Welcome to my blog on topics about keeping the home - or attempting to - as a Gen X Mom of four and wife to one. :) This blog is written by me, Lori Seaborg, from the Florida-Alabama Gulf Coast. I'm not the person who is ahead of you in mothering and homemaking knowledge. I'm just the gal right beside you, motivating the 11yo daydreamer, keeping up with the 9yo future homemaker extraordinaire (every mama needs a helper like this one!), teaching the rascally 6-year-old while occupying the 3yo. Let's learn together!
Here we blow around again! Hurricane Ivan, a ferocious Category 4 (out of 5) storm tormented us on September 16th, 2004; this year, Tropical Storm Arlene visited us on June 11th; Tropical Storm Cindy blew through today, July 6th; and now Hurricane Dennis looks like he is headed directly at us (his arrival will be this weekend)!
No matter what area you live in, it may be wise for you to do some emergency preparations. Here is an article I wrote September 13, 2004, just before Hurricane Ivan came.
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Hurricane Ivan is barrelling down on us on the Gulf Coast. We expect him to start showing us what he's made of Wednesday. Tomorrow, Tuesday, everything is shutting down as people evacuate. We think we are staying put. With no income coming in right now [note: dh lost his job only 12 days before Ivan came -- tough days for us], it is expensive to leave and we have lived here long enough to know that a hurricane can turn at any moment. We'll wait and see how dangerous it looks, then head to a local shelter if need be.
You, too, should have an emergency plan and at least a list of what to buy for an emergency. Here, we get warnings about our storms, so we don't have to keep the hurricane items on hand at all times. If you live where tornadoes and earthquakes are, you'd want to keep these items around always:
flashlights
batteries
lanterns
oil for lanterns
canned food
prepared food like crackers and cookies; breakfast bars, etc.
candles
matches or lighters
grill or other cooking device
propane or charcoal for grill
insect repellant (hurricanes stir up wasps and bees)
radio or portable t.v.
water to drink
water in extra containers
generator
extra gas
pet food
wet wipes in case water service is out
full vehicle fuel tanks
medication
important papers ready to go
If you are on a limited income, as we are now, you may be further helped by the below post.
Last year, we were hit by 3 of the 4 hurricanes (Charley, Francis, and Jeanne), and initially threatened by Ivan. Some of our family still have not repaired damages from those storms. My 14yo daughter is anxious about this hurricane season.
My son, Nick, is getting married on the 16th, and going on a cruise to the Bahamas for his honeymoon. His fiancee is trying very hard not to worry about a storm coming our way....but it isn't easy.
A couple of weeks ago, Florida had a no-tax week on purchasing hurricane supplies, and many stores also put hurricane supplies on sale, so we stocked up. We also bought a small generator so we can at least keep the refrigerator going.
The only problem with bottling your own water is keeping it pure. We have well water that will begin to grow bacteria if it sits, so any water we bottle for drinking or cooking needs to have bleach added to it. Without electricty, we can't run the pump to get water for anything, so we fill our tub with water, as well as extra buckets we can keep in the bathrooms so we can keep our toilets flushed.
We are coffee drinkers, and grind our beans. We learned after the first storm to grind some beans ahead of time.
It also helps to freeze as much food as possible, as soon as you know you are at risk of getting hit. Not only will the food last longer, but the frozen food will help keep other foods cold.
Because we no longer have any children in diapers, I make sure we have waterless hand cleaning gel, rather than wipes, to be able to wash our hands.
I'm in Tampa, so I feel your pain about this whole hurricane business.We felt so lucky that we didn't get a direct hit last year. I just don't think our luck will hold another season.
CharlotteMasonMa..I remember your scare. It was Charley, I think. I watched the Weather Channel and Fox News with giggles...the guys were in Tampa, where Charley was supposed to hit, and they were perfectly dry and bored. The action was south, in Punta Gorda! One of the biggest bummers about going through a hurricane is that you can't watch the news coverage about your own place -- the power is out!
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