77F and humid at 6am, but I’ve spent too much time reading the news. Gotta get the kids up and ready, so more later….<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Now it’s later!<\/p>\n
Here comes the storm, now what?<\/p>\n
If you’ve been listening and doing, then all you have to do is recheck your preps, and do the little last minute things.\u00a0 Top up your fresh veg- you can be sure THAT won’t be stripped from the store.\u00a0 BAKE a loaf of bread.\u00a0 Maybe pick up some dairy if your normal shopping hasn’t happened yet.<\/p>\n
Remember that water is still coming out of your tap!\u00a0 No need to buy bottled water if there are crowds.\u00a0 Worst case, buy buckets and fill them.\u00a0 Locate your water filter, bleach, and maybe your Bob water bladder.\u00a0 Do laundry and wash dishes.\u00a0 Wash the bathtubs thoroughly and get your duct tape ready so you can fill the tub before the storm hits.\u00a0 Don’t forget a bucket for moving water from the tub to the toilet.<\/p>\n
Charge up battery powered devices, and charge up all your power packs and rechargeable batteries.\u00a0 By now you should have some sort of lithium battery for your phone and tablet.\u00a0 The $80 jump pack from\u00a0 Costco has a USB port and works well according to my wife.\u00a0 If you don’t know where it is, locate your AC inverter and put it near your car for charging bigger things.\u00a0 Test flashlights and battery lanterns.<\/p>\n
If you haven’t already, fill your extra gas cans, fuel your generator and test start the gennie.<\/p>\n
Look to your property.\u00a0 Get ready to secure loose articles.\u00a0 If the predictions warrant, get ready to do your board up.<\/p>\n
At this point, you haven’t done anything irrevocable, haven’t spent money you don’t have, and have basically just ‘freshened up.’\u00a0 Time to watch the storm approach and make any adjustments to your plan.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If you HAVEN’T been prepping, you’ve got a lot more to do.<\/p>\n
Start with the basics, food water shelter.<\/p>\n
Food- hit the canned and boxed meal aisles of your store.\u00a0 Grab veg and beans, chili, and chicken or stew.\u00a0 Get some pouches of pasta with sauce.\u00a0 Get enough for a couple of weeks , at least ONE week.\u00a0 Since the ‘french toast people’ have probably stripped the bread, eggs, and milk, grab a big bag of tortillas.\u00a0\u00a0 Grab some rice, instant or one minute rice is preferable in this case as it takes less to cook.\u00a0 Grab some oatmeal and sugar or syrup, again quick cooking is better.\u00a0 Grab some treats for the kids.<\/p>\n
Water.\u00a0\u00a0 If your store has bottled, get some.\u00a0 If not, then hit up Home Depot for buckets and lids.\u00a0 You can fill them at home for drinking water.\u00a0 Remember, water is still coming out of your faucets.\u00a0 You may prefer bottled water for drinking, but your municipal water won’t hurt you (unless you’re in Flint, and then you’re on your own.)\u00a0 You don’t NEED food safe buckets for this short time, but they are better for long term use.\u00a0 Worst case, buy 2 liter bottles of the store brand generic soda, pour it out, and use the bottles for water.\u00a0 You might want some koolaid or tea to flavor your water.<\/p>\n
Shelter- your home should be fine unless the storm is huge.\u00a0 If you live in a shack, or in an area prone to flooding, think hard about going to a shelter.\u00a0 If you are going, better early than late.\u00a0 Pick up anything that the wind can turn into a missile.\u00a0 Secure all loose items.\u00a0 Seriously, put them away.\u00a0 Charge up all your things that need charging.\u00a0 Wash everything that needs washing.\u00a0 Tidy up.\u00a0 Fill bathtub with water for washing, cover the drain with duct tape first.\u00a0 Make sure you have some way to make light, battery powered is preferred to fire.\u00a0 Have at least a battery powered radio to listen for news and updates.<\/p>\n
That’s about all you will be able to do in a couple of days, but it should be more than enough and it’s certainly more than 80% of your neighbors will be doing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Chime in in comments if I missed anything appropriate for short term preps, or if you have questions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
nick <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
77F and humid at 6am, but I’ve spent too much time reading the news. Gotta get the kids up and ready, so more later….<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Now it’s later!<\/p>\n
Here comes the storm, now what?<\/p>\n
If you’ve been listening and doing, then all you have to do is recheck your preps, and do the little last minute things.\u00a0 Top up your fresh veg- you can be sure THAT won’t be stripped from the store.\u00a0<\/p>\n