The Gun Counter

OK, having lived in Jacksonville, Florida for many years, hurricanes are a yearly event. However, Jacksonville is normally protected from most of the hurricanes by it's location on the coast. The storms normally either skip across the southern part of the state and enter the gulf or they turn north and parallel the coastline until it slams into the Carolinas. In all the years I've lived here, I can only remember two storms that actually came close to Jacksonville. Well, looking at the projected track of Fay, it looks like it's my turn in the barrel. The storm track goes almost directly over my location. Granted, by the time it gets here, it will be downgraded to a tropical depression/tropical storm (winds around 40-45 mph), but it can still do damage.

To make matters worse, I'm in the middle of a move which required me to overlap paying rent on two residences, so I am basically broke. Working within those parameters, here's what I'm expecting and the preparations I'm taking.

The most likely thing to happen will be that we'll lose power for a period of time. This is no problem as I am well equipped with camping supplies. Coleman stove and two lanterns, 20 or so 3 lb bottles of gas (enough for a couple of weeks), flashlight, sleeping bags, waterproof bags, non-perishable food for about a week. I'm going to be filling up some 5 liter kegs with tap water later today for a total of about 25 liters. Since both the house and apartment are on city water, if we lose power we may lose water pressure. I may also scrub out the bathtub and fill it with water. That's approximately 40 gallons. That should see us through several days if necessary. If I can swing it, I'll also purchase a couple of 5 gallon containers of bottled water. Spare clothes will go into large ziploc bags and each person will have a backpack ready to go. I have a small first aid kit that will fit nicely into a backpack as well.
If it looks like power may be out for several days, I have access to a generator large enough to keep a couple of lights going and the fridge.

The only real concern I have is that the house I just moved into is surrounded by 4 large oak trees. I hope they decide to keep standing.

Any other suggestions for preparations that don't really require money? That's the one thing in short supply.

You seem reasonably well prepared given the situation. You may want to purchase a couple of large garbage cans to fill with water.

Seeing as how I seem to gravitate to hurricane-prone locales, I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. Big ones and small ones.

To me, the aftermath is what sucks. Being a comfort-loving AC junkie, I keep a small generator to power a window unit.

Don't forget the 40 or so gallons in your water heater. If you anticipate losing water pressure or if the local water plant has been contaminated during previous storms, shut off the water at the meter before the storm hits and turn the heater off at the breaker box. This will keep the 40 or so gallons in your water heater clean.

Make sure you place reminders or locks on the breaker box to remind you to turn the water on first and let the tank refill before you turn the heater back on.

Update on the storm: this thing is not acting like a normal hurricane. It strengthened and gained speed while over land last night. Now it looks to be a cat 1 hurricane when it comes back over land tonight (just south of Jacksonville, where I happen to live). Sustained winds at 50 mph with gusts to 70 right now. Tomorrow, winds 60 to 65 mph with gusts to 80 expected. And our county school board has NOT closed any schools yet. They say they won't close schools until the winds are in excess of 39 mph. Do they understand that people are going to be out making preparations for this storm, and they don't need to worry if their kids are going to be coming home in the middle of the day or need to be picked up? Sheesh. I'll post updates when I can. I am using clearwire for my internet access, so if the towers get blown down I may be offline for a day or two.

Ray

Ray, what do you have in the way of coolers? If the power goes out, do not open your fridge or freezer unless you really have to. If you have a chest freezer, they stay cold MUCH longer than an upright if you have to open it.

For coolers, fill it 1/3 with water, then (depending on the size) put in a couple of ice blocks, then dump in chipped ice for the rest (after putting in your cans, bottles, and/or sealed containers). New, well insulated coolers will keep block ice solid for up to a week, and sometimes more.

Potable water is your most precious resource. If you can, get more jugs/containers and fill them with fresh water while you can.

Do you have any water filters?

+1 on water being the most important thing. If you've got a jug of unscented bleach on hand, you should be good. Add the specified amount of bleach to the water, mix well, and wait 30 minutes. If the water smells slightly bleachy, it's fit to drink. If not, repeat the dose.

*Ratio of Clorox Bleach to Water for Purification
2 drops of Regular Clorox Bleach per quart of water
8 drops of Regular Clorox Bleach per gallon of water
1/2 teaspoon Regular Clorox Bleach per five gallons of water
If water is cloudy, double the recommended dosages of Clorox Bleach.
(Only use Regular Clorox Bleach (not Fresh Scent or Lemon Fresh). To insure that Clorox Bleach is at its full strength, replace your storage bottle every three months.) 
**(Clorox Bleach Sanitizing Solution) 
Mix 1 tablespoon Regular Clorox Bleach with one gallon of water. Always wash and rinse items first, then let each item soak in Clorox Bleach Sanitizing Solution for 2 minutes. Drain and air dry.

Dang it, I knew I forgot something. The bleach. Oh well, back to the store. And I can pick up a new box of powdered milk while I'm at it.

Make sure you have more than ONE can opener.

Update: Friday 5:45 local time. Well, it's been a bit windy. Lots of rain, but nothing spectacular. Matter of fact, it's been downright cozy here in the house. We decided that since the weather never got as bad as predicted, to go over the apartment and pack up more boxes. On the drive over, I can see branches down all over the neighborhood. A few fences knocked down, but nothing severe. The areas close to the St. John's river apparently are flooding but I'm not close enough to worry about it. There are approx 100,000 homes and businesses without power, but ours has only flickered a time or two. All in all, I've been damned lucky. My internet connection has been up all night without too many problems. It did slow down to a crawl last night. Wonder if they lost one tower in the area. The only remaining worry is the following rain bands and thunderstorms. We are currently under a tornado watch as the storm moves West.

Ray

7:00 PM. Well, I almost spoke too soon on my last post. 20 minutes after I posted my update, we had two tornadoes pop up just to our south. One was a water spout that went north up the St. John's river about a mile to the east of me. The other was stronger, popped up about 5 miles to the south, and traveled northeast at 35 mph. Missed us by about 2 1/2 miles to the west of us. It's going to be an interesting night.

Later, Ray