While in the midst of preparing for Hurricane Irene, I would get these ideas about prepping and randomly post them to FaceBook. I had a number of people comment on how helpful the ideas were. I thought I’d combine a list of my posts to have in one handy place. I did “steal” a couple of ideas from other people who had been through this before.
- We took the enclosure off and flipped our trampoline over. Hope that works.
- Cook up some pasta and either freeze or keep in fridge in gallon size ziploc bag. Rather than waste water and fuel to boil the water if power is out, you’ll be able to simply heat up some spaghetti sauce and add to the pasta. The kids will appreciate comfort food.
- Double check flashlights and batteries. Make sure flashlights aren’t corroded. How many batteries for each light. Do you have candles and matches? Hurricane lamps? Extra oil?
- Check your yard for anything that can fly away. Secure trash cans, take down bird feeders. If you have rental properties, please ask your tenants to prepare their yards as well. The loose things may not effect your house but could effect others. Ask your neighbors to do the same.
- The recommended generator time is 30-60 minutes every 4 hours for a refrigerator and 30-60 minutes twice a day for a freezer.
If you have a pool, you can submerge your outdoor furniture in it. It’ll keep it from blowing around. - Get some cleaning supplies including bleach for the clean up too. It may not be your home that needs the help. Be prepared to help others.
- Make sure you have a few pair of work gloves for all the clean up after she hits.
- More ideas for prepping: get all your laundry done and dishes washed. If the power goes out you’ll want clean clothes and dishes. Buy paper plates and plasticware so you don’t have to dirty any dishes.
- Please prepare! Lots of fresh water. Baby stuff–diapers, wipes, formula, lots of water