How bad do hurricanes suck?

[GreenieTA]

Thanks, all. I'm glad to know that life doesn't cease to a halt like it can up here with snow and ice. It's so annoying when it starts to snow a tiny bit and people start driving like there is 0 visibility! It's Chicago, people ... it snows! lol

We'll be sure to be as prepared as possible and put a hurricane kit together ... and it'll be sure to include a few bottles of wine!

Thanks, again!

[Keeper]

However, you buy the same things when a storm is approaching. Milk, water and bread are usually gone before you get to the store.

[Allwyna]

I am just jumping in this one, and I thank you all .

I know a few things about hurricanes... that I had a bit forgotten:
1- a hurricane is VERY moody, you never know where it will hit exactly, nor when
2- be prepared, add toilet paper to you list (a lot, that can be used for a lot of things). I will not talk about tuna cans, it is like hot-dogs I can't see them either anymore.

My first REAL experience has been Wilma, I was in Cancun. We stayed 21 days without power, therefore water. And as someone said earlier looters arrive faster than police. My apartment (2nd floor, beachfront, with hurricane shutters) has been devastated, winds being so strong. And, that s*&^%#*tch wouldn't decide what to do: "she" stayed over the airport endlessly, I stayed blocked for 5 days (out of my house). But I survived.

We had a few others there, but they didn't hit so hard. However, some of my friends went to Merida to avoid I-don't-remember-which-one... and it hit there . They couldn't come back home, because of the destroyed roads.

BUT... I would say now that my most traumatic experience has been my car accident last September. I didn't lose my life (miracle), but my injuries don't heal... they can be here forever. I have forgotten the worst of Wilma and co. I can't that.

I drove through New-Orleans last year, and I understand the disaster: so many houses way below sea level!

I starting saying "thanks" because I am about to buy a house, reading all your points of view can change my choice (some ). I will pay more attention to the level of the house on the ground. And pray .

[StilltheSame]

What sucks:

Preparing for the storm
- the grocery and hardware store lines and insanity
- putting up shutters
- eating during the "storm"

If it actually hits
- the lines
- No gas
- no phone
-no electricity (it gets HOT with no AC!)


A plan to make it liveable:
Early July - buy your supplies
Get a generator
Put your supplies in a waterproof container for the season
have copies of vital documents saved somewhere else


Its all do-able.

[1coolcustomer]

Originally Posted by StilltheSame

What sucks:

Preparing for the storm
- the grocery and hardware store lines and insanity
- putting up shutters
- eating during the "storm"

If it actually hits
- the lines
- No gas
- no phone
-no electricity (it gets HOT with no AC!)


A plan to make it liveable:
Early July - buy your supplies
Get a generator
Put your supplies in a waterproof container for the season
have copies of vital documents saved somewhere else


Its all do-able.

You got that right, when Charlie was forecast to nail the Bay Area, the day before there was not a battery to be found at Publix/ Eckerds, sold out. I remember the Publix in Largo gave out a free gallon of water to it's customers, next hurricane ( Jeanne or Francis) no more free water. Some conspiracy thoerists said the news puts up a false forecast track just so the battery companies can make a killing, after all how big is the battery market in Arcadia, FL?

BTW they don't just suck, they blow, it's a cycling effect and one of the most vulnerable areas of your home is your garage door, especially if it's a 2 car garage older garage door.

[FloridaKash]

Is it wrong that I don't think I'll feel like a true Floridian until I experience at least a Cat 1 Hurricane? lol

[num1baby]

Reading all of this is making me think of more things.

Price Gouging: I read several stories about extreme price gouging. It usually happened in the smaller convenience stores. One woman needed 4 D batteries for a piece of medical equipment (can't remember exactly what) and the store that she shopped in almost daily offered to see them to her for $5 per battery. When she told them it was for medical use, they upped the price to $20 per battery. It is horrible that people will do this, but there is usually a number to call when you witness price gouging.

Coolers: We don't have a generator and don't have the money to get one "just in case". What we did when we were without power for so long to keep our food from completely rotting away was we got 2 coolers. One was a normal average cooler that we used for drinks, snacks, hot dogs, etc. We got a second gigantic cooler that had clips to hold the lid closed. That cooler was for anything we needed to keep frozen or at least really cold. That cooler only got opened 1 time a day. We opened it after the first night thinking we needed to replace the ice, but it hadn't melted at all. We would open it once a day to make sure the ice was ok and the food was still frozen. Our original ice lasted the entire time our power was out (almost 2 weeks) and all of our food was still frozen. We put our food right back in the freezer when the power came on and it had time to get cold again. For anyone who cannot get a generator, I suggest this method to keep from losing all of that food. You can also use that once a day method to pull food out that you want to cook for the day. Use that as your chance to check the ice and transfer new food to the smaller cooler.

[Allwyna]

Originally Posted by num1baby

Coolers: We don't have a generator and don't have the money to get one "just in case". What we did when we were without power for so long to keep our food from completely rotting away was we got 2 coolers. One was a normal average cooler that we used for drinks, snacks, hot dogs, etc. We got a second gigantic cooler that had clips to hold the lid closed. That cooler was for anything we needed to keep frozen or at least really cold.

Yes, it works perfectly. I used this method when I drove from Cancun to Tampa, I couldn't consider a generator, of course. The big one was not "gigantic" but big enough to keep the small one closed. I had to open them more than once a day, but I could refill some ice when I drove by a supermarket. I arrived here after 9 days with some food (and water!) still cold.

[FloridaKash]

Originally Posted by Allwyna

Yes, it works perfectly. I used this method when I drove from Cancun to Tampa, I couldn't consider a generator, of course. The big one was not "gigantic" but big enough to keep the small one closed. I had to open them more than once a day, but I could refill some ice when I drove by a supermarket. I arrived here after 9 days with some food (and water!) still cold.

Yes, one cooler should be one that you rarely open. Opening and closing a cooler significantly increases the rate that ice melts. Therefore you should have one cooler that you se to get in/out of throught out the day and another where you store you food and maybe get into once a day to replenish the other cooler.

I can only imagine that getting ice when after a hurricane would be very difficult. A generator is sounding better and better. Although I am quite confident my super cool neighbor has one and would give us a hand where needed. He's a Florida native, in his late 40's and has all sorts of goodies over there. I am sure he is super prepared.