopefully some other people will chime in with their tips.
Don't go crazy buying water, your tap water will be fine until the power goes out, just clean out any empty milk jugs or liters of soda, fill them 90% and put 'em in the freezer. There water problem solved... plus when the power goes out (and it WILL) you can move those frozen jugs to the fridge to keep it cold for the first day (or two). In addition to flashlights in we used those glow-sticks, you know the kind you snap and shake - worked great: no batteries, no open flames, very safe, very durable. Provides light for 6-8 hours, so throw a few in bathroom and a few in the hall and you can walk around at night in the dark without crashing into everything.
Cat 1 is no big deal (to me atleast) I don't even bother with the panels. Cat 2 then the panels go up. Cat 3 and all of sudden getting out of town seems like a really good idea. Thus gassing up the car and having cash on hand is very important. Lastly if your cell phone calls aren't getting thru try texting (like all the kids do) data travels on a different network and needs very little bandwidth so even with low signals (cell towers fall down too!) your message will get thru.
Hope this helps. Stay safe - most hurricane related problems occur AFTER the storm passes when people go outside and do stupid things, avoid ANY standing water/puddles as you don't know what is down there (including live powerlines!). One last thing... I got beat up pretty bad BEFORE while putting up my shutters, so you have to judge the risk/reward of doing the job: get help, go slow, use the right tools, ect.
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South FL Native... experienced many tropical systems, put up the panels for:
David 79 - Floyd 87 - Andrew 92 - Georges 98 - Frances 04 - Wilma 05 - Matthew 16 - Irma 17
Lost our St James City rental property to Ian 22
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engicedave
Weather Hobbyist
Reged:
Posts: 70
Loc:
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Sound advice above.
In addition, an excellent cooking source is sterno. The canned gel fuel. You can boil water with it. Best deal is to go to one of the warehouse stores (Costco, BJ's) and you can buy pro sized ones in 24 packs.
Freezing water is a good idea, make sure you leave room for the water to expand, even leaving the cap off/loose. Otherwise it can split the bottle/jug.
Consolidate freezers and refrigerators if you have more than one. A full fridge holds temp better than an empty one.
Just plan like you're going to be camping, because you probably will
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Lamar-Plant City
Storm Tracker
Reged:
Posts: 392
Loc: Plant City, Florida
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Just to keep in perspective, I live just outside of Tampa and went through Jeanne and . I helped my mom and dad after which went directly over them, causing $80,000 damage to their house and property. I am monitoring the storm closely, both on my own and through the experts here (part of using this site wisely is know just WHO the experts are and who to ignore). I just went out and bought 2x8 packs of D batteries (we were almost out), a pack of AAAs (WERE out) and a new battery powered flourescent lamp since our good one died last year. I DID also make sure my gas tank was nearly full and filled up all of my small cans that would be used for the generator (and the mower if not that). My wife got a FEW hurricane-type food supplies, but nothing that we won't use anyways the next couple of weeks. We have 6-8 water jugs that we can fill if need be. Nothing to panic about, but just doing a few things so that there would be less to do and I can concentrate on those if this thing turns ugly. I know that if things go bad, I can put up my plywood in less than 3 hours (put in panel-mates 2 years ago), and that we are NOT in an evacuation zone, so I would be best riding out just about anything (my house is CBS and the roof is only 2 years old). I have a generator sufficient to power necessities, a chainsaw that was just overhauled, and a full propane tank for my outdoor grill. Hope these ideas help......
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If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes...
2023 Season Prediction: 17/6/2
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jeangfl
Verified CFHC User
Reged:
Posts: 19
Loc: Ft. Myers, FL
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For all of you "newbies":
Get a battery powered tv/radio so you know what is going on in your area. Extra bread, peanut butter, gas for your grill, pet food. CASH, water and batteries are the first thing stores run out of - if they are open! Pretend you're going camping and have to be self-sufficient for 4 or 5 days and you will be fine.
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kents
Unregistered
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Car converter! The kind that has an ac adapter plug. Walmart has them in the auto section. Charges your cell phone and you can plug in a small electronic device. After Jeanne and Francis we would sit or drive around in the air conditioned car with a portable dvd player and watch box sets of tv shows out on DVD. VITAL info when one has kids. Course gas wasn't so costly then.......
And when the power goes out so do street lights. ALWAYS yield to the person on your right!
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LDH892
Meteorologist
Reged:
Posts: 13
Loc: Carolinas
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Very good advice above - a few more things to think of. In the last few hours leading up to any hurricane landfall you should fill your bathtub with water, grab a bucket and scoop out the water to flush your toilets. Battery powered radios are a must, it is your lifeline to the location of any governmental supplies brought in after a disaster. One thing you may want to get is one of those hand-crank / batter radios, I think Radio Shack and Target have them, they are great for saving money on batteries and most are made very high quality.
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