Get ready to ride the storm out

Get ahead of the herd. Don't be a panic prepper. You should begin your storm preparations at least One month before the start of hurricane season:

Situational Awareness:
Maintaining situational awareness before and during a disaster is of critical importance. Under NO circumstances should you depend on the systems infrastructure. It WILL fail when you need it most. Things like the cellular phone service or the internet can and will go down during a hurricane or other natural disaster. Begin monitoring the news and weather for any storms brewing out in the Atlantic or the Gulf.

Plan: If you fail to plan; you have planned to fail.

Get to know your neighbors. Figure out the good guys from the jerks. You need to become friends with at least a couple of them. Make plans to help each other during and after the storm.

If you live in a high crime area with lots of gang activity; PLAN on having to defend yourself from looters and thieves. Include your 'good' neighbors in your defensive planning.

Create a Basic Communications Plan for your group. (family and neighborhood)

Create an EVACUATION PLAN; especially if you live near the coast, in a RV or mobile home or in a flood prone area. FIRST: you must have somewhere to go. Forget trying to find a room at motel 6. Find a friend or family member in a reasonably secure area who will be willing to let you come visit for a few days. Better yet find several friends...one 60 miles from your location, one 100 miles and one 500 miles. Make arrangements with these people in advance. When the storm season starts, contact these people and let them know you may be coming. And when the time comes, contact them and let them know: When you're leaving, Which route you intend to take and When you think you will arrive. SECOND: You must know how to get there. Unless you are leaving well in advance of the herd, AVOID the interstates like the plague. You do NOT want to be caught in this mess...


Get a roadmap and locate several of those old 2 lane highways leading out of your area. You want to use the roads everyone but the old timers have forgotten. Once you’ve mapped out a primary and a couple of alternate routes, get out and actually drive them for a bit. And remember, fuel may not be available on the road; so plan on carrying enough to get you to your destination.

Bug Out Vehicle:
You don't have to have a monster truck. A SUV or mini van is a good candidate for a “Bug Out Vehicle”. Your B O V must be able to hold everyone plus a 96 hour Bug Out Bag for every passenger, plus essential evacuation gear, extra fuel, water and supplies. Make sure this vehicle is in a good state of repair. Now is a good time to change the oil and filter plus air and fuel filter. Make sure ALL the lights work and that tires, brakes and wiper blades are in perfect working order. Make any needed repairs now.

Clean up:
Trim all the bushes and trees around your property.
Secure everything. Make sure there is nothing lying around the yard than can go flying during a high wind.
Make sure you have no loose gutters, shutters or shingles. If so, fix it NOW.
Measure all the windows and doors of your house. Figure out how much plywood you will need to secure them.

SUPPLIES.
PLAN your shopping trips in advance. BEFORE you rush out and buy a bunch of "stuff", TAKE STOCK OF WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE ON HAND. Do an inventory and make a list of everything you think you'll need and the stores where you can find it.

FOOD. Go to the local discount grocery store and purchase ONE months supply of canned goods. Several cases of things like green beans, corn, chili, beef stew, spaghetti, soup and spam etc. Pick up several cases of canned soft drinks. Dry cereal and peanut butter is a good idea as well.

WATER. Don't waste your time buying cases of bottled water. Instead purchase at least 4 5-6 gallon water containers . You can find these many places. They look like a blue gas jug and are clearly marked ”WATER”. While you’re out shopping pick up 4 5 gallon food grade buckets and gamma seal lids at the local building supply store. Also begin saving 1 gallon milk jugs. Pick up a couple of gallons of unscented 'plain' bleach.

If at all possible you should build a rain barrel system with 2-4 55 gallon food grade barrels. These can be found inexpensively used at restaurants.

MEDICAL
If you have ANY medical condition that requires medication, stock up on extra meds now. Make sure you have a well stocked First Aid kit. Forget those cute little "survival" kits. You can purchase everything you'll need at stores like Dollar General.

FUEL. Several 20 pound cylinders of propane or top off the ones you already have. If the power goes out use these with your gas grill for cooking and boiling water.

At least 4 5 gallon fuel jugs for gas. Fill these with non ethanol gas and fuel stabilizer.

NOTE: A generator will use a lot of fuel. If possible, you should find a clean 55 gallon steel barrel and fill this with treated non ethanol fuel. Keep this barrel in an outside shed with plenty of ventilation. To transfer the fuel into smaller cans a barrel pump will be necessary.

BATTERIES. Buy a ton of AA and D cells. You need enough to keep flashlights, lanterns, radios etc running for a period of ONE month.

LIGHT. Make sure every person in the house has a good quality LED flashlight. You also need several LED lanterns ...one for every main room in the house.

PLYWOOD. Buy enough sheets of plywood and screws to cover all doors and windows. As soon as you get it home cut it to fit and store it ready for immediate use. Note: Mark each piece of plywood so you will know which window it is cut for.

While you're at the building supply store pick up several tarps, a roll of clear plastic sheeting, duct tape, some rope and anything else you think you might need to make emergency repairs on your house after the storm.

TOOLS. Make sure you have basic carpentry tools, a axe, shovel, large crowbar, AND a chainsaw with fuel, oil etc ready to go. If you don't have these things; get them now.

POWER:
GENERATOR. Purchase one of these during the off season. Don't plan on powering the entire house. Your priority will be keeping the freezer and the fridge going. Also, make sure you have plenty of heavy duty extension cords.

BATTERY. Purchase a group 29 or 31 deep cycle marine battery and a “smart” battery charger like this - 4 Amp Fully Automatic Microprocessor Controlled Battery Charger/Maintainer You will use this battery to power all your communications equipment and a LED light.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS:
Since water may be in short supply you should also buy a large quantity of Styrofoam plates, plastic cups and flatware. And, don't forget the garbage bags. It may be some time before garbage pickup resumes after the storm so have plenty on hand.
Several large packs of toilet paper and paper towels...enough to go for at least a month.
Several large packs of bar soap and large bottles of anti-bacterial hand soap.
Several packs of bic lighters and several boxes of large kitchen matches.

Communications
When there’s a disaster or a long-term power outage, you need backup communication.

During Hurricane Katrina, more than 70 percent of cell towers went down — and stayed down for weeks. The truth is that cell phone communication is very vulnerable, and if you’re currently relying on cell phones as your primary communication device in the event of that kind of a situation, you need to reconsider.

Cell towers need AC power to operate, and most don’t have an automatic backup system. Even those that have emergency generators are only on during short-term emergencies.

To monitor news, weather and emergency frequencies you will need several battery powered radios.

NOAA radio - Midland WR-120 NOAA Public Alert-Certified Weather Radio with SAME, Use this to monitor the weather.
Shortwave radio - CountyComm GP-5 AM/FM/Shortwave SSB Radio This little radio will operate 225 hours on 3 AA batteries. Use it to monitor AM and shortwave broadcast staions as well as the hurricane watch frequencies on the amateur bands.
2 handheld vhf/uhf radios - BTECH UV-5X3 VHF, 1.25M, UHF Tri-Band Radio Use these to communicate with family and neighbors out to about 3-5 miles. Program them with all the MURS, GMRS/FRS frequencies. You should also program several of the important public service and local area amateur freqs for monitoring during an emergency.
1 CB - President McKinley AM SSB Install this in your BOV with the appropriate antenna.
1vhf/uhf mobile radio - BTECH UV-25X2 X-Series - MobiLe 25 Watt Dual Band Radio Install this in your BOV with the appropriate dual band antenna.

One week before expected landfall:
Monitor your local AM talk radio station and the tv for news and weather updates. Keep your NOAA weather radio running 24/7. Pay particular attention to where they expect the storm to make landfall. Remember this will probably change so stay on it.
Fill all vehicle gas tanks and keep them topped off every time you go out.
Make a 'normal' grocery shopping trip. Pick up plenty of "comfort" food like chips and cookies.
Pick up several bags of ice and put them in the freezer.
Make sure the generator is secured, fueled up and ready to run. TEST IT.
Pack your 96 hour Bug Out Bags and put them in the Bug Out Vehicle.
If it’s a certainty that the event will be catastrophic in your immediate area, secure the house and get out now. Before you leave shut off the gas supply and all circuit breakers.


96-72 hours before landfall:
Fill ALL water containers, jugs etc. with fresh water.
Install your pre-cut plywood over the windows.
Make sure every flashlight, lantern and radio has fresh batteries installed. TEST these devices and make sure they are in working order.
Do any necessary last minute shopping. Be prepared for shortages and long lines of irate panic preppers.
Stop by the bank and pull out as much CASH as possible. After the storm the atms's and card readers may not work.

24 hour before landfall:
Shut off the gas supply to the house.
Shut off circuit breakers to non essential rooms and appliances.
Crank up the thermostat on the fridge and freezer. You want these to be as COLD as possible before you loose power.
Do the same thing with the house AC.
Fill all the bath tubs with water.
Gather everyone in the safest room of the house.
Make sure everyone has a pair of sturdy work boots...NO flip flops.

Aftermath
The storm is over and you survived. If you're lucky all you have to do is clean up a big mess and repair some minor property damage. But, it may be much worse.

First make sure everyone in the house is safe. Do not let the wife and kids run outside to "check it out".

Evaluate the damage:
Do not go fumbling around outside in the dark unless absolutely necessary. If you must go out after dark, a good LED Rechargeable Cordless Spotlight will be helpful.

When you go outside to evaluate the damage be extremely careful. Use common sense and pay attention to what you are doing. Expect trees and power lines to be down. You may have a tree on the house or severe roof damage. If there is any water around the property and live power lines are down don't just run out and jump in...unless you want to be electrocuted.

Once you've checked your property go check on your neighbors; especially the elderly.

Generator:
If you loose power you'll have to run the geny to keep the food cold and charge your batteries.

Be safe. Make sure the generator and all drop cords are not in contact with any water.
Provide plenty of ventilation. Do not place the generator in the house or close to a open window where gas fumes will enter the house.
NEVER refuel a hot generator while it's running. Shut it down and let it cool off.
To save precious fuel don't run the generator non stop. Keep a thermometer in the coolers and when the temp goes up start the generator and cool things down. Then shut it off.

Sanitation:
Flood water will be contaminated with all kinds of nasty stuff. Don't let the kids play in it.
Makes sure everyone washes hands regularly...especially before cooking or eating or if you've been in contact with contaminated water.
Clean and disinfect all cuts immediately.
Sewer service may be out; so be prepared to make and use "bucket toilets" lined with a heavy duty garbage bag.
Dispose of all waste as far as possible from your living area.
Be prepared to boil and or disinfect all water.