Hey friends! I’m sure you have heard that Hurricane Sandy is headed for the East Coast. She is strong, severe, and of a different magnitude than we have seen before.
We live just west of Baltimore and while we are not expected to get the worst, it doesn’t look good. We expect to loose power, have flooding, have lots of trees down, and probably road closures. I pray this is the worst.
The area school have closed in anticipation, in addition to many businesses. Many people are scared and worried about what Sandy will mean – food, shelter, safety. Important stuff.
We are also preparing. I put it out there on FB – what should we do? Thanks for your input and here is what we have done:
- Tried down the grill, patio furniture, trashcans
- Turned freezer and fridge to lowest temperatures
- Bought gas for cars
- Secured cash, in case power is down and credit card machines are not useable
- Made baked goods and stews
- Bought flashlights, batteries, tap lights
- Bought several bags of ice, now being stored in our freezer
- Prepared with library books, games, beer/wine
- Charged phones, laptops, iPad
- Prepared with duct tape, cardboard, plastic sheeting in case windows break
- Consulted ready.gov for in-depth info
We are preparing for the worst, hoping for the best, and trusting God that he will be present no matter what.
We are likely to be without power which means that DIY and blogging will come to a standstill for awhile. We will keep you updated via FB and twitter feeds while we have power and internet. If we are strangely quiet, remember us and know that we will be back. 🙂
If you are in the path of the storm, let us know, and we will be praying for you too.
What do you do to prepare for a storm? What do you think of Sandy? Are you in her path?
As Always, thanks for reading!
Here in Iowa, obviously we don’t worry about hurricanes. Tornadoes come up too quickly to prepare for them. Blizzards are what we need to prep for. Nothing like what you have to do for hurricanes though!
Stay safe, East Coast!
I’m with you PG. Up in MN we don’t get tons of warnings on extremely severe storms in summer or winter. It’s best to have at light light amounts of food and water and an alternative fuel source if you rely on electricity for heating and cooking. We’re on natural gas and have pretty well supplied pantry. The ongoing winter prep is usually vehicle related. Good tires on the vehicles and top off the tanks (snowmobiles too!). The only home modification I’m currently considering is a transfer switch so that I can plug in a generator if the need ever arises.
Thanks, Paintergal!!!
Here in New Orleans, I can attest that the most important thing is a generator. You can also use an inverter from your vehicle. the vehicle’s alternator is definately ok for running the refrigerator/freezer and some lights and fans. Just make sure to get one that hooks up to the battery’s poles directly. Using a car charger plug is out because that feed is through a fuse not sized for refrigerator/freezer use.
Also, get a couple blue tarps. You may need something to cover any leaking sections of roofing if the tabs on the windy side get blown around. To do it correctly (unfortunately, we know how to properly tarp a roof in New Orleans), you will need a strip of wood (1×2 is best) and some roofing caulk. Wrap the tarp around the wood, run a bead of caulk where you want the top of the tarp, and nail/screw the wood into the roof. The bottom can be simply nailed in.
Good luck!
Thanks for the great advice! Sorry you know first hand. 🙁
Make sure you have plenty of water. Drinking water is easy, but if you have a well keep a supply to wash up and some to flush toilets. Filling up a spare bathtub can be an easy way to store water to flush the toilets. Then use bottled water for drinking.
I’ve filled several jugs with water for drinking and just filled the bath tub! 🙂
Good luck. Stay safe. Do not bathe in your drinking water.
HAHA!
Well here in Southern Ontario Canada we are on the outskirts of Sandy so not too bad weather.
We are however getting consistent rain and very cold temps.
Hope you guys don’t get it too bad be safe.
The wind hasn’t been nearly as bad in Western PA as they threatened, but we have 5 inches of rain in the gauge and counting since Sunday at noon. Thankfully, not too much flooding because it hasn’t been too intense. We lost our power at 10 last night but it was back on by 3 this morning.
As far as preparing, we pretty much did what you did – moved anything that wasn’t bolted down outside in, gassed up the cars, got some cash, charged the electronics.
Boston area got its share of the storm, but our house came through fine. We live in a pretty urban city, and the schools are closed, but amazingly we never lost power. We did a lot of the same things you guys did, fortunately for us we didn’t really need a lot of it this time. To all who were in the path — all the best and stay safe.
Glad you are doing fine. It seems like people in more rural areas know what to do in these situations versus us urban dwellers who only experience something like this once in a blue moon.