A Hurricane is Coming!

Last post I went through my hurricane pre-season checklist, this post focuses on what I do once it looks like we are directly in the path of a storm. The pre-season list is pretty generic and can be used by just about anyone with maybe a few changes, the pre-storm list is a lot longer and more specific for my situation. That being said, it may still be helpful and I hope it at least encourages others people to get a similar list together. Having a list such as this takes a lot of pressure and guesswork out of the process, once I’ve completed the items I can feel confident we are ready and I can focus on helping others get ready (family and friends).

When you create pre-season and pre-storm lists be aware they are starting points and will probably be revised as they are put into practice. I’ll present this one like I did last post, in numerical order and plus a summary at the end. The order of this one is important, I do things that have the least impact and disruption first and they are the easiest to undo (if required) if it the storm takes a turn away from us.

The List

1. Get cash

If you don’t already have a cash stash on hand then this should be the first thing, get to the bank or ATM’s before everyone else does!

2. Stock up

Although I’ve already stocked up on most things pre-season, this is the time to grab some perishable items. We normally have enough food on hand for a couple of weeks but since there’s the possibility we may be hosting and feeding a crowd it’s a good idea to grab extra. We’ve got the basics covered so these are things that are normally not in high demand before a storm. The cover photo for this post is one I took last year of the Gatorade aisle at a local store, luckily that’s not something I’m looking for now. The items I get: meat, milk, salad mix, potatoes. I’m not worried about losing power to the refrigerator or freezer so these will be safe. I also stock up on dog, chicken, and pond food if we are getting low just in case the stores are closed for a while after the storm. The last thing on the list is salt for the water softener.

3. Fuel all vehicles and generators

This is another one to knock out pretty early on, lines at gas stations are only going to get worse and some may even run out of fuel and close. I make sure the cars, boat (can be siphoned for extra fuel), lawn mower, tractor, and generators are all fueled up in addition to all the fuel cans.

4. Start charging all devices

Charging can take a while, it’s best to start early on. The devices to charge are battery banks for phones, weather radio, gmrs radios, cameras, rechargeable batteries, and drone.

5. Put batteries in all lights

I store all the flashlights and stationary lights without batteries to prevent corrosion issues, this is the time to put the batteries in. I’ll leave them in for the remainder of the season then take them back out after the chances of a hurricane have passed for the year. See the Hurricane Season Prep post for my flashlight recommendations.

6. Put water bottles in freezer

I’ll put around a dozen water bottles in the freezer, these will be used in a cooler as one of the last get ready steps.

7. Wash all laundry

This may take a while so best to start ASAP. If we end up on generator power for a few days it will not be able to power the dryer. It could run the washer but there won’t be any hot water.

8. Fill water softener salt tank

Since we are on well water we have a water softening system which consumes salt. I’ll top this off now so it’s not something I’ll have to think about for the next few weeks in case we are busy with clean up activities.

9. Clean up yard, secure all loose items

Everything on the list to this point is either pretty easy or something that doesn’t have to be undone if the storm changes direction. The remainder of the list becomes a lot more work to undo so I wait until we are about 12-18 hours from seeing storm force winds. Cleaning up the yard and securing loose items is done to keep potential losing these items or having them become flying debris that could damage the house or a vehicle.

10. Place flashlights, inverter, and generator in get ready position

I put the fueled up generator and a spare fuel tank as close to the running are where it will need to go but it will still be protected. When the time comes to use it I just have to wheel it outside, hook up the power cord and sire it up. The battery and inverter are placed near the main TV in the house and flashlights are placed in their designated locations (bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen). By the way, the Battery Tender float chargers are a great way to keep seldom used batteries (in or out of vehicles) in ready to go condition.

11. Move plants

If a planter can be fairly easily moved I put it in the garage or workshop for protection. I’ll move the most valuable first and if time permits I’ll move some of the others after everything else is done. An EarthBox loaded with soil and water is around 80 pounds, they aren’t going to blow away but the plants could be damaged.

12. Take down sun shade(s)

I’ve got sun shade cloth over the main garden, this has to be removed or it would act like a big sail and lift the whole frame. The pipe frame is weighted down with concrete blocks so that is left set up.

13. Remove exterior lights

I take the glass off of all our outside carriage lights and hanging porch lamp since these are expensive and hard to find replacements for. I also remove the bulbs, when I reassemble these it’s a good time to clean them up and put some dielectric grease on the bulb threads. This is something that is smart to do on all bulbs and electrical connectors, especially outdoors.

14. Remove porch fan blades

Very important! If you have fans on an outdoor porch you may want to keep this one in mind. My fans have blades that snap off pretty easily so it only takes a few minutes. I’ve seen many cases where fans blow around and either get damaged or damage the ceiling above them.

15. Put up storm shutters

At this point we are pretty sure we are getting hit by some bad winds. These are a bit of a pain and take a few hours but are probably the single most important thing to do. If the storm doesn’t look like a bad one I’ll leave the porch shutters off but nearby so they can be put up quickly, if it’s a strong storm I’ll put them all up now. Here’s an additional picture of the porch with shutters installed and fan blades removed. We left one shutter panel off so we could see outside and get a little light in the house.

16. Put secondary water hose in place

If we can’t fire the generator up right away then we have no water, one of the drawbacks of having a well. I’ve got a secondary well that has natural pressure (artesian) so I run a hose from that well head to the utility sink in the garage and keep a bucket nearby. The spigot is opened but I put a valve on the end of the hose so it can be turned on and off at the sink. We have drinks already covered, this is used to manually fill toilet tanks.

17. Stage drinks and snacks to coolers

This is the final item and done as the winds start picking up. Remember those frozen water bottles? They go in big coolers along with some ice and a variety of drinks. These are for use while power is limited, once the generator is up the refrigerator and freezer can be used again.

The Brief List

Here’s the same list in short form without comments:

Get cash Stock up – meat, milk, salad mix, potatoes, dog food, chicken food, pond food Fuel all vehicles and generators Start charging all devices Put batteries in all lights Put water bottles in freezer Wash all laundry Fill water softener salt tank Clean up yard, secure all loose items Place flashlights, inverter, and generator in get ready position Move plants Take down sun shade(s) Remove exterior lights Remove porch fan blades Put up storm shutters Put secondary water hose in place Stage drinks and snacks to coolers

The Wait

The hard part is over, now is the time to wind down and relax. Hurricanes are mostly boring, if there are really high winds they usually only last a few hours. It can be hard to sleep with the wind howling outside so we usually end up watching TV or sitting around with a cold drink in hand.

We’ve been lucky, Three Acre Paradise is protected very well by a lot of trees. These aren’t just the ones on the property, most neighbors also have dense canopies over their yards. In 2016 we sat in the garage with the door open during the brunt of hurricane Matthew, in 2017 we didn’t put the shutters on the porch and stayed there for most of hurricane Irma. That’s not to say we couldn’t get a much more dangerous storm but I’m pretty confident in staying put for anything up to a category 4 storm and possible a 5. Evacuation would be difficult, there isn’t many ways out of the county and history has shown those routes get jammed up very quickly. I’d prefer not to join that mess and make it easier for people who have to evacuate to be able to get away (beachside communities, mobile homes).

If you find this useful please let me know, I don’t have an after storm checklist but if there’s interest I can put up my thoughts and what we have done in the past. Until next post, stay safe!