Here I sit in Southeast Texas in the path of the dirty side of Harvey. I’m about 50 miles inland from the coast, so not at risk for storm surge or devastating winds, but I’m taking very seriously the reports that we may get 15 to 20 inches of rain and may have loss of power and water for days.
I’ve lived through many, many hurricanes in my life, from Celia in Corpus Christi in 1970, to many whose names I don’t remember when I was in south Louisiana as a kid, to Alicia, Rita, and Ike in the greater Houston area. I’ve got a few very easy preparation tips I thought I would share. They all may just be common sense, but I’ll share them anyway.
All of the “official sources” that give you preparation information seem to focus on what you will need if you are evacuating. If you are sheltering in place, and might lose electricity and water, here are some easy things you can do.
First, if you lose electricity you will be living out of an ice chest for a while. The best way to keep an ice chest cold is with large solid blocks of ice. Get several plastic containers (like old milk bottles or the like) and fill them about 2/3 of the way full (water expands when it freezes and you don’t want to split the container open) and put them in your freezer now. When they freeze solid, they will be good ice blocks to put in your cooler. Also, as they melt, the water will be contained and won’t get everything in your cooler soggy.
Second, you need water, not just to drink, but to wash your hands, brush your teeth, rinse off dishes, flush the toilet, etc. Pull out all your plastic pitchers, large storage containers, large pots with lids, etc., rinse them all out well, fill them with clean water and set them on the counter. I like to use containers with lids so dust or bugs don’t get in the water. There is no need to buy 10 cases of bottled water if you do this. You can also set out buckets to catch rain water that you can use for things like rinsing out clothes and flushing toilets.
Next, if your bathtub has a good stopper, fill it up almost to the top. You can use that water to flush the toilet. How do you do that, you may ask. Keep a bucket that can hold a couple of gallons of water next to the toilet. When you are ready to flush start pouring water directly into the toilet bowl. When the level gets higher than the trap the water will start going down and the siphon effect will pull the rest of the water through. Easy!
Of course, if you haven’t yet done so, you should put away absolutely everything in your yard, patio, carport, etc that could become airborne with high winds. Lots of damage is done by flying debris that could have been avoided. If you don’t have anywhere to put your garbage cans, place several bricks (or something else heavy) in the bottom of them and lay them on their sides in a protected area.
My prep is 99% done. Just have to secure the trash cans in the morning. It only took me about 2 hours today to do all of this. If you have any other great tips for hurricane prep, share them in the comments. Be safe out there!
