Evacution Tips And Advice On Hurricane Preparedness

I remember moving to the coast twenty years ago. I worked at a small local bar and recall one of the customers telling me the story of his family riding out Hurricane Camille in their summer home on the Mississippi Coast, back when he was a child.

It was frightening and when he told the story, 20 years after the fact ,he was still traumatized.It wasn't so much the story of the storm that scared me. It was seeing this normally happy-go-lucky guy being reduced to a whimpering child as he related the experience to me. It really shook me up. It was how I imagined anyone who has survived the most horrific trauma may react.

Since then I have spoken to many survivors of Camille, Betsey and of course Katrina and I can tell you, I do not take anything lightly when it comes to storms.

As I said earlier make plans earlier. If you have friends or relatives, that is great but remember the old saying. Guests are like fish, after 3 days they start to stink. Being a guest and having guests can be very stressful. Especially if the guests are going to park in the living room dominating the television, hypnotized by CNN.

If you can afford to book a room somewhere, I would suggest it. Also campgrounds and National or State Parks can offer affordable cabins and camp areas.

Always book directly and not through travel sites like Expedia. What happens is the Hotel may drop your reservation due to government blocks. This is when Utility companies and Disaster workers need to come in to prepare the area for re-entry and the travel sites may not be updated or aware. Guarantee with a Credit Card and make sure you have the name of the person you made the reservation with and a confirmation number. Call 48 hours ahead, 24 hours ahead and the day of arrival, every hour if need be.

Every road leads to somewhere. Gps is a nice thing to have but I prefer an old fashion map. Mapquest will give you the most common routes but not many options. Buy an old school Rand and Mcnally Road Atlas and learn how to read it. People are sheep and they all go the same way don't be a lamb. The points to remember are that all interstates are usually bult along old U.S. Highways. During Gustav I was routed to Interstate 59 which was a nightmare. I got off and went west a couple of miles to U.S. 11 and there was no traffic, smooth sailing all of the way and scenery to boot. 10 miles away people were backed up for hours. If you get lost remember that all even route numbers travel east and west and all odd numbers travel north and south. Don't get frightened you will always end up someplace.

No matter how little you make, always save money for this situation. Keep your credit cards paid down and have cash readily available.

If you have a flat while you are evacuating consider that AAA is not going to be able to get to you in all of that traffic and it may be hours before the State Patrol will get there. However there are usually thousands of people on the road who can use an extra twenty bucks to change it for you. This is not a practice I would recomend during normal times, but during an evacuation there are so many people back to back on the road that the liklihood of someone kidnapping you or hurting you is very unlikely as there are too many witnesses around.

I remember during Katrina, we had gone to Jackson Mississppi and the power went out there, so we drove to Vicksburg to find some information and crossed over the river back into Louisiana. There was some weird little country bar that we stopped at, trying to find a television. Everyone was taking turns charging their phone in the car while running the a.c. When we tried to leave my battery was dead. Well we were in the middle of nowhere and none of these people cared. I had to give 3 guys 60.00 to jump my car. But guess what, I got my car jumped and I got out of there because I had cash.

Cash is a great negotiating tool. Gas lines are long and the credit card machines are down because of over activity, you need cash. ATMS lines are long or the machines are empty, you need cash. The gas tanks are empty at the stations on the route but of course there is some guy in a pick up truck with tanks of it in the bed. You need cash. Take plenty of it.

I have often thought that banks should have DisasterClubs, like they used to have Christmas Clubs. Where you put a little in each week and then when the season rolls around you can close the account and have the money to take care of your needs.

Buy your self a portable accordion style fileing system. Go through all of your personal papers and transfer them to this folder. Include your insurance documents, your mortgage papers your credit card and banking information, social security card, passport and birth certificate. When you are ready to leave you can have it ready to go.

Destroy anything that has personal information on it that you no longer need such as receipts, credit card or bank statements, check stubs. People can enter your property and steal these things and they will.

Have all of you prescriptions updated and registered at a national pharmacy chain such as Walgreens or Walmart, so they will be able to access your records.

Own a Laptop Or Notebook style computer with wifi so that you can access information. I would also reccomend online banking. You can go directly to your account to access funds if you need to transfer from savings to checking and if you have online bill pay, all of your account addresses and phone numbers for your bills are stored in your account with your bank, so you can keep up with your bills and contacts and everything is stored in one place

If you have a digital camera or if you can borrow one, take pictures of every thing you own.Set the date on your camera and make sure you inbed that date on all of your photos. Go around your home and take pictures of the roof, the windows, everything you can think of on the exterior and then go inside and take photos of the interior and every bit of personal property that you own. Insurance companies are just horrible to deal with. Make sure everything is up to date and documented.

Worry about your immediate family. If you have relatives in hospitals or nursing homes, Demand to know how they will be evacuated. Where they will be going and who will be caring for them. Demand this information and get a copy of the facilties plans.

If you have pets, have a plan to care for them. If you can't take them with you, plan ahead to find a place that will board them inland or find friends or relatives who live on higher ground and can care for them. Never cage them or tie them up and leave them with food, thinking this will keep them safe. It will not, it will only trap them and keep them from escaping on their own. They will drown, suffocate, strangle or starve.

If you have children, do not watch the news in front of them. Do not discuss the approaching storm in front of them. They do need to know how to prepare for disasters but this should be done calmly and without sensationalism. While you are preparing to evacuate occupy them with thier favorite movies and games. Do not panic around them or scare them in anyway and never decide you are going to ride out the storm with your kids or ride it out without them. Families need to stay together and they need to leave.

Keep in close contact with friends and extended family but have your own plan in place. Do not depend on others. Things change constantly, the cousin who told you he had a place at a buddies house that you could stay at, never told the buddy, who has his own family staying with him, that you were coming. You are packed and ready to go at 4:00 A.M.and the neighbor who asked for a ride is still in bed and hasn't even started packing, by the time you get on the road it is going to take you 12 hours to drive 60 miles. This may sound cold but it is better to let your friends find you. Book rooms or plan accomodations early and if you have room for others after the fact, that is great, but take care of your own first. Help others later. 

Have your car thouroughly inspected. Get an oil change, a tune up. have the tires and brakes checked, make sure the gas tank is full and always have it topped off.Make sure you have a car jack for your cell phone so you can stay completely charged. Remember that the phone service maybe clogged at times but yu can always text.

Go around your home and board up any windows that may be exdposed to flying depris or falling branches. Pick up any loose items in the yard, such as plants nd lawn furniture and store them in in the shed or inside of the house. Anything that can not be moved, secure as well as possible.

Inside of the house try to raise the furniture if you can, especially if your house is on a slab. Store your art work and electronics in the attic or at least store them on top of less important items. Make sure that your personal photos are in a dry safe area or take them with you. Anything that you would like to remain dry, try to raise as high as you can.

Empty out the refrigerater, unplug it and prop the door open. Unplug all other appliances and electrical items and turn the gas lines off

When packing. Prepare for 3 days but keep in mind that it could be longer. Take extra clothes if you can get them in the car. when I left for Katrina I packed too lite and was wearing the same pair of crocs for a month. Take all of your valuable jewelry and about a weeks worth of clothes.

Pack a cooler with plenty of water and snacks in case you get stuck in traffic. Keep paper towels and toilet paper in the car. Bug spray and antibacterial lotion are also good to have on hand, as is a small first aid kit. If you have kids take plenty of toys and games as well as reading material for yourself. Take your computer and your files. Pack you medications and health and beauty supplies.

Go to the bank and witdraw cash, lots of it.

Make a list of everything you need to take and do. Check this list 3 times do not iover look anything. And then go through the house once more.

Do not wait for the mandatory evacuation. If you can leave even one day earlier do and when coming back if you can stay one day later, try. Just because they have given the all clear doesn't all is good. Give the businesses a chance to open and the utility workers time to repair service. Especially if you have children. Bring them back to as normal conditions as possible.

I realise that not everyone can afford to do all of the things that I mentioned here and if you can't please do what you can. Make sure you know all of your emergency numbers. Call the local paper or your Mayors office and see if the city is supplying shelters or buses to move you out of town.

Make sure you have enough personal supplies and you are at the designated areas at the appropiate times.

Everyone should register with the RedCross and with FEMA as soon as possible especially, FEMA. that is who sponsors your flood insurance, they will give you a registration number and you will need to have that number available at all times when dealing with them.

Make sure you file your insurance claims right away.