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

[Rainband]

Ok people the season is growing closer. Are you ready. I plan on getting ours together next week

[cycloneye]

Yes I am ready already as I prepare for every hurricane season before it starts to then not get caughted in the rush and higher prices of articles of first nessecity.

[Rainband]

Yes I am ready already as I prepare for every hurricane season before it starts to then not get caughted in the rush and higher prices of articles of first nessecity.

Excellent Luis. Very true. Unfortunately some stores try to price gouge...they usually get caught

[Derek Ortt]

I never prepare one as we seldom get canes here in sfla (until the next active cycle of course when we get 4 in 5 years, lol). In addition, each situation is different. Therefore, I wait unitl about 4-5 days before the event before making any decisions (usually if I am certain that ther eis going to be a threat and am confident enough to tell others to make prelim preparations). A Michelle is different from an Irene, which is different from an Andrew. All preps are based upon ach unique situation

[Rainband]

I agree and disagree. It's a good idea to have a kit for two reasons. One, storms can be unpredictable and even weaker storms can cause problems in which case a kit can come in handy and two the last minute shopping stinks .

[Rainband]

bump

[Hurricanehink]

Living in New Jersey, I only track the storms. Even for Isabel, we stayed here and slept right through. Had it gone more northward, we would have gone to a relative's house, but since it is such a rarity at that, we never have a hurricane kit.

[robag]

I learned through experience to not stockpile too much food. The food spoils rapidly in the humidity of the Keys, even when in air conditioned conditions. in addition, if a storm is a direct threat to the Keys we all need to get out of Dodge anyway.

[vbhoutex]

Yep, robag you are in a unique situation compared to most of us. Hopefully you do have something to take with you though just in case you do get stranded somehow on your way North.

As for me, I tend to agree with Derek, but I do have a basic kit that can quickly be brought up to full strength as required. I also wait till it is more obvious to me that we are definitely in a threat, which is usually at least 3 days before any of our local OCMs will admit to it. That makes for an easy stock-up trip since no one is rushing the stores yet or gouging prices.

[Guest]

I start getting most of my supplies together around the beginning of the season & then if & when there is a legit threat I get whatever else is needed which usually isnt much.

[weatherlover427]

Don't need a hurricane kit here in CA but we DO need an Earthquake kit. Unfortunately I do not have one. But I do have plenty of canned goods.

[OuterBanker]

I have lived on the OBX for thirty years and have prepared every year early. The stockpile of the previous years batteries I remove on June 1 (or look for a sale near that date) and use them to replace batteries in flashlights, etc. And I replace the hurricane kit with fresh batteries. I have found that trying to find batteries during a threat is a real pain as well as having to pay a premium and last year it proved critical that I had a supply of batteries. I do the same with canned goods (just try to find a can of chicken noodle soup the day before a hurricane). The main reason to carry a basic hurricane survival kit is peace of mind. It's something you don't have to worry about during preparations, and believe me you will be busy. BTW, the 72 hr rule really came to pass last year here, most of Dare County cut off all access for three days or more. Isabel was truly a rude awakening. Seriously thinking about a generator this year (see main tropical weather forum).

[Wnghs2007]

Well dont think I will ever have to get a kit here were I live unless we have us some rapid global warming that melts all the ice on the planet....and then some....OH and we would probally still need for an earthquake to knock about 100 miles of the East coast into the sea

[LSU2001]

I keep a kit for any emergency. I have basic first aid supplies, water, propane, canned and dehydrated food, bleach and a water purifier. I spend a lot of time at my camp and I tend to keep things from my camping and fishing trips. I think that a basic kit is simply smart planning for hurricane season or to have "Just in case" The American Red cross has instructions for building a good basic kit.

http://www.redcross.org/services/disast ... 3_,00.html
Just thought the above would help someone who wants to get prepared.
Tim

[sunny]

But of course

[NCECOM]

As part of the local Ham radio club I teach and preach preparedness. In the beginning I approached it as Hurricane Preparedness at the beginning of the season to get our members ready to deal with storms and be ready to help in a communication emergency.

After I began to look at the different types of emergencies, I changed my approach to general preparedness because I felt that to focus on any one cause was a disservice to the members.

[Ground_Zero_92]

Being an avid backpacker, I buy my hurricane supplies when I buy my backpacking supplies. Backpacking/camping season is Oct-May in South/Central Florida (unless you prefer baking in the heat). So my sport and hobby (tracking hurricanes ) seem to go hand in hand.

I recommend that everyone go to a camping supply store or a store like Sports Authority and purchase dehydrated camping food. The stuff tastes great, has a shelf life of over 5 years, and only requires boiling water to prepare. Some meals you can buy are Pasta Primavera, Beef Stew, Lasana with Meat Sauce. They make them in single serving through 5 serving packages. Mountain House is my favorte brand.

Another tip, buy LED headlamps or LED flashlights that use AA batteries. During an emergency, everyone buys D Cell flashlights and you will not be able to find D batteries. Plus LED lights use much less power for the same amount of light. That translates into batteries lasting about 8x-10x longer than regular flashlights.

I am going on my final backpacking trip at the end of this month. After that, my unused supplies become part of my hurricane kit unitil next camping season. I top off whatever I used up by mid May. At the end of hurricane season, my unused (hopefully) hurricane supplies become my backpacking supplies.

[CFL]

I still have 2 boxes of MREs from Ivan. I believe they have a shelf life of about 5 years as well. I don't have a generator, but to be honest, I don't think I could have found the gasoline to run it after Ivan. For almost a week you couldn't find gas at but a handful of stations, and those stations had some *extremely* long lines. So right now I think I have everything I need except bottled water. I'll buy a 3 or 4 day supply of that next month.

[CajunMama]

I'm like a bunch of other idiots that wait till the last minute running all over town and fighting crowds! There's nothing like watching people fight over the last can of spam! lol j/k

[Shinyhead]

Heh,
Our utility room looks like a survivalists storage room. Food, water, tarps lanterns, fuel etc etc. We already have a 3.5KW generator and we are getting a 10KW standby generator permenantly installed.

Guess you could say we take things seriously.