Community Chat

[Laura14]

@Susan Louise  I'm teling you now.  If you see a Fiat breaking for the border, wave goodbye to me.  See you after November 1st.  

[lovesrecess]

We are in Texas with a dozen family members in the Houston area...to say they are in the midst of devastation is an understatement. 

Regardless of where you live, If you wait until you are sure it will be hitting your area, it will be too late to get water, gas, etc. do it now to avoid the rush. Make sure medications are in waterproof containers.....lock & lock is great for this.  Birth certificates, DD-214s, SS cards, health insurance and Medicare cards. A typed list of all medical info including medicines. All in waterproof containers,  not plastic bags. Plan for every possibility. Print out a list of phone numbers of family members etc. the contact list in your cellphone may not be available. 

Make sure you have a waterproof container, not case, for your cellphone and all electronics like tablets you may want to take with you if you must leave suddenly. Put it in one big bag now.....you will be stressed later in the event of an evacuation so you will for sure forget something. Prayers to everyone who may be in Irmas path...may God calm the seas as only He can do.

[IlliniGirl88]

@catchersmom  -  Oh, you are so right, Floyd was a DISASTER for evacuating!  Contraflow should have happened, but it didn't.  Living in Charleston, the home we bought was built like a beast and survived Hugo like a champ,so we figured it could take anything Floyd would throw at it. Yes, you may not have power for 6 weeks, but the roof stayed on and we were shuttered up.  The evacuations for Floyd were a joke though.  The Charleston/Mt. Pleasant area has grown tremendously in 10 years.  Getting all of those people out, essentially in one direction (away from the coast), the roads just struggle to handle that amount of traffic.  You could have one big parking lot on the interstates and roads and I've seen it first hand.  I don't like the idea of not evacuating, but it beats running out of gas on the interestate (which was saw a LOT of) and riding out 100+ mph winds in a car for 10 hours! 

We always refresh our hurricane kit every May (new batteries, bottled water, non-perishables, gas for the generator, cash on hand).  When we know we're going to get hit, even by a tropical storm, and may lose power for a few days, I run the dishwasher, vacuum, and wash clothes and towels, because you never know when the power will come back on.  I know you can't plan for everything, but people can do basics which will help a lot.

[catchersmom]

@IlliniGirl88 nice to meet someone else that remembers that nightmare!

And you are so right about the build up.....and they have not kept up with increasing the infrastructure to keep pace with the population boom. I absolutely adore the local beaches and coastline but I gave up my childhood dream of living front beach a long time ago. I just don't think it is worth it!

[catchersmom]

@Susan Louise Thank you. It certainly does look that way doesn't it? I was encouraged to hear it may curve NE and out to sea....doesn't seem like they were giving that option much of a chance of happening earier!

Going to see "my" beach on Sunday. Weather is supposed to be beautiful ....

hope you have a great Labor Day weekend! And great weather too!

[catchersmom]

@lovesrecess That is excellent advice. I will keep your family in my prayers.

[phindell82]

Good advice.Thanks for the thread @Susan Louise.

[hellodali]

Susan Louise -- I am one of those who don't listen to the news as often as I should.  I had no idea Irma could be heading up the East Coast.  Even though it might be eight days away, those eight days go fast and it is definitely better not to wait until the last minute when there is nothing left.

Thanks for the info.  I really appreciate it!