Waiting for Erika

Erika took her sweet time to come across the ocean to play havoc in the Carribean Islands only to loose strength as she climbed the Hispaniola mountains.  She was disorganized and busy trying to get herself together before she hit Florida.  Now, it looks like we are going to experience a lot of wind and rain.

Years ago, I made an emergency package in case we would have to evacuate.  In a large zippered bag, I had packed sheets, blankets, pillows and towels along with toiletries and some kitchen wares. I had to repack it to find out what I did have and this time I made a note of the content.

Yesterday, we went to our regular grocery store and stocked up on canned vegetables, tuna fish, pasta and soups.  We added peanut butter, cereal, dry milk, tea, and hot chocolate.  This is also in case that we have to evacuate or for staying at home but losing water and electricity.  It will see us through a few days.

This picture shows how far a water surge will reach during a Hurricane 1 and so on. Not a comforting pole to look at, but helpful.  During a Hurricane 2, we are evacuating.

Then there is the water:  we stocked up on small bottles and large bottles of water.  In addition, I plan to fill my pitchers and food grade buckets with water for cooking and cleaning.  I also plan to fill up the bath tub with water for flushing the toilet.  It is more than possible that the city water will be contaminated and some say to turn it off immediately should that be the case.  FEMA recommends two quarts of day per person for drinking water but about one gallon per person per day is more likely.

It is important that pets are taken care of at a time of evacuation and to make sure shelters are taking them in along with you.  Pets should be in a comfortable cage large enough for the pet to turn around in.

We use a carrier for our cat when we travel and stay in motels and that is served as her safe house and she is doing very well with her shelter.  We also have a picture of her and her updated vaccination records tucked away in an airtight bag tucked away in her carrier.

When we returned to Florida about ten years ago, we were concerned (and still are) about severe storms so my husband and I cut out plywood to cover our windows.  We needed special screws and bolts to fasten the plywood to the bricks.  The home improvement centers were most helpful.

We put up all the plywood to cover our windows to make sure that the plywood fit and that we were able to do it.

I must confess that I am not ready for a major disaster.  A most important factor for insurance purposes is to make an inventory listing of your possessions--to document everything that you own, no matter how inexpensive the items.  The ideal thing would be to make a video, to go from room to room and make a sweep of what you have.

At the time of this writing, Erika has diminished.  It is no longer a tropical storm or hurricane, but there may be others to follow.

Stay safe.

Thank you for visiting my blog.