The ‘context’ of Ian was shared previously {Go Deep}. Here we outline things to consider if you are prepping for a hurricane impact and/or deciding whether to stay in your home or evacuate. Standard hurricane preparations should always be followed. Protect your family, secure your property and belongings, and prepare for the aftermath.
What you do before the hurricane hits is going to determine where you are in the recovery phase.
Additionally, and this should be emphasized and discussed within your family, if you cannot be self-sufficient in the aftermath – for any reason, then you should evacuate.
Self-sufficiency in this context requires being able to cope for up to several weeks:
(1) potentially without power; (2) potentially without potable running water (3) potentially without internet service; (4) potentially without communication outside the region; and (5) with limited municipal and private sector assistance. If you decide you cannot deal with these outcomes, you should evacuate.
Additionally, as a family or individual, you should also honestly evaluate:
(1) your physical abilities; (2) your emotional and psychological ability to withstand extreme pressures; and (3) your comfort in losing daily routines, familiar schedules and often overlooked things you might take for granted. Post hurricane recovery is fraught with stress, frustration and unforeseeable challenges.
I saw a video presented by a structural engineer who was sharing his experience with Hurricane Ian. I am going to use his video for a few references because even with professional credentials, some of the common mistakes people make are highlighted in his experience. Keep in mind his video is taken about 30 miles inland from where the majority impact area (coastal region) is located.
The video below was shot from the soft side (western side) of the storm, and if we were to scale the difference between his experience and a person who was located in/around Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, Pine Island or Cape Coral, he would be around a “5” on a ten-point impact scale.
Meaning the severity of conditions 30 miles southeast of him was twice as severe as his inland experience.
Key Points – At the 21: 35 moment (prompted), notice how his #2 vehicle is parked outside. Also, at the 22:00 minute moment, notice what he is describing and showing with his garage door and how his #1 vehicle (a pickup truck) is positioned inside the garage. WATCH:
.
♦ This is exactly what I was talking about in hurricane preparation when discussing the garage door. If that videographer was located 30 miles southeast, and/or his house was positioned facing West, instead of North, his garage door would have failed. If you lose the garage door, YOU COULD LOSE YOUR ROOF.
You can always tell those people who have been through direct hurricane impacts by how they parked their cars. I have never included this in the hurricane advice before so it’s worth a mention. If you lose your Florida garage door you will more than likely lose your roof. That’s just the reality of having a massive opening in your structure to 150 mph winds that will lift the trusses.
If you have two vehicles, put one vehicle inside the garage with the front bumper against the door to help stop the flex (do this carefully). Put the other vehicle outside blocking the garage door facing down the driveway or facing parallel to the garage. The goal is to use the aero dynamics of the car to push the wind away from the door and provide protection.
Purchase a cheap car cover to protect the outside vehicle and/or use old blankets (cable ties, bungee cords) to stop the outside vehicle from getting sandblasted and destroyed. Place double folded corrugated cardboard in front of the radiator to protect it from storm debris.
Additionally, if you live in a flood zone, or if you are concerned about storm surge, the day before impact take your #1 car to the nearest airport or hotel with a parking garage and park in the upper levels. Take an uber back home if you don’t have a friend or partner to help you. This way you know you will have one workable vehicle, just in case.
♦ Another lesson from Ian, if you drive an electric vehicle and sustain saltwater intrusion (of any level) your car is not safe. Saltwater makes the vehicle batteries extremely dangerous, and they could spark or catch fire. Multiple homes survived Hurricane Ian only to have the electric car catch fire in the garage and burn the house to the ground. Hurricane rain is saltwater rain. The fire department was begging people to put their ev’s outside and not to plug them in. Dozens of ev’s also erupted in flames while driving down the streets after the storm.
Back to the video above…
♦ Notice at 24:30 of the video this professional structural engineer is standing and physically supporting his glass patio doors, with his wife, trying to keep them from breaking in due to wind and pressure changes. DO NOT DO THIS ! That is beyond dangerous. Any small item of debris (even a small twig or branch) could hit that window and shatter it, turning flying glass into instant flying blades.
Put 3/4-inch plywood or steel bolted hurricane shutters over all your windows and doors. Period. This is not an option. My steel bolted hurricane shutters were hit with debris so hard – whatever it was physically dented the steel. Every window and door need to be covered and protected, especially glass patio doors (even if tempered). Do not think you can stand there and protect glass doors. It’s beyond dangerous.
♦ Hardening your home is a matter of careful thought and physical work. However, every opening into your structure must be protected, leaving yourself with one small exit opportunity just in case. Hopefully you have a bolted door with no glass windows you can use as an emergency exit. If not, select a small window and leave only enough room uncovered for you to get out in case of emergency or structural collapse.
Beyond the ordinary supplies like drinking water, batteries, flashlights, battery or hand-crank radio, generators, gasoline, etc. Evaluate the scale of what you have against the likelihood of weeks without power or water. A few pro tips below:
♦ Put three 30-gallon trash cans in the shower and fill them with water before the storm. This will give you 90 gallons of water for cooking and personal hygiene. You will also need water to manually flush your toilets. Bottled water is great for drinking, hydrating and toothbrushing, but you will need much more potable water if the municipal supply is compromised or broken.
♦ A standard 6,500-to-8,500-watt generator will run for approximately 8 hours on five gallons of gasoline. Do not run it all the time. Turn it on, chill the fridge, make coffee, use the microwave or charge stuff, then turn it off. Do this in 4-hour shifts and the fridge will be ok and your gasoline will last longer. Gasoline is a scarce and rare commodity in the aftermath of a hurricane. Gas stations don’t work without power. Check the oil in the generator every few days. Also, have a can of quick start or butane available in case the generator starts acting up.
♦ Extension cords. If you are purchasing them buy at least one 100 to 150′ extension cord with a triple ponytail. This way you can use one cord into a central location to charge up your electronic devices. Establish a central recharging station for phones, pads, laptops, and rechargeable stuff.
♦ Purchase a box of “contractor garbage bags” and just keep them in the garage. These are large, thick, industrial trash bags that fit 40-gallon drums. They can be used for trash, or even cut open for tarps in the aftermath of a storm. These thick mil contractor bags have multiple uses following a hurricane.
♦ Do all of your laundry before the hurricane hits. You will likely not have the ability again for a few weeks.
♦ Cook a week’s worth of meals in advance of the hurricane. Store in fridge so you can microwave for a meal. Eating a constant diet of sandwiches gets old after the first week. Dinty Moore canned beef stew and or Chef-boy-ardee raviolis can make a nice break…. anything, except another sandwich.
♦ Have bleach for use in disinfecting stuff before and after a hurricane. Also have antibiotics and antiseptics for use. Hygiene and not getting simple infections after a hurricane is critical and often forgotten. Again, this is where the extra potable water becomes important. Simple cuts and scrapes become big deals when clean potable water is not regularly available. Keep your scrapes and abrasions clean and use antiseptic creams immediately.
♦ Do not forget sunscreen and things to relieve muscle aches and pains. Hurricane recovery involves physical effort. You will be sore and/or exposed to the elements. Remember, it’s all about self-sufficiency because the normal services are not available. A well-equipped first aid kit is a must have.
♦ Buy a small camping stove. Nothing big or expensive, just something you can cook on outside in case of emergency. It will be a luxury when you are 2+ weeks without power and all the stores and restaurants are closed for miles.
♦ Those small flashlights that you can strap around your head that take a few AAA batteries? Yup, GOLD. Those types of handsfree flashlights are lifesavers inside and outside when you need to see your way around. Nighttime is especially dark without electricity in the entire town. Doing stuff like filling a generator with gasoline in the middle of the night is much easier with one of those head strap flashlights. Strongly advise getting a few, they’re inexpensive too.
♦ Cash. You will need it. Without power anything you may need to purchase will require cash, especially gasoline. Additionally, anyone you hire to help or support your immediate efforts will need to be paid. Cash is critical. How much, depends on your individual situation, but your cash burn rate will likely go into the thousands in the first few days. Also keep in mind, you may or may not be able to work and without internet access even getting funds into place could be challenging.
♦ Hardware. A box of self-tapping sheet metal screws (short and long) is important, along with a box or two of various wood screws or Tyvex screws. A battery drill or screw gun is another necessity. Check all of this stuff during hurricane prep.
♦ ADD. I forget my #1 personal nemesis in the aftermath (pictured below):
Roofing nails. The pesky roofing nails. Thousands of em’, all over. Those buggers are everywhere, and they will go through a flip-flop, sneaker sole or car tire perfectly. Most of them are black (not yellow) like the ones above. Some of them have square of flat tops to help them stand up just perfect to find your tires.
I happen to believe roofing nails are actually tire magnets with some sort of automatic triggering system to jump in front of your car at the worst possible moments. On the positive side, I think my neighborhood is safe because my tires have picked up every one of em’. LOL and Grrrr…
More later…. but I hope this is useful. [Lie to me, even if it ain’t. lol.]
Love to all,
~ Sundance
This is outstanding! Thank you Sundance. God bless you.
I grew up in Tampa and was in the CG, and went thru many hurricanes. A minor thing that I remember is BRING IN YOUR SCREENS. During the storm screens get torn. After the storm there will be no electricity and people will want to open your windows. And like roaches and alligators, mosquitoes will be there after the fall of man! After the storm you can put the screens back in place and avoid the aggravation of bzzzzzzzzzz and being feasted upon by those evil things.
50+ years of riding hurricanes out… and I never thought about the screens and the damn skeeters. If you can’t keep them out of your house… you better be stocked up on Deep Woods Off, DEET be damned!
Great idea. I never would have thought about taking the screens off….
I lived through the aftermath of Katrina.
I remember when they finally started to blow out the natural gas lines, going to peoples homes.
Katrina hit in late August and gas lines started getting blown out around Christmas…no gas for 120 days.
Mitchsteel I have lived in hurricane country all my life, and stayed for Katrina and watched trees fly across my back yard. I left for the rest that followed that year. It was over a year before I went to Mississippi because I knew what would be missing. I had family visiting and they wanted to ride over and see. After all this time the trees still look salt burnt. Like Sundance I will opt for evacuating if I think I am in the “cone of uncertainty.”
I am still learning new things for survival!. I bought some of the larger battery operated trouble lanterns to have in the house so I can see to get around. The headlamps are a great idea.
One thing about living in natural disaster areas you get training for the “Biden Appocolypse.”
Never understood the “water in the trash bag” idea until the Ice Storm of 2021 hit and we were out of water for 7 days. Personal hygiene, flushing toilets, etc. We’re in no danger from any peril at the moment and I still have tap water stored in gallon jugs because you don’t want to be without it!!
Lol…I can relate. I still have water I bought for Isaac in 2012.
oh, my. That was the one energy source I thought was invincible (except in the freeze storms).
Awesome video of the storm’s progression! The most informative I’ve seen. Thank you for all the helpful advice.
He’s been doing videos about the Surfside collapse. He understands buildings, and he understands Florida’s building codes and governance – not a super common combo – so his videos have been very good. Those videos really boosted his channel, paving the way for this video to get promoted by youtube far beyond his ordinary viewership.
Chocolate, high energy, make you feel good…..may be the boost physically that you need to do some heavy stuff.
When COVID was coming and I was stocking up at Sam’s Club, I made sure to by a couple of big boxes of candy bars. I’m not a big fan of Snickers bars, but I make sure I have a case on hand when blizzard season is approaching or any other potential disruption. I hate to believe the marketing, but the peanuts really do make them feel more substantial than just sugar.
I try to make sure that my supplies satisfy several categories: zero effort food (candy bars, chips, etc), fully cooked canned food that could be eaten cold right out of the can (but would be better heated), food that can be prepared with minimal or improvised equipment and normal ordinary food.
Peanuts, pistachios, almonds, cashews, bananas and dark chocolate have Magnesium in them; amazing Magnesium doesn’t give you energy, it creates energy, reduces anxiety, helps you sleep, restores muscle; Mag. enables the body to use the nutrients you feed it. Muscle movement and heart beat use Mag. Times 2 if you’re active or stressed. You stumbled on the elixir ? Chocolate and peanuts. Read up on the sources. Miracle mineral.
Out here in Alva, Irma hit us with higher gusts but spared the beaches. This storm Ian was a monster, like the old timers always chuckled and told us about. (4Th generation cracker, my great grandfather was the first one here in 1875).
I rode out to Sanibel to help my boss figure out his electrical damages (one of Sanibel’s “trusted” electrical contractors told him everything downstream of the meter that had been submerged needed replacing which he would do for $4k. I’m sure this corruption is tolerated by Sanibel city officials who get kickbacks).
the devastation was indescribable. Turns out the trusted contractor was wrong, nothing needed to be replaced at his house as far as breakers and disconnects which had been submerged according to SanCap home services.
I couldn’t recognize anything (at least half my work has been on SanCap for 12 years). Driving across the newly temp repaired causeway was way crazy.
all the islands are brown, looking down from the bridge.
The city of Sanibel has always been insufferably woke and libbed out to the max. The few republicans who live there wanted Jeb in the 2016 primary. They get along splendidly with the insane wokesters who’ve run the place forever.
For the past year, as a non essential self employed musician (Covid=no work for over a year) I’ve tolerated the $9 (the sign says $6 but LeeWay intentionally rips off tourists since Covid emptied the toll booths of human employees) Toll and as I eased onto the corrupt island of Sanibel, watched the “please get vaxxed” and “wear your mask” signs flashing at the entrance.
They call it a barrier island for a reason. The corrupt bastards that run the place will benefit greatly from this storm.
the boss’s house is on stilts and he asked me to help (my first trade was electrician) figure what he needed to do. After I offered to replace all electrical breakers including the main disconnect for free, the trusted contractor never called back and suddenly they were allowed to keep the switches which had been submerged, they were deemed operable.
No way after seeing that get vaxxed and wear your mask sign while LeeWay intentionally and deviously ripped off all Causeway bridge crossers, no way can I repel the feeling that Providence asked GWB to steer that thing toward Sanibel
I can say this it’s a hell of a operation going on out there. The money being spent is hard to guesstimate. The same crap Sundance hinted at with Pine Island and LCEC is no doubt happening everywhere. They will want to force out the little man and bring in the spritzer yacht crowd to buy up devalued property.
As far inland as I am, it was a bitch. I learned the car thing by accident during Irma. Friends near the coast came out here in the country for safety, but Irma whacked us directly though a small fast moving storm, made it up here with 160 mph gusts, aimed directly at my garage door. I screw 2x4s at a 45 degree angle across my garage door from the inside (huge wood to screw to on either side and above all garage doors). But I had the cars of friends staying here and my vehicles parked in front of the garage and the screen porch. The vehicles made a bubble of calm air so calm that we could sit on the screen porch and light cigars with no breeze at all while just a few feet out in the yard 160mph gusts ripped trees in half.
Ian hit us from a different direction, but the lesson was learned and the cars were all parked to make a wind bubble if it came from the East
sorry for the disjointed ramble. Been running my saws for a while now and I still have lots and lots of tree work.
but nothing compared to the folks on the river very close to here who had water roll through their homes
That is true about the house electrical wiring, breakers, etc. Mom had 5 ft inside from Harvey, power on when the water rose. It tripped the breaker, but only the AC was destroyed. We dried everything out, inspected for upgrades, then decided to replace all the receptacles because the house was built in ’63 (half replaced prior in ’72 after a fire). No issues 4+ years into it.
Of course, YMMV. A lot depends on what shorts, how quickly breakers trip, etc. So you gotta inspect it. But it’s not assumed it’s all destroyed…
The vividness of Sundance’s writing brings the immense power of Hurricanes to those of us fortunate enough never to experience one. This article is so elucidating, it may well save lives in the coming years. I’ve not seen anything like it.
Sundance, you a national treasure of the United States of America. Please take a bow!!
A million thumbs up for your gratitude, and more than that to Sundance.
Thanks for writing that. I wanted to thank him to but couldn’t have said it that well.
I live a mile above sea level, yet this is still good disaster preparedness advice because it makes me think about possibilities.
Why didn’t Mr. Structural Engineer back his car bumper up against the garage door to re-enforce it. That is one of the first things I would have done when I saw the door being pushed in.
Incidentally, good video. Very informative.
One question I have: When people mention sustained wind speed of hurricane they never mention at what altitude that speed is measured at. Is the 150 MPH wind at ground level? What I have read, and I think I understand is that max sustained winds are what it says, the max sustained winds of the storm, but not necessarily at ground level. Right or wrong?
I’m pretty sure it’s close to the max around ground level, or maybe 50′ above. I’ve seen trees and cars fly like they got wings… which doesn’t happen when we get 50 mph winds with gusts to 75 mph. But, hey, I’m not a weather guesser or scientist…
Correct, the measurement is not necessarily at ground level. The hurricane hunters make multiple measurements at several levels, if they are able. They send out devices to measure as well.
It really depends on the ability of surface level structures, trees, houses, buildings to break up the flow of the windstream.
In an open area anything six inches above the ground is a solid wind field up to several thousand feet.
In an area filled with houses, each house breaks the wind stream for the house next door (depending on direction), until it reaches another empty area where it drops goes forward until it hits the next object or building.
Being inside the eyewall is like putting an entire town inside a wind tunnel. The same dynamics apply just on a massive scale. Some buildings also create funnels, where the wind actually gains forward speed as it exits between two structures.
There are lots of variables. However, generally speaking the windspeed is consistent from ground to upper elevations. It’s a complete scouring effect.
In the eyewall, there is nothing except a raging torrent of deafening wind, sometimes surging and pulsing with the shrinking and expanding of the eye cycle, but always raging. That raging intensity destroys everything in its path including concrete structures, steel poles and steel reinforced concrete structures. It’s a power almost impossible to describe.
One thing that is overlooked by some is that if you are in the path of the eye, it is a slow building to full force of the wind, then the relative calm of the eye then it is wide open from the other direction slowly tapering down.
It can be scary depending the the cat of storm.
This storm was the closest thing to a F4 tornado that experienced as a kid. We were an 1/8 of a mile from that destruction zone.
.
That F4 tornado even tore into the dirt and turned everything in its destruction zone brown and muddy.
.
Ian created astounding positive and negative pressure on all windows in the house a broke all window seals, only we did not try to keep them from bowing in like the guy in the video.
.
At about 3pm in Mid-Cape, the attic access covers in the house and garage popped into the wood trusses supporting the roof almost like pressure relief valves. The sudden cool breeze felt really nice. Suddenly horrified, I quietly realized we might loose the roof.
.
I opened the sliding glass door a few inches in an attempt to “equalize” pressure in the house because it felt like the roof was about to pop off. We were blessed to have the steel accordion hurricane shutters to allow this.
.
Told the family, “Lets cool down with a little outside air”.
.
But this storm lasted mmuucch longer than that F4 tornado which just exploded those stick built homes as it quickly moved thru.
.
Ian just exploded many mobile homes in Ft Myers and Cape Coral, lots more structural fatigue than they are designed for.
thank you, sir, for all you do. you are truly one of the few who matter.
I had a couple of thoughts while reading this… they turned into a stream of them. I’ve ridden out easily a couple dozen storms in the Houston/Galveston area in my long lifetime. Each one seems to teach me something new, while terrifying me for a new, unexpected reason. Riding one out is not a game…
55 gallon rain barrels full might hold water during the storm. If you don’t have the big trash cans, just fill up the tubs. ATM’s don’t work without power or restocking, so plan ahead. If you have flooding, home interiors will likely have mud… very slippery, very dangerous to your feet. Have some rubber boots, hopefully with thick soles. You might be a redneck (with healthy feet) if you wear these…
If you’re entering a house that’s flooded, make sure the main power breaker is off before entering. No telling what might be shorted inside. Wall receptacles are usually about knee-high above ground… if the water is about that high, could be dicey.
Entering any house that’s been flooded will be dangerous. If you live in FL or near bayous in LA or TX, you could have gators inside. Any flooded house could have snakes. Night time is not the best time to enter…
If you are evacuating and could get flooded, cut the main breaker off. That will keep at least your AC system from shorting. Might save it, might not.
If your gas or diesel car engine is submerged, don’t start it. You can likely save the engine by changing the fluids. Highly recommend disconnecting the battery before water surges… a lot of cars short out once the electrical is fully submerged with power connected. Just make sure you can reconnect it tightly after (tools get scattered…).
Consider parking your car on an overpass if you have one close by. Just realize the spaces above ground level will fill up early, so plan ahead. If a car is high and dry and you have a full tank of gas, you’ll likely have plenty for your gas powered generator. *IF* you can siphon it out of the car. That seems easy, but it’s harder than you think. Strongly advise buying a siphon or electrical pump that can do it for you… and that you practice before the storm.
Pay attention for heat exposure during recovery. Places hit by hurricanes are hot and humid in the immediate aftermath, and many people will be attempting more physical labor exposed to the heat than they’ve had in the past decade. Heat stroke can sneak up on you… don’t be in a rush.|
If you have a generator and gas, consider buying a window A/C unit or two. During the heat of the day, it’s nice to have at least one room that’s REALLY comfortable for a bit. If your generator isn’t powerful enough, have a few fans. Once you get used to sweating, fans are usually enough.
If you decide to stay in a house and ride it out and you have storm surge risk, you need to consider what you will do if you have 4+ feet of water in your single story house with more surge to come and it’s 3 a.m. Some folks consider they’ll just sit at the top of the attic stairs, but what if it doesn’t stop rising? Do you really want to get trapped in the attic and drown? Or evacuate in a flood at 3 a.m.? I did a deep water rescue of my mom and Harvey in a jacked up Jeep Wrangler back during Harvey in the middle of the day, storm howling all around but nowhere near the peak winds. That was terrifying in spots… and it might have been enough to “freeze” me if it had been dark.
That brings another thing to mind… if you do not think clearly under high stress or life/death situations, evacuate. The more emotions you experience that you cannot “turn off,” the less likely you will be to think clearly and make decisions likely to save your life. Some are wired for it, most are not. A hurricane is not the time to see how it goes for you…
Have enough medicines and such for 2-3 weeks for anyone that stays in a storm risk area. Pharmacies are not open, nothing is restocked, might not have power for any medical devices. Plan accordingly.
As Sundance says, staying through a hurricane is dangerous and fraught with risk. It’s not for the weak or timid. No shame at all in seeking safety until the high risks pass. I’ve been riding them out for 50+ years, and I’m now starting to wonder when I’ll pass the torch to the younger generation. Of course, for some reason I seem to like it… could be my engineering/problem solving mind, might be the opportunity to prove I can be self sufficient for a while. But at some point, Father Time gets his due…
Also, be sure to have a communication plan with your family and inner circle. Sometimes your plan to meet up prior to the storm hitting doesn’t work out. How will you reconnect? Where will you meet? Who’s evacuating and who’s staying? Did everyone get to their “ride out” location? The “not knowing” after the storm can cause unfathomable stress, especially for the elderly.
Speaking of the elderly, my sister used to say Hurricane Ike killed my grandma… 100 yrs old, mentally sharp, faded quickly after that evacuation. Then my mom said she felt the same way about Harvey… as she was slowly fading away. An emergency evacuation of an elderly person, particularly ones with Alzheimer’s and such, will be damaging. If you can make it a leisurely vacation 1-2 weeks before the mass evacuation, you can reduce a lot of the impact. But even that could be bad…
The key is always to plan ahead, to test the plan, and to practice the plan. Know which neighbors will stay and reach out to them once it’s safe to do so.
And pray. A lot.
And Baby wipes. Baby wipes, baby wipes!! For EVERYTHING.
Really excellent. Thanks from this “Florida girl.”
For cooking Kelly kettles and rocket stoves use twigs and bits of wood which would likely be plentiful after a hurricane.
Look into “hay boxes” too.
Charcoal is easily stored and not explosive as some other fuels.
Don’t forget ways to filter and purify water.
Want to add another item… As others have mentioned, if your freezer is as full as possible with jugs of water acting as ice, it will stay cold for a long time.
Also, you can buy temperature/humidity sensors for about $10-$15 each. Some of them will record the temperature at about 5-minute intervals, and have an app that will display the data in a graph form. With one of these in each freezer and refrigerator, you will know instantly and accurately how warm it got.
I also used those sensors to quickly determine the power cycle on/off periods during the rolling blackouts of the great Texas Freeze of ’21 (or whenever that was, I forget). It was nice to know when to expect power and how long it would last with high accuracy.
A cheaper way to determine if your freezer got above 32 degrees is to freeze a cup or small container of water, then put a penny on top. If you find the penny in the water, the water melted. The problem with this approach is most foods do not spoil if they’re above 32 for a short period of time. If you don’t know how long it was above that, you either have to throw the food out or risk food poisoning… the charting sensors are cheap compared to a full freezer of beef…
Be careful freezing plastic bottles with water in them, when the ice thaws it will crack the bottle and dump water all over your freezer, Don’t ask me how I know that.
Fill only 2/3 to 3/4 full. Problem solved.
You are Absolutely
the BESTEST , Sundance !
Thank You So Much for Everything ,,
EVERY THING You Do ! 💐
That video reminded me of the Derecho that struck Iowa a couple of years ago. The radar of that storm is completely insane looking.
It’s amazing your depth of knowledge and ability to survive, Sundance! Living in reality is much tougher than man-made fantasy.
God bless you; now, get some rest.
On of this things I have for my house here near Galveston is corregated steel sheets that are cut to fit the windows and doors. Power Driver and Screws is all you need to hang them. Just a suggestion
Interesting about car placement during a Hurricane. Good Hurricane survival tips!
As for that guy in the video, holding the sliding glass door-just bananas!!!! No way! But I am a bit of a scaredy cat (Ohio gal here) and just a severe thunderstorm warning sends me to the basement. I wouldn’t be sticking around for Hurricane….I would find the nearest basement state to safe harbor in.
as an old hurricane attendee my solution to the no electrical problem is a 20 KW standby generator mounted in an enclosed yard trailer with 100 amp plug on the side of my house. I power my house and my neighbors on each side.
Learn to plug holes in tires with an inexpensive tire repair kit, apropos the nails.
Thank you, this is wonderful information. It has really got me started thinking about what is left to do before winter and while stuff is still available for purchase. Once they turn the power off or the diesel runs dry, hoards of people (sadly) will suddenly wonder ‘who moved my cheese’, and then it’s too late.
Be Shure the extension cords are at least 14 ga. 12 ga. Is best.
we make our own with construction housewire. LOTS cheaper. Does it meet outside standards ?? nope….but I only use it as needed and its not out in the sunshine for extended periods
One thing I liked to do Sundance for prep was freeze several milk jugs of ice in freezer. They last for several days and you can then drink the water after it melts as well.
Outstanding. Thank you Sundance for this. I will download and print for future use.
I want to add something to the cuts and scrapes care: keep a large stock of super glue, liquid bandages, or artificial skin on hand. These are all basically the same thing with some small differences. liquid bandage is just super glue that uses a solvent that won’t irritate your skin as much as the solvent in regular super glue.
You can buy little super glue tubes in bulk – like a 12 pack. You can also buy bulk liquid bandages, but they cost twice as much. I would use regular super glue unless you have really sensitive skin. You can also buy liquid bandages in multi-use bottles with a brush, which can be very handy, but I wouldn’t apply directly to dirty or broken skin.
If you have to reach into flood waters, or handle wet things, a regular bandage might not do a great job keeping water, and whatever filth is in that water, away from your cut or scrape. super glue will seal it pretty good and keep that filth away.
If the scrape is big enough that you need ointment on it, trim a surgical pad to completely cover the wound and ointment, glue the pad to your skin around the edges, and then apply a complete layer over the top. You want to completely “pave over” the pad with the super glue. Smaller wounds, you can skip the ointment and pad and just apply a layer of glue over the wound and onto the unbroken skin all around.
My first aid prep includes a few boxes each of non-adherent pads, abdominal pads*, gauze pads, rolls of stretch gauze, surgical tape, a brush-bottle of liquid bandages, and a 12-pack of super glue, in addition to the usual stuff. They all come in handy outside of disasters too. You can use them to create custom bandages for things that ordinary band-aids can’t do, or that would require specialty band-aids. Example: I smashed a toe last summer and I spent a few months wrapping that toe twice a day. Trim a non-adherent pad to cover the damaged nail, layer on a gauze pad or abdominal pad when it was oozing a lot, wrap a few times with stretch gauze and secure with surgical tape. There are special finger and toe bandages, but I would have needed to stock those, hope they were the right size, and not be able to use them for anything else.
* funny story about “abdominal pads”. The name is wrong. They were developed as “absorbent pads”, then the name got abbreviated to “ab pads”. Then someone expanded the abbreviation, incorrectly, to “abdominal” and for some reason that no one can understand or explain, the new wrong name is the one that stuck.
Ref. the bottle of liquid New Skin w/the brush. I bleed easily and now @64 taking blood thinner at bedtime for a few years now it’s even worse. I have applied it to open wounds and after a few applications it seems to slow the bleeding until coagulation occurs. Especially if I have a bandage to apply firmly afterwards. Even when it’s dirty I wipe it out/down w/my shirt as best I can. Never has caused any infection.
Best bet for emergency power is a 5Kw DUAL FUEL generator (gasoline/propane). Propane stores forever, unlike gas which can go bad and is a storage fire hazard. A secondary stove top running off propane is a blessing if your NG/power is cut off in a storm. A 30# propane bottle will run about 7 hours or so. I suggest spending a little more to get a genny that idles down automatically rather than just runs at full spend all the time. Respect
I am not lying – it is good stuff. I am not at risk for hurricanes but this seems like good advice for any natural or man-made disaster, as long as you know about it in advance.
My daughter just moved to FL from PA and I was visiting during the hurricane. We had no idea how to prep for a hurricane. I followed all your advice and I am glad we did! Thank you so much!
Great advice, as always!
Also, if you live away from a hurricane disaster area, reach out and help somehow. I believe blessings will be returned to you tenfold.
A little off-topic (maybe not): A few weeks ago UT Volunteers played UT Martin Skyhawks. A player on Skyhawks team, AJ Marquez, had mom and family back home in Florida that lost home and mom’s job because of Hurricane Ian. His family are hard-working immigrants but do not speak English well. He set up a GoFundMe, just expecting a few bucks. UT fans found out about this and responded in true Volunteer and Skyhawks fashion.
You can read the story in more detail on various sports sites. If we can all respond in any way – time, money, labor to help clean up – think of what we can accomplish.
Buying a head light now. Thanks for the reminder…
I have a perspective as one living 75 miles inland in the Houston suburbs. I have 135 mph rated shingles and I pick up loose things in the yard. I keep what is more-or-less a set of camping items in the garage and charcoal and propane for my grills. But I stay off the roads at evacuation time. People in the storm surge zone evacuate TO my area. My basic strategy is to gas up the car and leave after a storm if I can’t live in my house. I once decided to leave at evacuation time and just make a visit to relatives in Dallas. The roads were clogged and I decided I could help the situation by staying out of the way.
@sundance, Christian, Patriot, and Great Versatile American. (I know praise is the last thing you seek)
Your contributions to our great country and society at large are too numerous to mention for those who have been paying attention, even, much longer than I.
Godspeed my brother.
I am a member of a large church in the northern suburbs of Houston. We have a team of trained volunteer storm cleanup workers with chain saws and building skills, plus cooks, laundry workers, and radio operators. Our team travels out when the storm is somewhere else and we host a similar group from Oklahoma when our area gets hit. Right on our campus we have plumbed for showers and laundry equipment. There are many groups ready to swing into action for both spiritual and physical needs.
If you want to be safe in a hurricane, I can sum it up in three words: Don’t move to Florida.(Joe Biden word count).
Hi All
I was not as prepared as I should have been with Sundance’s excellent advice. However, we use wood shaving as kitty litter and since the ground and all wood was wet, kitty litter wood shavings gave us an easy little fire for a hot cup of instant coffee in the morning.
I’m not in Florida so I watched Ian on Windy.com. I thought that storm would never move on. It actually sat down right on the Florida coast.
I felt for Sundance and those who stayed through it. I’ve been through a number of hurricanes on the NC coast, but none like Ian. The noise from the wind is terrifying and it grates on your nerves.
My husband built a fortress for us but he passed away in 2018. I stayed through the storm named Florence alone in that house. Me and a whole house standby generator which ran for a week. Knocked my fence down but otherwise had no damage. I sold my fortress, which I still regret, so I will never stay for another one.
God Bless you Sundance for what you do for us every day.
Not gonna lie to you, it was very very helpful. 😎
another angle ,same need for prep . In NYC during Sandy the Hudson came to our bldg’s front door .Right up the street and then it stopped .But it had invaded all the basements off the West Side Hwy so electricity was off for about two , three weeks .meaning no H2O cause it is pumped to apts . And no heat .
The city above 14St was “life as usual “but below we were a third world .Even buses would not come down here.
Drinking water was scarce & costly so we hiked uptown with backpack canoe “indian “ baskets & empty bottles for water and take out , ready made eats . A dark cold wet world down here .
We had prepped pet food /kibbles , batteries , candles , matches , Eats like peanut butter , crackers (etc ) sterno with that kind of burner , dry ramen soup etc , wind up radio/phone charger … And camping battery big lanterns .
We had sheets of plastic and big heavy garbage bags still from 9/11 but didn’t need them as all our bldg’s windows held & we had cleared the balconies of everything so no flying furniture or plants , luckily.
There was one spot at the crossing of Greenwich & 10th Streets where internet could be captured and everyone went there to “call” out of our very defined “dead ,wet zone “ .
Prepping .necessary even in “the bowels of this city beast”
In reference to the last point, a tire plug kit and 12v or gas powered air compressor could be invaluable in the aftermath. When I traveled a lot for work I kept those things in my car and they saved my rear end on multiple occasions. Plugging a tire is easy if you have the stuff to do it with.