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Thread: Irma

  1. #1
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    Default Irma

    My unfinished, unedited hurricane prep guide. Irma isn't waiting.

    One thing that I did learn is that the Cajun Navy uses a free app called Zello. I put it on my phone but have not tried it yet.

    Alan


    Some things I have noticed during a natural disaster.

    • In this age of communication as never before in History, the hardest thing to get is valid information. We had internet as long as the power was on. We had Cell service throughout. I just installed the Zellow app on my phone. It allows access to information going on right now.
    • Batteries are still essential but they are not enough any more. You have to have some way of charging cell phones for communication and obtaining information. I have a small “Justin” aux cell phone charger, a small “antigravity” battery charger and jump starter and a large battery pack jump started that will run or charge various devices. These items have to be well maintained and charged for when you need them.
    • A (or more) generator is essential. They keep your food cold/frozen, your rechargeable devices charged and provide light and other amenities. They also can be used to run necessary medical equipment. It is important that you use your generator to its fullest. If it is on have everything that it can handle plugged in to recharge while you have it on. I only ran mine two hours every six hours to conserve gasoline and reduce wear and tear on the generator. You must have oil for the generator as well. It is continuous running and will use or at the very least break down the lubricating qualities of the oil. You must have sufficient oil in the machine or it will break and then you have no generator. Additionally, most generators have an oil level cutoff switch that will not allow the generator to run if the oil level drops below a certain point. It will appear to have oil in it but it will not run unless you raise the level. The only way to do that is to add oil.
    • A DC/AC Inverter is good to have because you can create 110v AC from your vehicle battery. I have a 2000W Inverter.
    • Fuel. You don’t just need gasoline for your car. You need gasoline for machinery (mowers/tractors, chainsaws, GENERATORS, and lanterns (gasoline type Coleman lanterns). If your vehicle or other equipment is diesel powered then you have to include diesel as well. Butane/propane. Butane burners can be used for cooking or heat. Butane BBQ grills for cooking. Butane Coleman stoves for cooking. Gasoline can be stored in regular gas cans or in any equipment that has a gas tank. Fill all equipment gas tanks whether they will be used or not. I filled my tiller tank and I did not intend to till the garden during the hurricane but I had that gas if I needed it. I also have a 27 gal tank on my boat. That is a lot of gasoline that I can use for a lot of purposes.
    • Flashlights and lanterns. There are some very inexpensive but very serviceable lanterns and flashlights that have manually windup battery chargers in them. In fact they were the only lanterns that I have that would work, new batteries or not. I have two other battery powered fluorescent bulb lanterns that would not work when I needed them the most. The $12 Harbor Freight windups worked great. You don’t need to light up the world, just enough to see at night. You should have a very good, strong, unbreakable flashlight on hand all the time, which would include hurricanes. Plenty of batteries of all kinds is a must as well.
    • Water. Of course buy all the bottled drinking water that you can and use it for that. Secondly, store and mark as such, as much potable tap water as you can. Certainly 5 gallon jugs purchased and kept for that purpose is preferable but any sanitary container capable of holding water should be filled and kept separately from other water. Thirdly, any other container not already in use should be filled with water. This includes tubs, buckets, children’s swimming pools, whatever... for flushing toilets and general washing of muddy items (you will have some mud after a hurricane). You cannot store too much water. One of my friends has an above ground pool. He has 27,000 gallons of water on hand for those non-drinking purposes. But still, you cannot have too much water. And, just because the water comes back on after an emergency situation does not mean it is safe to drink at that point. Having a supply beyond what you will ever need is not a bad idea.
    • Food. Food should be of the non-perishable variety. Canned or dried foods. Peanut butter is a good food. Sardines, or canned fish is good energy food and after you eat a tin of sardines, you’re not hungry any more. Food is not really going to be an issue after a hurricane. If you had a freezer then you’re likely going to have some food you have to eat very quickly. Generators are a good thing, but they are not failproof.


    List.

    • Smart Phone and backup cell phone
    • Recharging devices. Justin, Antigravity, 5InOne
    • Batteries: D, C, AA, AAA, 9volt
    • Generator. 6000W, Tailgators
    • DC/AC Inverter
    • 5 gal gasoline/day without power + plenty of 2 cycle oil.
    • 5 gal diesel for Kubota
    • 3 – 5 gal propane tanks. 2 – 7 gal propane tanks. Small bottle charger.
    • Fill all vehicles and other equipment
    • Two hand crank lanterns. One hand crank flashlight. Mag light. Two small unbreakable flashlights. One large unbreakable flashlight.
    • 2 people. One case of water per day without water. Potable water – 5 gal per day without water. Non-potable water – 5 gal per day without water.
    • Food. Sardines, crackers, canned goods, dry cereals, dehydrated foods,
    Last edited by Alan R McDaniel Jr; 09-05-2017 at 09:20 PM.


  2. #2
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    While looting and thuggery are problems in urban areas, rural areas do not have that much. During the entire Harvey experience I did not have one single occasion to use, carry or even think about a gun, and I'm pretty much a gun nut. In fact having even a small pistol on my person would have just gotten in the way. It's not a bad idea to have one handy but they are really not that necessary in a rural environment.

    Alan

  3. #3
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    A good list.

    Finally broke down and ordered (from Amazon) the generator I've been wanting (Honda eu2000i). It should arrive about when needed (already have two generators) to make things a little quieter if we have a prolonged power outage like last year.

    Here's some things I learned (already knew) from my observations today. If you need supplies, get them before a state of emergency is declared for the entire state. I felt kind of bad for all of the people waiting in line for the next pallet of water. I told one distraught shopper --- why not pick up a couple of five gallon containers from the camping section and fill them with tap water? I got that deer in the headlights stare from her.

    Water and batteries will go. Stay prepared so you don't have to run out in an emergency.

    Gas lines will be long. Be patient and friendly.

    I haven't been to Home Depot or Lowe's, but I imagine plywood is in short supply. Once you get it, store it away until it is needed again.

    Talk to your neighbors. Work together. Make the best of it.

    If you live in an area where traffic options are limited - LEAVE EARLY! If you are still in the Keys tomorrow evening you may be SOL.
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    *Plywood. Well in advance, and at a time when TIME is not of the essence, cut to fit plywood for all your windows, and doors if needed. Store it somewhere. when needed, it is ready. I recently looked at a house that had 5/16 bolts with wing nuts on them around every door and window. #1 wife asked me what they were for. I told her that they were for the plywood sheets that were marked and stored somewhere for hurricane use. THAT is being prepared.

    Alan

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    *Leave early. If you're going to leave this cannot be stressed enough, LEAVE EARLY. Roads clog and resources get sucked up pretty fast. During one of the mass evacuations several years ago, there were people trying to get out of Houston who were running out of gas in their vehicles sitting on the interstate. If you have a place to go get there and stay there. If you're going to be staying in a hotel/motel you'd better go early because for 200 mile from the evacuation center there will be no vacancies. Go with the idea in mind that you may not be able to come back right away. Have a box with important papers, jewelry, keepsakes and CASH in it ready to go. If things get really bad all that stuff won't be there when you come back.

    Alan

  6. #6
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    Right now there is not one sheet of plywood or a gallon of gas for sale in our town. There will be a rush on items before the storm and they won't be there after it.

    Alan

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    Crash, From the computer models I've seen, it appears that Irma is going to wreck the keys and then scrape up the western coastline and tear up something or everything from Pensacola to Tallahassee. Hope you don't have to use any survival skills.

    Alan

  8. #8

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    Every hotel/ motel within 50 miles of I-75 from FL to ATL is full.

  9. #9

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    Bottled water and fuel are running out.

  10. #10

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    I can't move my gen around right now physically. We've taken the K.I.S.S. route. Non-perishable food. Plenty of water. Flashlights and candles. Propane camping stoves. We live for months in the summer with no elec. or running water so that part isn't a worry. No plans on bugging out and dealing with that nightmare. Our house has never come close to flooding. It's stood since the early '40s. It'll likely be a cat 2 by the time it hits us in north central FL. Been through plenty of those. My biggest fear are those spin off tornados. No way to prep for those.

  11. #11
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Tony, do you want me to head your way and move your genny for you?
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  12. #12
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    Latest revision has it going straight up the middle of FLa. Maybe this cool front will push it on back out into the Atlantic.

    Alan

  13. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by crashdive123 View Post
    Tony, do you want me to head your way and move your genny for you?
    Thanks Dave. I appreciate the offer. But I think we're ok without it this time around. I need to put it on wheels. It's a big Honda. VERY few hours on it.

    We've just never been uncomfortable in primitive mode. It's been cool enough to sleep at night (albeit a little sticky) so...

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Y'all keep you heads down.....
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    I know Alan mentioned it earlier but this is going to be known as the phone app that saved Houston.

    Allows use as a walkie-talkie without going through the towers in case cell service is interrupted.

    It's free and has features I can not believe are available for a simple smart phone.

    I saw the Cajun Navy using these to coordinate during the rescues on the news.


    https://zello.com/app
    If you didn't bring jerky what did I just eat?

  16. #16
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    You Florida boys need to check in every now and then if you're not in northern Georgia by now.

    Alan

  17. #17

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    I don't think anybody's getting anything yet. I found a few big thick books I didn't get to read this summer. Kelly bought a new crossword puzzle book. LOL. It's sometimes the little things.

  18. #18
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    Supposed to get western on Sunday but won't hurt to check in on prep progress. I know it's hard to take time out from battening down hatches.

    Alan

  19. #19
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    Good luck to you all! Looks fairly likely that it will be CAT5 and hitting FL directly.

  20. #20
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    Good luck to you all in the region, and stay safe!
    Everybody has a different way to view the world...

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