Like many east-coasters, we’ve prepared for the storm of a life-time… FRANKENSTORM!!! Today is the third day of rain, but the winds have now started. According to the weather channel we may even get up to a foot of rain. Living on a hill, the flooding isn’t our main concern (our local news said it shouldn’t be as bad as last year’s flooding).
Our main priority is being prepared for the power outages. The local company called all the customers and said that repairs may take a week! YIKES! For us, no electric means no water, no heat, nothing…
Hurricane Sandy: Frankenstorm
How did we prepared?
Use it before you lose it! I tried to get all the dishes, laundry and vacuuming done. Need to be prepared for a week w/out electric! Also, I took two HOT showers yesterday wondering if it would be my last chance.
H2O With so much rain, you’d think that water would be the least of our concerns, but we have plenty of drinking water available. Don’t forget to factor in your pets when thinking about how much water to reserve.
To flush or not to flush? Without electric we won’t be able to draw water. I filled both bathtubs with water, so we have a supply for flushing… and washing anything that we might need.
Eggs, Milk and Bread? I’ve always thought stocking up on these items before any storm was crazy. Seriously, do I want MORE items spoiling in my fridge? My pantry already has many canned items, all of which I could heat up on our gas grill burner or over a campfire. When I went to the store, I bought fruits and vegetables that don’t need to be refrigerated. I did relent to Hubster and bought the cup of noodles he misses from his single days. One more important item to have… toilet paper! Plus there’s a bowl of Halloween candy by the door!
Wet Wipes I think not being able to shower for a week would be terrible, so we have plenty of antibacterial wet wipes just incase!!!
Gassed Up! All three of our vehicles are filled up, just incase…
Disposable Items Sorry, but I don’t want dishes stacking up when there’s no electricity… And I’d prefer to use my water reserve for flushing.
Paper vs. Plastic In our plastic society, we often forget to carry cash. Struggling to remember my pin number, we withdrew some cash to have on hand.
Let there be light! We have candles, lighters, and matches all handy. Couldn’t find any of our flashlights though…
Charged and ready! We charged our essentials… cell phones, portable DVD player, iPods, etc… (don’t judge!)
Items Secured Our patio furniture is already away for the season, but we did need to move the trash cans into the garage. I placed a large rock on top of the compost bin, so the lid wouldn’t blow away.
Keeping warm! Our coal stove needs electric for the exhaust fan to run. So we have extra blankets on the beds and couch… and I’m sure Hubster and I can come up with some other ways to keep warm.
Books, Beer & Wine Enough said…
How we want to be prepared for future storms: Oil lamps (As a kid, I loved using my mother’s oil lamps during thunderstorm blackouts), kerosene heater or backup generator (we always had gas heat before and never had to worry when there was a power outage)…
Anyone in the storm’s path, please be safe!!!
Batten down the hatches!!! How do you get ready for major storms? Please share your tips/tricks!
PS – Hubster said that he got his crossbow ready incase it all turns into a zombie apocalypse!
Young Wifey's Blog 