Hurricane Items You Must Have Before It Hits

We really need to get the word out to everyone now before we have another hurricane, and we will, it is inevitable. The agencies responsible to predict and track hurricanes are expecting 2022 to experience a very active hurricane season. The past few years have been rough for so many families because of all the damage that comes with the strong winds and rain from a hurricane. We saw Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, to name just two of many we’ve seen.

Many people were prepared in some ways, but we can never be fully prepared for the weather activity from hurricanes and the related aftermath so many people had to deal with in the past few years. Some people lost their family members, homes, their food storage, emergency preps, and many personal things they can never replace.

Dealing With FEMA/Insurance Companies

Here’s the deal, some people are still cleaning up the mess from the flooding, downed trees, mold, and the challenges of dealing with FEMA and the property owner’s individual insurance companies. It will take months, and possibly a few years, to restore some of the areas to the point they are livable again. And some will never be restored to the level before the storms, which is really really sad to me.

I still feel strongly that I need to remind people to start gathering their food and water storage if they haven’t already. So many of us are very prepared because we get it. But, there are still people who just don’t understand the critical nature of having a preparation plan.

You would think after seeing the news reports from previous hurricanes that people throughout the country would understand it’s important to be prepared. I was glued to The Weather Channel for weeks, talk about heart-wrenching.

We may live in areas that don’t have storms like those we’ve seen, but many have wildfires, flooding, and earthquakes to deal with as disasters that are more common in the areas where they live. Please start with some of the things I have listed below, today, not tomorrow.

If you are comfortable with taking the lead and talking with your neighbors about how to work together so even more people are better prepared. Please get together and discuss how best to get the community behind common efforts for preparation. Who knows, these people may be your new best friends after an unforeseen emergency. Trust me on that one, I have personally been through a few disasters.

This is a very short list, but if you just pick and choose the ones you can do ASAP, that would be wonderful.

Hurricane Related Items You Should Have On Hand:

Make an Important Documents Binder

What happens to paper when it gets wet? Having a binder with critical documents that can be kept safe from disaster and can easily be grabbed is an essential part of planning for a hurricane. You don’t want to be without your homeowner’s insurance after a hurricane has destroyed your home. Check out this Free Emergency Binder Kit to make sure you have all your important documents on hand. 

Water

You know the drill, one gallon per person per day as recommended by The American Red Cross. I recommend 4-gallons per person per day. You can never have too much water. Add a water purifier and you rock.

Food Storage

Food Storage Ideas

Cooking Devices

I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about the butane stoves I have given my four daughters. They were a Christmas gift one year, along with 12 canisters of butane to go with it.

You can boil water, cook a meal, and wash dishes by boiling water on this little gem. Butane Stove and Butane Fuel

72-Hour Kits

Linda’s 72-hour Kits Lists

Extra Clothing/Shoes

If you become wet, having an extra set of dry clothes, jackets, underwear, socks, and shoes would be awesome.

Blankets

Mylar blankets are great, quilts are awesome. Here is a post I wrote about being sure to keep all the blankets and quilts you may have. 6 Reasons To Store Blankets

Cash-Small Bills

If the power is out, the ATMs will be closed and the gas pumps will not work. If you need to buy something, and if anything is available to buy, you will need small bills.

Keep your gas tank at least 3/4 full

Please keep your tanks as full as possible, you don’t want to be in line waiting for gas and then find out the gas pumps are empty.

N-95 Masks

I have so many of these stockpiled because I learned in my C.E.R.T. class that you can never have too many masks. I listened and followed instructions. These are good ones: N-95 Masks

Gloves

I have so many boxes of non-latex gloves, it’s almost embarrassing, but that’s how I roll. I hate germs and bacteria.

Work Gloves

Whenever there are downed trees you will need a good pair of work gloves. Buy a good pair or two and make sure they fit before you have to use them.

Portable Potty

This is one thing I will not share, everyone must have their own porta-potty, thank you very much. Just letting you know ahead of time. Linda’s Portable Toilet

Toilet Paper

Need I say more, we all need it. If your budget allows, pick some up at the store or have it delivered every month. Toilet Paper

Diapers/Baby Bottles/Baby Food

You may not have a baby in your family, but your neighbor may have a baby she is unable to care for after a disaster, and having a few diapers, whether disposable or cloth, would be a blessing. I would need pacifiers for a baby, I raised my girls on pacifiers and they are awesome!

Baby Wipes

Even if the baby wipe contents dry out just fill it with water, they will be great wipes again. Baby Wipes

Paper Towels

I store some paper towels, but I started using these reusable cloth towels to save money. I love that they are thin and I wash them once a week and rarely use paper towels. Thin Reusable Cloth Towels

Hand Sanitizer/Hand Soap

Clean hands, clean hands, clean hands. We have to be able to keep the bacteria under control after a disaster.

Portable Washing Machine

Now, this can be done with buckets, washtubs, or whatever works for you. If we lose power for an extended period of time, I want clean underwear at the very least. Linda’s Portable Washing Machines

Have you seen this one, I bought it a few months ago. It’s awesome. The Lavario Washing Unit (Currently Unavailable)

Clothesline with Clothespins

Here’s the deal, if we lose power for an extended period of time, we will need to wash our clothes and hang them up. Yup, clean underwear at the very least. Here is one Amish large folding dryer I bought a few years ago: Lehman’s Dryer.

Cleaning Supplies

Bleach is #1, and gloves will protect your hands. Plan on storing every cleaning product you like to use. I have all of them, trust me.

Personal hygiene supplies

Toothpaste, toothbrushes, shavers, hand soap, deodorant, and anything that will make you feel awesome after getting dirty cleaning up a muddy house or another unforeseen disaster.

Women/Girls Monthly Menstrual Supplies

Tampons, menstrual pads, even if you don’t need them. I promise, there will be someone who can use them if the store shelves are empty. You can make these beforehand, you may need them, but someone on your street could use them. Homemade Menstrual Pads

Flashlights-one for every family member

Be sure and have batteries if you buy the battery-operated units. Solar ones are great because they don’t need batteries.

First Aid Kit

Linda’s First Aid Kit

Please rotate your over-the-counter and first aid supplies. Replenish as needed.

Phone Chargers

The one in your car will work, or use a solar one. P.S. Keep your phone charged.

Toolbox

Everyone that is handy around the house has a toolbox of some kind. How big and complete it is is up to you, but you know the tools you most often tend to use, so include those and others that could really come in handy. Make sure you know where it is so you’re not having to look all over for it.

Communication is Key

During a hurricane, you’ll for sure want to know what is going on outside your home and community. Having a weather band radio gives you the opportunity to listen to weather reports so you have an understanding of the degree of devastation, particular areas being hit the hardest, and firsthand if it looks like you’ll be directed to evacuate before or during the storm.

I have a hand-crank radio so I don’t have to worry about loss of power issues.

Staying in touch with your neighbors is also important. Having walkie-talkies scattered throughout the neighborhood with families you’ve designated as points for communication is smart. You’ll need to coordinate the channels to use so every family is tuned in properly.

Final Word

I hope we all get one new item this week to add to our hurricane emergency preparedness stash. We will never forget the horrific storms people have dealt with in recent years and previous storms from years past. Thanks again for being prepared for the unexpected. May God Bless this world, Linda

Frank’s Suggestions:

He has family in Puerto Rico. These are the things his family needed after the hurricane. “I have family in Puerto Rico and so my father went down there to help family members and make repairs. In the meantime, my brother and I have been looking for certain items he asked us to send there.

Well, I have spoken to people in person and on the phone at about 8-10 different popular stores and many have told me they were waiting for inventory, some didn’t have the items in any of the Florida stores or they were trying to get things from other stores in other states.

Need Battery Powered Items

And those items are battery-powered fans, battery-powered radios, power inverters, charge controllers, and solar panels which are really things that more advanced or knowledgeable people would have, like preppers or survivalists.

At the same time, our closest Walmart keeps running out of the basics like canned meats and “dry milk,” and also “C” and “D” batteries. And there are things they do have that nobody has requested like flashlights, “AA” or “AAA” batteries, matches, lighters, or water filters.

Over Charge For Shipping

If anybody had asked me I would have told them what to get and to make a list of what they needed BEFORE my father left as I knew it would be a mess. And shipping the stuff…. forget FedEx or those guys.

They’re nice people, but they wanted to charge between $225 to $300 to ship a 35-pound box. The cost of the 3 solar chargers we packaged was $225.

We paid around $60 at the post office, but think what else we could have bought with those $60 some dollars. We had our own problems here and room for improvement, but the point is made again that preparations need to be made BEFORE an emergency comes.

Collect BEFORE The Storm

And with the distance being such an issue, it creates greater difficulty. I am totally sympathetic to the situation, but it makes me mad that people are so neglectful and my father has me running around trying to find things that could have so easily been collected before the storm hit.

I feel an immense surge of frustration and am driven by the urgency to find, buy, and send them the supplies that they need, but it would have lessened their suffering if they had reacted sooner.

For everyone’s own benefit and preservation of life, I wish people would learn from this, and hopefully next time, they’ll be better off, feeling safer and secure knowing they’ll make it and with less discomfort and fear.”

These are the items they needed:

Canned Milk

Canned Meat

“C” and “D” Batteries

Battery-powered fans (plus lots of batteries)

Battery-powered radios (plus lots of batteries)

Power Inverters

Charge Controllers

Solar Panels