Hurricane emergency kits

[barkley]

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

i will NEVER regret investing the money in one.

we don't deal with hurricanes but wind and/or snow storms have had us without power and water (we are on well) multiple times of a week or more. we don't have our hvac hooked up but with a well insulated home you can maintain a comfortable temp, despite below zero weather with a small gas fireplace-so long as it has even a small blower in it. we have our well pump, gas heater, stove/oven, microwave, fridges/freezer, hot water heater, lights/internet/landlines which allows us to stay home b/c we've learned that generators at stores are not designed to go for more than a couple of days so their foods spoil if they are even able to operate (cash registers were down during a couple of outages so they couldn't process purchases so they just closed), generators at hotels fare a bit better but they will shutter the laundry so don't plan on clean linens/towels or the washer/dryers to launder the suitcase you brought with you (their hot water heaters also don't heat as efficiently so tepid becomes the norm pretty quickly).

we always have extra food on hand,
2 extra weeks of meds (pharmacy computers/doctor's offices lost power too so refills were hard to get processed),
i keep a copy of every household member's medical insurance card accessible as well as the number to/policy number for our homeowner's insurance company

Finding ways to stay warm with no power was a new twist after a hurricane

consider investing in one or two small pop up tents. think about how when you camp in one outside, no matter how chilly it gets outside-your breath starts warming the air in the tent such that it can become sauna like. if you get a couple that can be set up ideally in a room where the sunlight (if any) can shine on the tent through a window during the day then the tent will absorb and retain the heat (keep it zipped closed).

 

[MrsPete]

Thought of another detail: If you're staying and you have two cars, trade parking spaces with a neighbor. That is, you park one car in his driveway; he parks one car in your driveway.

By separating cars, you and your neighbor greatly lessen the possibility that one tree could destroy BOTH of your cars.

Or, consider parking one car in a park or a grocery store parking lot (only if it's within walking distance of your house). Again, the idea is NOT to keep your two cars together, but if main roads are open BUT your neighborhood is blocked, you'd have transportation around town.

 

[Missingmypooh]

For those of you with generators and gas cans PLEASE double check the use and warning labels.

sadly my Firefighter hubby runs just as many poisoning/death calls from generators after the storms as he does people without meds/injuries by chainsaw etc etc.

And it can be really hard for first responders to get to you, so no using a chainsaw without practice, practice your camp stove, learn about candle safety etc. BEFORE you need it. If there’s two adults, make sure both know how to use everything in case of emergency!

(but yes, I highly recommend a generator! My dad got one in the 2014/2015 storms and it saved us big time. A tornado came through a ripped down one mile of electric poles. Landline never stopped, but we went without power for well over a month in a rural part of Florida).

 

[dclpluto]

Sadly I’m expecting a bad hurricane to hit
Florida around September 18-26.

 

[LovesTimone]

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.

This... bullseye hit with this list...

Local, Florida raised southern girl here...

We have our grills, camp stove and portable grill... they all use propane, we keep 3 tanks for the grill, and around 8 to 10 bottles for the camp stove and portable grill... as well as charcoal small grill, and a couple bags of charcoal... This is our normal amount...

Good coolers, one for just ice, one for drinks, and one for food...

Extra trash bags, and ziploc's

Keep up with your laundry... fresh sheets, and clean clothes...

Citronella candles and bug spray... Check your windows and screens ahead of time, make sure they are good to go... If the power is out, it gonna get hot, and you will open the windows, you will want to keep the bugs on the outside..

I agree with the bath wipes, and deodorant wipes work well, as well as dry shampoo...

Paper plates, napkins, paper towels, plastic utensils... You can heat water on the grill to wash a few dishes...

Once hurricane season starts, watch the weather, keep the cars full of gas at all times... Know what evacuation zone that you are in... and above all if they tell you to go, get in the car and go... I can not stress this enough... taking all your hurricane stuff with you, along with pillows, and sleeping bags, extra sheets, clean clothes, especially underwear, all medication, important papers - insurance, take pictures of your house, and contents of your house room by room don't forget the closet and garage...

Check your generator out, know how it works, and you have gas to run it... make sure you can secure it to a tree away from the house if its a portable generator, lock and chain...

 

[hsmamato2]

We have two different setups. An emergency shelf if we are here at home, and go bags if we need to leave. Obviously we can't carry all that water if we have to leave - so each bag has its own sawyer filter plus smaller bottles for quick use. Our at home stuff has plenty of water just in case. I 2nd that freeze water bottles thing... it works well in case of extended outage for the freezer.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

If you have pets, be sure to have puppy pads/ newspapers or kitty litter for them to potty in the house while the storm is hitting. If the storm lingers for hours, they will need to go. Remember to have extra food for them as well as a supply of water too. Be sure they are micro chipped, they have their collar on with an ID tag on in event they get separated from you somehow. Make sure the information is current. Also be sure to have a copy of their current shot records in event you need to evacuate last minute to a shelter. I actually get a copy every year and keep in my glove compartment for that very reason. Remember to extra of get any meds your pet may be on as well

 

[QueenIsabella]

If you have pets, be sure to have puppy pads/ newspapers or kitty litter for them to potty in the house while the storm is hitting. If the storm lingers for hours, they will need to go. Remember to have extra food for them as well as a supply of water too. Be sure they are micro chipped, they have their collar on with an ID tag on in event they get separated from you somehow. Make sure the information is current. Also be sure to have a copy of their current shot records in event you need to evacuate last minute to a shelter. I actually get a copy every year and keep in my glove compartment for that very reason. Remember to extra of get any meds your pet may be on as well

What we did (read it online somewhere) was get a kiddie wading pool and put sod in it. For sure, the dog didn't like it as much as going outside, but it was a good interim option to have in the garage. Don't fill it with sod until there's an actual threat approaching. Our cats have litter boxes, no problem there.

 

[LovesTimone]

What we did (read it online somewhere) was get a kiddie wading pool and put sod in it. For sure, the dog didn't like it as much as going outside, but it was a good interim option to have in the garage. Don't fill it with sod until there's an actual threat approaching. Our cats have litter boxes, no problem there.

I have a friend that lives in a condo on the 5th floor and she uses this trick year around... she has a very small dog... it all started when she had surgery and even really going to the elevator was challenging... She bought the smallest kiddie pool she could find, she lined it with puppy pads, then cat litter ( to absorb and for the smell), then with a few piece of sod placed on top... and a supply of doggie doo bags.... and it worked really great... she kept it out on her patio... it was really easy for her to manage on her own... she practiced with her dog so that he would understand what to do before the surgery....

 

[LovesTimone]

This... bullseye hit with this list...

Local, Florida raised southern girl here...

We have our grills, camp stove and portable grill... they all use propane, we keep 3 tanks for the grill, and around 8 to 10 bottles for the camp stove and portable grill... as well as charcoal small grill, and a couple bags of charcoal... This is our normal amount...

Good coolers, one for just ice, one for drinks, and one for food...

Extra trash bags, and ziploc's

Keep up with your laundry... fresh sheets, and clean clothes...

Citronella candles and bug spray... Check your windows and screens ahead of time, make sure they are good to go... If the power is out, it gonna get hot, and you will open the windows, you will want to keep the bugs on the outside..

I agree with the bath wipes, and deodorant wipes work well, as well as dry shampoo...

Paper plates, napkins, paper towels, plastic utensils... You can heat water on the grill to wash a few dishes...

Once hurricane season starts, watch the weather, keep the cars full of gas at all times... Know what evacuation zone that you are in... and above all if they tell you to go, get in the car and go... I can not stress this enough... taking all your hurricane stuff with you, along with pillows, and sleeping bags, extra sheets, clean clothes, especially underwear, all medication, important papers - insurance, take pictures of your house, and contents of your house room by room don't forget the closets and garage...

Check your generator out, know how it works, and you have gas to run it... make sure you can secure it to a tree away from the house if its a portable generator, lock and chain...

I thought of a few more as I started checking what we have on hand getting ready for the season ahead...

Prescription med's and OTC... I get mine 3 months at a time, which is really helpful... if you get med's delivered - do you have an alternative to get them... we ran into this with some of my dads med's a couple years back... We had to call the doctor to write a prescription and send it to the local CVS, so that he could get like 10 pills...I was glad that they did because with the power being out, and everything at a standstill for a few days, knowing that they he had his med's was one less thing to worry about...

Duct Tape, this stuff works in a pinch... plastic or some type of tarp...dollar store shower curtains... can cover broken windows quickly... you might even think about that water proof stuff that you spray.. our friends live in South Florida and swear by this stuff, they have used it several times during big storms, to keep the water out of the house...

Phone cord for your vehicle so that you can charge your phone, and other devices....

Battery operated fans... this can make all the difference...

Chilly towels... these are another thing that will help with the heat and humidity...living in Florida we use them all the time, at the parks DH and I take them when we travel this good little item comes in handy... Any water that is cold in the cooler can be used to re-wet them...

Portable jump box...

lots of trash bag... with all the extra paper and plastic, and whatever gets blown around outside you will need them..

We have a ton of potted plants, and patio stuff... you will need to figure out how to secure it... We clear our Patio -grill, fire pit, plants, hanging lights, furniture, it all goes into the garage, front porch we bring in the bench, and push all the planter which are super duper heavy into the corner of the front porch to protect them... we use a couple of plastic dollar store shower curtain, and some tomato cages... we use the weight of the planters to secure at the bottoms.. Think about anything that can become a missile, during high winds...

If you have a pool, you will want to bring down the water level... the last thing you want is you pool over flowing... as well have chlorine and shock on hand to dump into the pool after the storm is over... or else your pool will turn green with algae and god only know what else... if you have self cleaning or chlorine floats...get them out of the pool, they will become missile in the high winds...

First aid kit as well as some type of first aid guide to help you access what is happening... during the storm first responder's will not be available during the storm itself, so you will be on your own ... so what I would call a serious first aid kit... you will want to cover things like - bleeding, burns, Sprained or broken bones,- gloves, scissors, tweezers, maybe goggle or some type of glasses, bandages, gauze... There are several types of kits that you can get on line... or you can use as a guide to make your own...

Double check you car, spare tire in good shapes( in other words make sure its not flat) , car jack (all the piece to use it), if you are like us our truck has a special tool to get the tires off, make sure its in the car... flares, flashlights, cones... If you have to evacuate you will not have time to think about the car, or time to do anything.... be prepared...

Rain jackets, and water shoes - if you are wading around you need and will want to protect your feet... you never know what could be floating around...

That's all I can think of right now...

 

[floridafam]

We like the big plastic buckets with lids. They slide easily into the car and float if we need them to.

DH often has to stay for work so we usually don’t evacuate. We really like the cordless Dewalt fan we purchased a few years ago. We just bought another. They come in handy during power outages. We also have a cordless chainsaw. All we have to do is make sure all the batteries are charged

Have cash on hand.

We have fortified our house so much that I don’t think we will evacuate unless any hurricane is particularly bad. We have impact windows and doors, roof straps, etc.

Hopefully, this hurricane season won’t be too bad.

 

[LovesTimone]

We like the big plastic buckets with lids. They slide easily into the car and float if we need them to.

DH often has to stay for work so we usually don’t evacuate. We really like the cordless Dewalt fan we purchased a few years ago. We just bought another. They come in handy during power outages. We also have a cordless chainsaw. All we have to do is make sure all the batteries are charged

Have cash on hand.

We have fortified our house so much that I don’t think we will evacuate unless any hurricane is particularly bad. We have impact windows and doors, roof straps, etc.

Hopefully, this hurricane season won’t be too bad.

DH and I are thinking about adding a whole house generator... we are getting some info on it now... so we will have to see... Thanks for the chainsaw reminder... we need a new one... going on the list...

 

[QueenIsabella]

We were going to put off the whole-house generator, but then our other 2021 remodeling plans changed. Our contractor (and friend) suggested we put off re-doing the back fence, due to soaring material costs. So, the generator's back on the table. We're getting an estimate next week--we're expecting something in the $15k range. Part of me is mentally objecting, but you know I'll be enjoying air-conditioned comfort if we get it and need it.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Since we moved to SW Florida, we added hurricane shutters to the windows on three sides of our house and impact windows and doors to the front side. We moved here about six weeks before Irma hit and we evacuated. When we returned we saw numerous garage doors blown in so make sure you have a hurricane garage door. We lost some of the shingles on our roof, but were able to get the roof replaced with our insurance (it was original to the house and about 17 yrs old). We lost our pool cage screening, but it also was original and hadn't been replaced. It wasn't covered on our insurance, so we had to pay for that. We have a water cooler in our house, so we always have at least two full 5 gallon bottles of water, plus the one in use. During hurricane season we add at least one more bottle to give us 15-20 gallons of drinking water. We have several cases of water as well in the garage. If we need water to flush, wash, etc, we can always use the pool. We have carrying cases for our two cats and our dog, even though the dog never has used it. But if we need to evacuate to a local shelter, she'll need it. Also keep their shots updated.

We also have battery operated fans (and plenty of batteries), plus lanterns and batteries. Our home is in the center of the island and we didn't get any water even in the driveway. We did lose a tree in the back yard and some young men with chain saws cut it up for us. It was our only deciduous tree. We have five palm trees that were fine. We don't have a fence, just a ficus hedge around three sides. We saw lots of fences blown down, too.

We've thought about a generator, but there is no natural gas on the island, so we'd need to get a tank installed as well for propane. I'm not storing days worth of gasoline since it's a huge hazard.

 

[QueenIsabella]

So, my estimate was a touch high on the whole-house generator, but it seemed like a reasonable estimate, so we're going forward. The only thing I might not be able to run during a power outage will be the dryer. I'll wipe my tears and carry on.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

So, my estimate was a touch high on the whole-house generator, but it seemed like a reasonable estimate, so we're going forward. The only thing I might not be able to run during a power outage will be the dryer. I'll wipe my tears and carry on.

Darn you cant do laundry lol.

 

[sweetpeama]

General rule is no matter where you are is to start with having enough stuff to survive for 72 hours. These are commonly called 72 hour kits so if a gallon of water for a day per person do the math which is 3 days so for a family of 4 you would want 12 gallons of water. Easiest is to purchase 1 5 gallon container 1-2 of the 2.5 gallon containers, 2-4 of the gallon containers, and 1-2 flats of the individual bottles along with flavoring sticks such as lemonaid or kool aid especially if you have kids to start with. Use the bottles for smaller individual drinks, the larger containers for when you need larger amounts of water such as for boxed soup or even add water canned soups. You will want to limit items that require draining the water after using or if you do drain it into a bucket and use to flush toilets.

 

[Tigerlulu]

Bug spray, bug spray and, oh, BUG SPRAY!

We are still in major recovery mode from Laura and will be for a very long time. We were without power for four full weeks. We had no water for a full week.

So. It took the national guard a good 3 or 4 days to get set up with water and MRE distributions. Be self sufficient for that long. Chain saw, gas cans full, water for flushing,generator, etc. Everything everyone has already said.

We were able to actually have cable tv and WiFi when our generator was on and that was seriously helpful. Have a source to charge your phones independently of a generator though.

We heated bath water by sitting water in plastic containers outside in the sun all day. It was better than ice cold showers, which honestly after zero water for a week we were excited about.

We also love our window a/c units. We are still running them actually and my dd is still sleeping in my living room since we had a tree down on the a/c unit and our insurance still has not paid up. So we were thankful we were prepared with them.

But back to the bug spray, the mosquitos get horrific after major storms for some reason. It took a few weeks to get planes into the air to start spraying and they swarmed around the clock until the spraying brought them under control. So extra extra bug spray!

And keep a couple tarps in your attic...for those inevitable roof repairs. The national guard did hand them out here daily but we came home immediately after the roads were cleared (trees blocked the entire way) and the shelter in place had been lifted (chemical fire at a plant) and it started raining shortly after we tarped and rained for a couple days.

Also we had a can of spray roofing tar from an earlier patch and that stuff is still holding my roof together now, 8 months later while we fight insurance who doesn’t think I need roof replacement. (Btw parts of the neighbors roof are sticking up out of mine, and I have three holes and my entire roof rippled like a blanket but that’s beside the point.) Have some temporary patching things around and you’ll be good to go.

One more thing to keep in mind, it took about 5 days for our grocery stores to bring in generators and restock basic foods to be able to reopen and offer bare necessities. So stock up early and well before a storm. Also fast food didn’t start opening for a month. We still don’t have a Wendy’s, and our sonic just opened back up this week. McDonald’s took two months.

And in South Florida, maybe boarding windows is different but here, we didn’t board and most of my neighbors did and it didn’t make one bit of difference. Some of my next door neighbors boards flew off, some stayed but the storm pulsed against them anyway and the windows were still damaged. One of his boards ended up in my yard, so I have mixed feelings on boarding up.

And gas! Buy those gas cans early. Make an evacuation plan, and a reentry plan. For us, evacuation traffic clears up in the middle of the night right before the storm hits so that’s usually when we go. We left for Laura at 3 am when it was projected to start later that day. Smooth sailing. Reentry is just always a nightmare.

I don’t wish this on anyone but being prepared brought me peace and much less stress. And I didn’t have to fight crowds at stores.

I really only came on here to say bug spray!

 

[QueenIsabella]

Darn you cant do laundry lol.

Actually, I could wash, and hang dry. I'm sure the neighborhood would love to see my frilly delicates, swaying in the breeze! I could even hang inside, if I really needed to.

They gave me a choice, of what would go first, the dryer or the range. I figure, we're not likely to be baking cookies during a power outage, and we have a couple hot plate-type things, but still, we use the range a lot more on a daily basis than the dryer.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Bug spray, bug spray and, oh, BUG SPRAY!

We are still in major recovery mode from Laura and will be for a very long time. We were without power for four full weeks. We had no water for a full week.

So. It took the national guard a good 3 or 4 days to get set up with water and MRE distributions. Be self sufficient for that long. Chain saw, gas cans full, water for flushing,generator, etc. Everything everyone has already said.

We were able to actually have cable tv and WiFi when our generator was on and that was seriously helpful. Have a source to charge your phones independently of a generator though.

We heated bath water by sitting water in plastic containers outside in the sun all day. It was better than ice cold showers, which honestly after zero water for a week we were excited about.

We also love our window a/c units. We are still running them actually and my dd is still sleeping in my living room since we had a tree down on the a/c unit and our insurance still has not paid up. So we were thankful we were prepared with them.

But back to the bug spray, the mosquitos get horrific after major storms for some reason. It took a few weeks to get planes into the air to start spraying and they swarmed around the clock until the spraying brought them under control. So extra extra bug spray!

And keep a couple tarps in your attic...for those inevitable roof repairs. The national guard did hand them out here daily but we came home immediately after the roads were cleared (trees blocked the entire way) and the shelter in place had been lifted (chemical fire at a plant) and it started raining shortly after we tarped and rained for a couple days.

Also we had a can of spray roofing tar from an earlier patch and that stuff is still holding my roof together now, 8 months later while we fight insurance who doesn’t think I need roof replacement. (Btw parts of the neighbors roof are sticking up out of mine, and I have three holes and my entire roof rippled like a blanket but that’s beside the point.) Have some temporary patching things around and you’ll be good to go.

One more thing to keep in mind, it took about 5 days for our grocery stores to bring in generators and restock basic foods to be able to reopen and offer bare necessities. So stock up early and well before a storm. Also fast food didn’t start opening for a month. We still don’t have a Wendy’s, and our sonic just opened back up this week. McDonald’s took two months.

And in South Florida, maybe boarding windows is different but here, we didn’t board and most of my neighbors did and it didn’t make one bit of difference. Some of my next door neighbors boards flew off, some stayed but the storm pulsed against them anyway and the windows were still damaged. One of his boards ended up in my yard, so I have mixed feelings on boarding up.

And gas! Buy those gas cans early. Make an evacuation plan, and a reentry plan. For us, evacuation traffic clears up in the middle of the night right before the storm hits so that’s usually when we go. We left for Laura at 3 am when it was projected to start later that day. Smooth sailing. Reentry is just always a nightmare.

I don’t wish this on anyone but being prepared brought me peace and much less stress. And I didn’t have to fight crowds at stores.

I really only came on here to say bug spray!

I did not have that on my list ... it is now, but I am in Florida you would think it would already be there. Lol
We have new impact windows so I'm not planning on boarding up the windows but I did buy emergency plastic etc.