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Building Your Hurricane Kit

I wanted to discuss different aspects of hurricane preparedness, including building a hurricane kit, hurricane preparedness for your pets and hurricane preparedness tips for marine interests. So, let’s start with building a hurricane kit:

Hurricane Kit/Ride Out Items (Hurricane preparedness kits can be purchased from the following websites: http://www.readykit.com/, http://worldprep.com/, http://www.hurricanestore.com/kits.html)

1. Flashlight(s), Lantern(s) (1 per person). Make sure you buy a cheap small flashlight for small children. They will want your flashlight and will scream during an already stressful time.
2. Extra bulbs for flashlights / lanterns.
3. Collapsible water containers (enough for 7 days at 1 gal/day per person). Good source to buy water containers: http://www.mywatersafe.com/ .
4. Portable radio and/or TV.
5. Weather radio.
6. At least 2 sets of extra batteries for all electronic devices.
7. Digital antenna for TV (if you have a generator).
8. First aid kit.
9. Toolkit – hammer, screw drivers, pliers and assorted nails/screws.
10. Fire extinguisher (ABC type).
11. Manual can opener.
12. Battery-operated fan. Battery operated supplies can be purchased from http://batterysavers.com/.
13. Duct tape.
14. Blue tarp (15x20ft) and 100ft rope or cord.
15. Gloves.
16. Eye protection glasses.
17. Protective headgear such as a construction helmet or bicycle helmet.
18. Automobile power inverter. Source to purchase inverters: http://www.tripplite.com/.
19. Rain gear (poncho/raincoat).
20. Matches / lighter.
21. Pocket knife/multi-tool.
22. Plastic garbage bags.
23. 5-gal gas cans (2-4) for car/generator WITH funnel (if needed).
24. Outdoor extension cords (2-3 50ft).
25. Generator and 4-8 quarts of extra oil.
26. Whistle.
27. Plastic sheeting.
28. Tree saw / axe / hatchet.

Personal Items:
1. Prescription medications (2-4 week supply).
2. Non-prescription drugs (aspirin or non-aspirin pain reliever).
3. Extra pair of prescription glasses or contacts.
4. Mosquito repellent / sunscreen.
5. Pet medications (2-4 week supply).
6. Pet cage (if traveling with pet).
7. Emergency phone numbers.
8. Important documents (insurance/passports/Soc. Security card, medical records)
9. Home PC backup disks/drive
10. Moist wipes
11. $100-$300 in extra cash (small bills)
12. Extra set of car/house keys
13. Disposable diapers
14. Feminine supplies
15. Personal hygiene items (toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, soap)
16. Toys/games for kids (deck of cards or a roll of construction paper and crayons).

Food / Water:
1. Water - 1-2 gal/person for 7 days
2. Nonperishable food - enough for 7 days (Peanut butter, Bread, Canned goods, Energy bars)
3. Camp stove and extra fuel
4. Ice chest(s)
5. Waterless soap
6. Extra charcoal/propane for BBQ pit
7. Disposable plates/cups/utensils/napkins
8. Salt/pepper/sugar
9. Aluminum foil
10. Garbage bags

Other Preparedness Tips:
1. Sit down with your family and develop a plan in case of a hurricane.
2. Take pictures or video of your house and valuables for insurance claims.
3. Prepare shutters or other coverings for doors and windows
4. Reinforce roof trusses
5. Examine and repair roof shingles
6. Caulk openings, flashings and soffits
7. Reinforce entry doors and collect exterior covering as required.
8. Replace hard mulch with soft material
9. Buy and install a backflow-prevention device in your sewer line
10. Trim trees and shrubs
11. Purchase a generator, gas cans, CO detectors and extension cords
12. Decide how to tie down large outdoor equipment
13. Reinforce or replace your garage door. Garage door bracing hardware: http://www.securedoor.com/
14. Purchase supplies for cleanup and repair
15. Purchase a road atlas. In times of evacuation you will need to develop plans on how to escape depending on advice from your local Emergency Management. Knowing the routes out of town and beyond is very important. Also don’t rely solely on a GPS, if everybody follows the same set of standardized directions on their GPS systems then there is going to be mass congestion. Instead plan a route, and a set of alternate routes by hand ahead of time and save yourself a lot of trouble.
16. A solar powered charging device for electronic products such as phones and tablets may be handy to have. A source to purchase these: https://www.solio.com/.

Closing Thoughts On Hurricane Preparedness:
1. Prepare now. You are at risk to some form of disaster. Keep a “Go Bag” of key items (clothes, meds, docs, digital backups).
2. Pets? Include them in your plan (and go bag!). I will write up a separate post discussing hurricane preparedness for your pets early next week.
3. Establish out-of-area contact for your family. This reduces phone calls, streamlines check-ins and eases fears of your family members.
4. Make a plan for when you’re at home, at work, at school, in transit. Make sure you have access to “Go Bag”.
5. Educate yourself with your specific local hazards. These will vary greatly in different parts of the country and even from community to community.
6. Is one form of communications down? Try another. Text messages often get out, however, they will likely be delayed due to cell towers being overloaded or down. So, if your phone call fails, try sending a text. Add backup charging source & cords to “Go Bag” .
7. Once your area is under an Evacuation Order, leave and do not go back. You’re not just risking your life, but also rescue staff if you need to be rescued. In fact, rescue companies will likely not respond to your rescue call during the worst part of the hurricane due to their own safety and standard operation procedures.

Crown Weather

Hurricane Preparation For Your Pets

Pre-season preparations for a hurricane should include your pets and today I wanted to provide some guidance/tips on how to do this.

In addition to the common sense items such as food, water and medications, there are other things you should think about when building a hurricane kit for your pet.

1. Identification tags with your pets name and your phone number that is attached to a collar they will wear during the entire event.

2. Rabies/County/City license tags that are attached to a collar they will wear during the entire event.

3. Microchip: If your pet isn’t micro chipped, you may want to consider doing this. One important note is to update any information with the microchip company if they already have one.

4. Vet records: Make sure you have a copy of your pet's vaccination records in your evacuation kit.

5. Proof of Ownership: Copies of registrations, adoption paperwork, and microchip information all should be included in your evacuation kit. Recent photographs should also be included. One important note is to include a photograph of yourself with your pet in case you are separated to demonstrate proof that you are owner of your pet.

6. Written Instructions for the following: Diet - how much to feed each pet and when along with any special diet requirements; Medications - list each pet and their medications separately. Include dosage and frequency; Emergency Contacts - Your regular vet phone number and address, emergency vet number and address, a friend or relatives name and address.

The basic supplies for your pet:
2 week supply of water and food. (Don't forget a can opener for canned foods). Also, tap water could be contaminated after a storm and this could harm your pet as well. So make sure you have clean water (bottled water or from water containers from http://www.mywatersafe.com/).

Collar, leashes, harness, favorite toys/blankets, treats, kitty litter, litter pan, muzzle, water and food dishes, paper towels, trash bags, travel crate/carrier (be sure to label with your name, pet's name and your contact info)

If staying at a hotel isn’t an option, then ask people outside your immediate area if they would be able to shelter you and your pets or even just your pets. If you have more than one pet, you may need to arrange to house them at separate locations.

Bottom Line - DO NOT abandon your pets at home if you have to evacuate – I cannot stress this enough!

Is your dog fearful or get stressed out by severe weather? Check into the “Thunder Shirt”. I have never tested the product myself, but the reviews from others have been good. The website for the “Thunder Shirt” is http://www.thundershirt.com/ .

Do you have horses? If a hurricane or other severe weather is approaching, write their names on their sides (with a livestock marker), along with your name and phone number. Also, don’t leave a halter on them because if it were to get hung up on something, they could hurt themselves, or worse.

For those of you with reptiles and birds: Have a travel cage or carrier for them and if you have to evacuate to another state, check to see if your reptile/bird is legal in that state. Different laws in different states.

Other Preparation Tips:
1. If it is at all possible, store more than two weeks of food for your family and your pet(s). Canned food would be best. The reason why is that canned food has its own waterproof container and dry food can contaminate. In addition, dry food should be stored in a low-humidity environment which probably will not be possible during and after a hurricane due to power outages.

2. Place medications, records, rabies certificates, and so on, in a good quality, double seal, zip lock freezer bag. If you have a vacuum sealer, that might even be better.

3. If you have to evacuate with your cat(s), make sure you pack plenty of cat food, cat litter and plastic grocery bags for litter disposal in addition to meds and papers. One tip: Aluminum foil turkey roasting pans can make for good emergency litter boxes.

4. If you are evacuating inland with your pet(s), make your reservations EARLY. Hotel/motel rooms are sold out quickly once those watches and warnings go up and pet friendly rooms aren’t as plentiful as regular rooms.

Finally: I want to stress again that if you have to evacuate, please bring your pets with you and do not leave them behind! If it isn’t safe for you, it isn’t safe for your pets. Pets left behind in a disaster can easily be injured, lost or killed.

Crown Weather