DO YOU HAVE YOUR HURRICANE KIT!!!!!!!

[zoeyann]

I just went through all my stuff to make sure nothing has expired and everything is charged. Plus I just bought a first aide kit that I am really excited about (I have no life)

[GulfHills]

My garage has less room with all the shutters my husband made last year (he even painted them to match the house!) and I have lots of water frozen. Some for 2 years......how long is it good for anyway? My pantry still has a bunch of tuna.......and there is just something about running to Wal-mart in the middle of the night before a storm that gets my adrenilin going....LOL.

[MomH]

We have been through our supplies and have a list ready for the first of the month. We will soon pack a bag with 2 changes of clothes and 4 changes of underclothes that will stay packed until November. It is for emergency only and we usually pack things we don't often wear. I keep everything in a hall closet in totes, including those things I would cry about if I lost them -- important papers, anything I find really special. Even if I had to do it by myself, I could have everything in the car and be gone in 30 minutes. Not that I plan on leaving. I'm as safe here in the center of the state as I would be on the road. This house held up through three bad ones last year. In a worst case scenario though, I won't be running all over the house looking for things that are important to me.

If I had room I'd probably take our pictures but I wouldn't have to. For Christmas last year I put all our favorite photos on CD's and gave them as Xmas gifts to my children, ex-husband, brother and some other family members. Also put a copy in my safe deposit box. Children were thrilled, cost me very little except time and served two purposes.

[Persepone]

Even if I had to do it by myself, I could have everything in the car and be gone in 30 minutes.

That is key! I think it is very important to walk through emergency preparations and procedures both "as a family" and as individuals or with only part of the family. What happens if the hurricane threatens while your husband is on the other side of the country on business? Can YOU put up those hurricane shutters with only the help of your children or neighbors? Can you start and run the generator? Do you know where the extension cords are? Are the "totes" or other stuff that goes with you in containers that you can actually lift? If you can't lift more than 30 or 40 pounds, then 80 pound containers are not practical, even if your husband, eldest son, etc. can lift them. Can you load the emergency stuff into the car? Do you know where the utility shutoffs are for your house and do you have the tool(s) required to operate them? Our house has a gas meter that requires a wrench to shut it off! We have a dedicated wrench--hanging by the door and clearly labeled--so you don't have to rummage the workbench to find the right sized wrench if you need to shut off the gas to the house in an emergency. Think about stuff like this...

Think of hurricane safety the same way you would think of fire safety. Because my grandchildren are homeschooled, my daughter's family has to teach fire safety in the home. And although the children are NEVER left alone in the house, their fire drills assume that the children have to get out of the house "by themselves." Having been awakened in the middle of the night. Or blindfolded. Each child has to know the routes out of each room.

Hurricane safety is sort of the same. I think every older child/every adult needs to know how to manage the evacuation stuff and safety stuff independently of others &/or have contingency plans... Each one needs to have the backpack (in a size they can handle) with their supplies... If the mother and father are there, perhaps the kids don't have to carry their own backpacks, etc. but if the father is away, and the mother has to cope alone, even a tiny child's ability to carry even a small backpack will make a huge difference.