Don't forget, if you have a garden hose and a car full of gas, you can still have fuel for your generator! We have ten gallons in cans. The generator is full. The lawn mower is full. The two cars are full. We have stocked extra ice in our freezer (#1 to have extra ice on hand and #2 to help fill the freezer.) The fuller your freezer and refrigerator are, the LONGER they hold the cool when power is lost because, well they are THICKER with the added bulk that is frozen or cold. Save a few gallons and some cash for after the storm, to be able to drive to look for more fuel. Look for places that you know might have power. Looking in the evening time When lights are on, if power is on) is the easiest to determine which pumps have power because they will have lights on. I say this because many times stations off the beaten path have gas, but no power... however, once they DO have power... well you get it.. Pop some popcorn right now, put in baggies... you won't be able to use your microwave without power and it is a great snack for kids. The night before the storm have everyone bathe. Sleep fully dressed with your shoes ON. Have a backpack with food and water only for each person. We have ensure, water, beef jerky and power bars. (If the stuff hits the fan, or the house falls in, you will have shoes on to run and your basic survival supplies in your backpacks... run!) Liquefy your diet the day before.... no one likes to need a toilet for #2, when they are not available. Fill random items with regular tap water, no to drink but for toilet flushing, if need be. We use our bathtubs for this as we have an ocean of bottled water. But we also have tons of bleach and water purification tablets. Thankfully we have gas for the stove, so we can boil water if need be, or there is the grill. Also, our water heater is on gas, so as long as we have gas, we will have hot water.
Dh is back home with plenty of gas and a brand new generator! The yard items have been secured. Jen you had great advice. One thing I want to add is that you should fill up your bath tub before you lose power. That way you can use it to flush the toilet if you lose water too.
Ummmm, Jen~ You are like more prepared than that survival guy, "Bear" !! LOL! We still have gallons of gas from Gustav so we are ok in that dept. I like the advice about sleeping with your clothes and shoes on~we will do that Fri nite as we are on the bad side of the storm!! Good advice!!! Are you sure you are not like a secret agent, survivial gal (with the pics of the area) that is posing as a hsing mommy?? LOL!!!!! You must be a secret agent for the CIA or something!!!!! LOL!
The bathtub is where we go if there is a tornado warning - our interior closet is right under the furnace, which is in the attic. We have some jugs of water, though, and I'll fill some more pans and buckets. We have friends who fill their aluminum canoe with water. I thought that was a great idea!
Odd thing is that during Rita we lost power but never water. We were even able to take showers. We just had to bring a flashlight into the bathroom. Okay this sucks and my next door neighbor is pissed off right now. About 30 mins ago there was a knock at our door. I open it to find the little girl that lives next to us. She is 7. She said her mom wasn't home yet from work and could she stay here. Of course! Then I look at the clock and find out that it is only 3:08 which is odd because her school lets out at 3:05. How did the bus get here in 3 mins?????? I called her mom's cell and left a message. She calls back 10 mins later shocked that I have Lexi here with me. Apparently the school let out early due to the hurricane and didn't bother to call parents. The bus just dropped a 7 year old off in front of her house 45 mins early with no parents or anyone notified. My friend is so mad right now. She immediately called the school. I can't wait to see what they had to say.
You ladies have been on my mind all day. We have had two days of gloom and rain showers that are associated with Ike so that shows how far reaching that system is. Water - Toyboxes in our house tend to be the rubbermaid type plastic boxes. In a pinch, I've dumped the toys and filled those buckets with water. We have a well so if the power is out we have no water. I've even used my kitchen wastebasket to fill!
We are in Austin, also bracing for the storm later in the day on Saturday. They're saying 60mph winds and 4-7" of rain even here. Anyone further south, Houston, Corpus, Galveston, San Antonio - if you need somewhere to evacuate to, you can come here! We don't have TONS of room, but we could house a family for a weekend (or a week, or more, if need be). After all, we did this over the summer. LOL I'll PM anyone on this thread and that I know is in TX our numbers in case you decide you need us; I'll also send my numbers to Deena in case WE lose power. (In which case, our home phone won't work, but the cell should unless and until towers go down, which I don't anticipate. We are EASY to find driving up 35, less than 5 miles off the highway, straight down a major fairway, and not a block off of that. I'll PM my addy to Deena, too, in case it's needed in emergency. You all know we're up late here!)
Put us on your prayer list too. We are going to get the winds and rain just below Tyler. Inland Tropical Storm warnings for us. They are telling us to expect 50-60 winds with 80 mile gusts. We have the 250 gallon water tank filled(for flushing) and lots of water. Why did everyone look so funny at us for buying so much water - why are they not doing it too??? We are expecting to lose power and planning for several days. If you look on a map we are where Anderson, Henderson, Smith and Cherokee Counties meet at their corners just south of Lake Palestine. We have our generator ready to go. Our main worry right now is flying things. We have never flooded and are not in any danger of that that I know of. I hope Galveston weathers well. We always vacation there and just really want to see it okay. Praying for everyone else in this path. Ya'll be safe! Sabrina
Good morning! It's quiet here so far, but the folks on the radio say that the storm surge water is already topping the seawall in Galveston. The sea wall is 17 feet high! They are expecting the entire island to be under water. We're ready on the outside. I still need to fill more buckets with water and set up the battery powered radio, etc on the inside. I'm trying to get all of the laundry done, too. I'd gotten behind - oops. It's supposed to make landfall around midnight. We should be seeing tropical storm strength winds any second now. Jackie has our phone number and etc. We'll be in touch on Sunday (assuming our cell phones are working) with her if the power goes off here and we can't get on the computer.
Praying for safety for all of you...I have been watching this thread and the news like a hawk over the last day....from work, and I can't post there, just read! But I am keeping up on things... PRAYING!!!
Isn't Kris near the water? Does anybody know if she got out or is getting out? I am praying for all of you.
Found a Lowes truck on a traffic cam with a full load of generators! hahaha Follow that truck! (We already have one... just though it was a neat shot)
Here is the LAST of the buses headed out of town. They are traveling north on 45, turning west onto the beltway. Yes, there is nothing left to do but this....
Here is a surf cam that should be updated every few moments... not sure. They need power of course, so if the power goes out...
