Hurricane emergency kits

[Disneyfan754321]

We moved to South Florida at the end of last year. We are in the process of building a hurricane kit. The list that Palm beach county gave me is pretty extensive. What do I absolutely have to have?
This list says 1G of water per person per day. How many days should I plan for?
We have a decent size generator but I understand I should plan as if I did not have one in case something happened to it.
Any other good advice?

 

[mommajo143]

Are you planning to shelter in place or evacuate... that’s the question that will truly determine what you need.

 

[Missingmypooh]

We lost power in 2017 for 2 weeks due to Irma.

the list is extensive, because if you needed it, you’d want to have it.

agree with above. Will you stay or evacuate?

regardless you should have emergency supplies to take with you, I promise that evacuating from south Florida will have you on the hunt for gas food and basic neccesities as the trucks will stop coming 3-5 days before landfall.

our hurricane supply is also our back up food storage in case of natural disaster, job loss. We all have insurance,but how many of us have food insurance? We have 3 months of food and basic necessities stored, and 1 week of water for our family (we use water bricks). We also have a bathtub water liner and water purification pills.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We lost power in 2017 for 2 weeks due to Irma.

the list is extensive, because if you needed it, you’d want to have it.

agree with above. Will you stay or evacuate?

regardless you should have emergency supplies to take with you, I promise that evacuating from south Florida will have you on the hunt for gas food and basic neccesities as the trucks will stop coming 3-5 days before landfall.

our hurricane supply is also our back up food storage in case of natural disaster, job loss. We all have insurance,but how many of us have food insurance? We have 3 months of food and basic necessities stored, and 1 week of water for our family (we use water bricks). We also have a bathtub water liner and water purification pills.

I think Irma was the last bad one here, and Florida dodged all the bad ones last year so I really want to be prepared. Unfortunately We will have to stay because my DH is an executive and is essential so all the staff can leave etc. I am really new to this salt life so I'm going to look up bathtub liners sounds like a good idea.

 

[mommajo143]

We are in Louisiana. We lived through Katrina, but moved to the northern half of the state the year after she hit...Although it was crazy bad we recognize this storm & impact was an anomaly....but several days to a week without power was pretty common at least once a hurricane season.

As a general rule we never had a hurricane kit, we just were in the habit of having more of certain regular items around / stickpiled during hurricane season. that being said, here are my general shelter in place pointers... Cash is Golden after a hurricane ... so is gasoline. And ice. Keep a lot of small bills in a safe spot & full gas tanks plus extra cans of gas at all times. If you have gas appliances, great, if not consider what you would want / need to cook - grill? Great, have extra charcoal. Camp stove, perfect, keep a few extra tanks on hand.

You do need water, even now we have several gallons plus 5 cases of bottled water in our garage...if you stay go ahead the day before it hits and fill your tubs and any available empty pitchers with tap water. We buy a few gallon jugs of water, dump out a cup or so & then put in freezer. Keeps food cold when power goes out & can be defrosted if needed. Bleach - know how you can use this to clean / disinfect if you go under a boil order.

You need food - canned & shelf stable. At the start of each hurricane season i would buy extra stuff each week & just stockpile. You need a manual can opener, as a general rule for a real hurricane you will not have power for a week...sometimes longer. we always had paper plates & disposable utensils ~ again this is just normal stuff we had / used. We also had disposable bath wipes. Showering may not be possible & you are gonna sweat, and stink.

light - you’ll want things to see after dark ~ cand, matches, flashlights, etc. extra batteries. Fully charged battery packs (laptop, phone, etc) & power banks if you have them....we actually loved having a large battery powered fan and an extra battery for it.

you’ll want boots - hunting boots, rain boots, work boots. And work gloves. A hatchet and garden tools are quite useful. We also have plastic / waterproof uno cards and dominoes ~ after Katrina boredom set in and they were a lifesaver.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I think some things we forget about is our pets and prescribed medications. Make sure you have a plan for your pets if you have to go to a shelter and they don't take them. Make sure you don't run out of your prescribed meds.

 

[Missingmypooh]

Not sure if your familiar with the 2014,2015 season in Florida- but we got hammered.

you need to consider too, do you have enough supplies for back to back hurricanes?

do you have a chainsaw to clear the roadway in case your trapped (or your driveway?)

do you have a large waterproof safe for your paperwork? ( no dishwasher and freezer are NOT good ideas!)

spray paint to mark in case your stranded and need to announce survivors.

(not trying to be morbid. Hubby is first responder and trained in urban search and rescue. People think emergency services will get to them, and this can take days/weeks to happen)

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Not sure if your familiar with the 2014,2015 season in Florida- but we got hammered.

you need to consider too, do you have enough supplies for back to back hurricanes?

do you have a chainsaw to clear the roadway in case your trapped (or your driveway?)

do you have a large waterproof safe for your paperwork? ( no dishwasher and freezer are NOT good ideas!)

spray paint to mark in case your stranded and need to announce survivors.

(not trying to be morbid. Hubby is first responder and trained in urban search and rescue. People think emergency services will get to them, and this can take days/weeks to happen)

No I really appreciate it. Being originally from North Texas I know how to survive heat... and after what my family and older kids just went through with the winter storms it's really on my mind. I have been buying extra cans of food and water etc. I ordered a weather radio
But all this is exactly what I need to know stuff that's not on this list from the county.
We live in a culdasack next to a canal 1.5 from the beach so much to learn. I never considered back to back wow

 

[jo-jo]

I read a tip years ago, I thought it was wonderful but perhaps someone that's been through hurricanes can give a nay or yea. We haven't had anything terrible for ages in my area.

If you have the money and space........a chest freezer, every spring fill it up with bottles of water. When talk of a hurricane begins, plug in the freezer. It will take a while to freeze, but you'll have lots of ice/ cold water without running out last min.

 

[Skywalker3]

Also from South Louisiana, worst storms for my area as far as power loss/ water, were Juan, Andrew, Rita, and then several others scattered in there. Parents lost power w Andrew for 6 days. we lost for 4, many others I knew lost it for 2 wks. The reason Juan was so bad, is because just before it, we'd had Danny, and Elena, back to back. Happened like that this past year in the Lake Charles region.
In general, I'd plan on about a week without power. That also might mean that local business don't have power, so cant' use credit card machines, so have cash. Same with gas. sometimes trucks can't make it in for refills, so have gas on hand for generators. have a generator if possible.
As far as supplies: yes, water for about a week, or gatorade, or the like. Any drink that you're ok with that doesn't need refrigeration. same with food. Couple loaves of bread, whatever you can eat that doesn't need heating up or refrigeration. And for several days, not just like 2 or 3, dont' assume fast food or local places will be up and running. Just get the food y'all can tolerate for several days, that can be eaten straight from the can, or stuff like peanut butter, crackers, etc.
I agree with others, to stock the freezer with frozen jugs of ice, or something. and then don't open. Also agree to fill up bathtub with water. Often if the the power is out at water treatment plants, or for whatever reason, you can't get water, you'll need some place to draw from (not nec for drinking) for stuff like flushing toilets, or washing up.
Batteries, flashlights, etc. now have some way to charge phones, battery packs or plan to use the car. We had a small camp stove, refill or buy propane ahead of time. and prescription or whatever OTC meds you might need. and whatever pets might need. AND try and put important papers in some waterproof container. After Katrina, I knew so many folks who just put items up on furniture, but what happened during the flooding, was it either got that high, or the furniture topped over. Water proof bags, safe, etc.
My dad also had pieces of wood that fit all of our windows, stored in garage, and labeled, like 'main bathroom window,' or whatever.
They're really rare, but if I lived in So Florida, I'd be prepared.

 

[QueenIsabella]

We got slammed by Florence a couple years ago. We were out of power for 4 days, with DH stuck at work, sleeping on a cot, so I was here with my three younger kids.

Now, DH and I are generally pretty good at preparation--we both were Scouts, former firefighters/EMTS, we put a priority on being ready for emergencies. So, we did okay. but the things we learned were:

We needed more gas cans. We've since gotten more, plus we were helped out by a friend.
We have a generator that powered the fridges and "back freezer". Next time, we'll empty the back fridge. We're considering a whole-house generator, but they're pricey--maybe in a few years. It would be powered by natural gas, or possibly both NG/regular gas.
We didn't lose water or natural gas--we could take showers. Wish I'd realized this sooner. OTOH, I'm not going to count on it for the future--you just don't know what you're going to lose.
Don't wait until the storm is imminent to stock up. You'll be seeing fistfights in Walmart over the last jar of peanut butter. Pick up a few extra cans of chili, Spam, hash, or whatever, each time you shop--easier on the budget, and you'll already have a supply, We bought gas when Florence was still forming, days before she made landfall.

Mostly, though--be prepared for the unexpected. When we went out to assess the damage after the storm passed, we found three tiny kittens in the front yard. I had to feed them 2% milk--all I had--until the Walmart opened and I could get their last two bottles of kitten formula. Lost kittens and squirrels are super common, apparently, We kept the girl kitten--named Florence, of course--and she turned out to be a muted calico ragdoll--literally, a one-in-a-million cat. Go figure.

 

[MrsPete]

My husband is from a beach town, and most of his family still lives in the area. They know they have standing permission to call from the road and say, "We are evacuating. We expect to be at your house at X:00".

Facts:
- We are so lucky today that we get lots of notice. Think about how it would've been "back in the day" when people didn't know until the storm was upon them.
- You need to be prepared to stay OR to go, depending up on the severity of the anticipated storm and where it's expected to hit. You have to watch the news because storms do turn /change intensity at the last minute.
- If you plan to leave, you need to know where you're going. Do you have friends or relatives who'll "take you in"? If you need a hotel reservation, note that hotels "just out of hurricane range" tend to fill up fast, and the longer you wait, the farther you'll have to drive to find a room.
- The longer you wait, the harder it is to evacuate (even if both sides of the interstate are running outward) because traffic will be very heavy.
- Consider that this is all extra-hard on children. If you stay, be sure they have their own flashlights during the storm; have some new games /activities ('cause the kids won't be sleeping) and plenty of snacks on hand. A couple times my relatives brought their kids to my house, then returned home to weather the storm kid-free. Everyone breathed a little easier with the kids out of the way.

My relatives always start with the idea of staying:
- As soon as they know the storm is coming, they prepare go-bags with extra clothes, medicine, baby wipes for cleanliness, food JUST IN CASE.
- They lay in food and water a-plenty. They focus on things that don't require cooking or can be cooked on the grill. They get lots of junk food because when people are on edge already, something fun and comforting is welcome.
- They have a generator, gas cans, and lanterns /flashlights a-plenty.
- They charge up their phones and laptops, and they have battery-pack type chargers at the ready.
- In addition to plenty of drinking water, they fill their tubs with water, which is useful for flushing toilets or washing.
- With the possibility of losing electricity, they wash all their clothes, sheets and towels.
- With the possibility of spending hours in the car with their large dogs, they give the dogs a bath.
- They have all their important papers /photographs scanned /stored on several flash drives. The worst has never happened to them, BUT they have everything important stored. The beauty of a flash drive is that you can have several of them stored in different places.
- They have plywood cut to fit over their windows, and it's all painted with labels (Living room, left window) so they can put it up FAST. The downside of this is that they put this up a day in advance, and the house becomes dark and uninviting.
- My sister-in-law did something kinda brilliant years ago: she bought nesting plastic tubs, which she stores in her garage. On the inside of each lid, she typed out /laminated a list of things that are to be packed in that box. Her boxes are labled "Honda trunk", etc. so she KNOWS they'll fit, and no one has to waste time fiddling with what goes where.
In an emergency, she can hand boxes to her family members, and they don't have to make decisions -- they just gather the things assigned to those boxes and put them in the cars. Their lists are well thought out and specific (like, for this box, wrap everyone's laptop in a good towel ... include chargers), so they don't get 10 miles out of town and start bickering over whether a certain item was remembered or not. If the boxes are all packed, the essentials are in their cars.

If they evacuate, they never do it until the last minute:
- They drive all their cars. The thought is, the hurricane might destroy the house, but we'll still have transportation. Problem is, everyone else thinks the same way, so the roads are crowded and driving is SLOW. Every time they've arrived at our house, the drive has taken hours longer than expected, and they've arrived frazzled from the drive.
- Every car carries one adult, one dog, and two cans of gas. It's very possible that gas will be sold out on the road.
- Every car carries a go-bag with food and water for the trip. If they're evacuating, they're not stopping to eat, but -- as I said above -- the trip can take 3-4Xs as long as usual, so snacks and drinks make the trip easier. If you're transporting pets, don't forget food for them.
- My family knows that once they reach my house, they don't need food -- I'll provide for them, and I'm far enough inland that my grocery store isn't affected, but IF you're headed for a hotel, you might want to have food and snacks for your stay. Eating out 3Xs a day can be expensive.
- In fact, evacuation isn't cheap.

My father-in-law, who is retired and doesn't have to worry about the possibility of not being able to return home on his own schedule approaches it differently:
- When a hurricane is expected, he leaves way early /ahead of the crowd.
- He makes a reservation for a vacation somewhere far away, and he goes. This is a much lower-stress option, but not one available to the younger family members who are required to get back to work.

Returning is its own issue:
- Depending upon your geography, you might have trouble returning home. For example, my relatives have to cross a major bridge to get back home, and IF that bridge is damaged or underwater, they aren't getting home. This is the major reason they don't evacuate.
- Hopefully you know your neighbors /have their phone numbers. People who leave want news about how their house fared and will appreciate being able to call /get a report /get advice on whether it's wise to try to return yet.
- Having a chain saw (and gas) on hand ahead of time is wise. IF a tree should land on your house, it'd be nice to have a heavy tarp on hand. Neighborhoods tend to come together and help one another in these situations.
- Consider that water and electricity may not return to you as soon as the storm ends.

 

[Missingmypooh]

Also from South Louisiana, worst storms for my area as far as power loss/ water, were Juan, Andrew, Rita, and then several others scattered in there. Parents lost power w Andrew for 6 days. we lost for 4, many others I knew lost it for 2 wks. The reason Juan was so bad, is because just before it, we'd had Danny, and Elena, back to back. Happened like that this past year in the Lake Charles region.
In general, I'd plan on about a week without power. That also might mean that local business don't have power, so cant' use credit card machines, so have cash. Same with gas. sometimes trucks can't make it in for refills, so have gas on hand for generators. have a generator if possible.
As far as supplies: yes, water for about a week, or gatorade, or the like. Any drink that you're ok with that doesn't need refrigeration. same with food. Couple loaves of bread, whatever you can eat that doesn't need heating up or refrigeration. And for several days, not just like 2 or 3, dont' assume fast food or local places will be up and running. Just get the food y'all can tolerate for several days, that can be eaten straight from the can, or stuff like peanut butter, crackers, etc.
I agree with others, to stock the freezer with frozen jugs of ice, or something. and then don't open. Also agree to fill up bathtub with water. Often if the the power is out at water treatment plants, or for whatever reason, you can't get water, you'll need some place to draw from (not nec for drinking) for stuff like flushing toilets, or washing up.
Batteries, flashlights, etc. now have some way to charge phones, battery packs or plan to use the car. We had a small camp stove, refill or buy propane ahead of time. and prescription or whatever OTC meds you might need. and whatever pets might need. AND try and put important papers in some waterproof container. After Katrina, I knew so many folks who just put items up on furniture, but what happened during the flooding, was it either got that high, or the furniture topped over. Water proof bags, safe, etc.
My dad also had pieces of wood that fit all of our windows, stored in garage, and labeled, like 'main bathroom window,' or whatever.
They're really rare, but if I lived in So Florida, I'd be prepared.

After Irma, dominos pizza opened on day 8. They only sold thin crust large cheese pizzas for 10 dollars cash or PayPal. The line was almost always 50 people deep. The owner had to drive 5 hours to load his truck with the dough and cheese but he was a local savior!

publix opened on day 7.

so if you stayed, you were at the mercy of your own food, neighbors, or had transport to one of the two places giving out MREs.

 

[Southernmiss]

We had hurricane Zeta October 28th this year. Very unusual, very late storm for us.

We are seasoned hurricane preparers. This storm blew up fast and sneaked in on us.

I was at work until 2 PM that day, usually we have a day to prepare(storm started abt 7 pm) I am usually over prepared and ready early-down to cleaning the house before the storm. Don't ask we just do. Not this one.

We were without power for 3 days. I burned all the candles we had. We had plenty of food- ate freezer food cooked on the grill or camp stove. Charged our phones in the car. But what was really unusual, is that we got a cold front that followed the storm in.

Finding ways to stay warm with no power was a new twist after a hurricane. Dh boiled water on the camp stove for hot tea, other hot foods would have been welcome to warm us from the inside out. After working long hours clearing a fallen tree, a shower was welcomed, but it was cold with no hot water in cold weather.

Moving and blankets and bundling up worked for dh and I. If our kids were small and home, we would have had to come up with some other ideas.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

These stories are so interesting and so detailed I love it. I'm trying not to be scared just prepared I feel my kids will feed off that energy. My house is very old and still here... probably because its built in cinder blocks ( and that's why I have crappy cell phone service in the house)

 

[Southernmiss]

These stories are so interesting and so detailed I love it. I'm trying not to be scared just prepared I feel my kids will feed off that energy. My house is very old and still here... probably because its built in cinder blocks ( and that's why I have crappy cell phone service in the house)

Be as prepared as possible, but be aware of the unexpected

There's a certain excitement about storms. Safely watching the incredible power and unpredictability of storms is fascinating.

When we evacuated for Katrina, I told our kids to bring the one thing they would hate to lose. Not to scare them (and our home was fine), but be realistic. They helped us to prepare and we discuss why we did certain things.

The lessons my kids learned by living through hurricanes and the resiliance, the rebuilding, the perseverance, and neighbors helping neighbors and so much more have been things we could not have otherwise taught them.

 

[QueenIsabella]

SouthernMiss--that is so true! I also think it's important for my kids to see me just handling things--no matter how well you plan, there's going to be a monkey wrench (or three, in the form of kittens, in my case). We're a few miles in from the coast, and at a whopping 50 feet elevation, so not in the typical evacuation zone for here. But, we still have an evacuation plan, and I have a list in my planner as to what to stock up on.

Ironically, when Florence hit us, the person most wigged out was our oldest. Why? Because she was 800 miles away in Boston! Once the storm had passed, we were able to text her--she was upset that we didn't evacuate (we weren't in the zone--why take spots from those who genuinely needed them?)

 

[MissBritt]

Lived here all my life and only evacuated Irma. You need 5 times the water you think you do if you stay. But MrsPete hit it out of the park with evac contingencies. We found out that our sleepy town has quick access not one but 4 major highways that were useful to the people south of us who fled a week or more before we did. Gas in our town was gone. A 7 minute drive to the grocer took 30. Once we got out, we had difficulty finding gas through most of GA (we had fam in TN take us in). Nearly everything was cash only. The worst was making it back home. We hit 7 closed bridges due to historic flood levels. We went from plan A to plans B, C, D and E.

 

[tvguy]

My father in law passed away a year before Rita hit Texas. He believed in keeping 2 months of CANNED food in the pantry. His wife benefited from that as she was without power for 7 weeks after Rita. Not sure how much water she had. They had a stand along freezer full of additional food which along with what was in the refrigerator was all lost, as were the freezer and refrigerators themselves. No gasoline for weeks, so once she used up the fuel she had on hand for their generator, that was useless.
Funny thing is, her LANDLINE never stopped working.

 

[starry_solo]

If you stay, make sure all your cars have full tanks of gas so, if necessary, you can siphon it for the generator (although, obviously, better to get lots of gas cans)