Checklist- How to ready yourself for a hurricane.

Posted on October 10, 2016 by yourrealestatewhisperer

I moved here to South Louisiana from Florida in 2007 and have seen my fair share of hurricanes here in Ascension Parish as well as in Florida. Many you have too, but even the seasoned “hurricane aware” person can forget things; so I decided that now would be a perfect time to put this list together for you. I gathered some of this information for you directly from the “www.ready.gov/kit” website but added things that we used and were thankful for later.

The Basics

Water – One gallon per person per day

Crank Radio- you can find them at places like Home Depot. I copied a link to these, http://www.homedepot.com/s/crank%2520radio?NCNI-5

Flashlights- make sure to buy extra batteries.

Glow Sticks- This wasn’t on the official website, but I promise if you have children, they will love having them to go to the bathroom, walk around the house, use as a nightlight and carry safely anywhere for hours. You can find these at any hardware store, and they are reasonably inexpensive.

First Aid Kit- You can buy a complete first aid kit at any drugstore.

Food- Anything non-perishable. For some reason, when people go to the store, they go crazy for milk, which spoils quickly without refrigeration. On that note, they do make shelf stable milk that doesn’t taste weird.

Sleeping bags and pillows- put these in a room where there no windows in case of flying glass from broken windows or doors.

Solar Charger for cell phones- Make sure to power up prior to the hurricane. Have a solar power charger to charge at least one phone. (It does take more time to charge with these, so use your phone only when necessary when the power is out.)

Change of clothes in water proof containers.

Sturdy shoes in a water tight container

Extra gas in an approved gas container for vehicles

Fire extinguisher

Water Proof Matches

Female products/Supplies

Tooth paste

Paper plates and plastic utensils

A whistle to signal for help

Dust Masks

Moist Towelettes

Tools- wrench, pliers to turn off utilities

For the kids- When my husband and I lived in Florida our children were very young. We always made hurricane days into an indoor camping trip. Complete with sleeping bags all in one room, we had them bring one lovey toy and one board game we could all play. I also had a charged DVD player ready for when the power went out. We told stories with a flashlight under our faces and made shadow puppets on the ceiling with our flashlights and fingers. We tried anything to entertain them, and we left the TV off so if the power did go out they would barely notice. It worked for us, and I hope it can work for you as well.

These are just a few items that have worked for my family. My husband and I have gone through at least 10 hurricanes together, mostly when we lived in Orlando. A couple of tips I’d like to share, that I heard from a friend, is to fill your washing machine with ice to use as a cooler for drinks. The water from melting ice will drain from the washers tub. The other helpful hint is to go to the Dollar Store and get the packs of glow stick bracelets. At night we would throw these into the bath tub to light the room for the kids when it was bath time. Not only was it entertaining, but it made bathing in the dark not so scary.
I hope this list works for you when you are trying to think of what you need. There are many websites that have more comprehensive lists of what you may need. I have listed some links below.. “Because YOU matter”. #yourrealestatewhisperer
https://www.uscg.mil/d7/airstaborinquen/docs/HurricanePage/Suggested%20Hurricane%20Supply%20Kits%20.pdf