Preparing for a Hurricane or Tropical Storm Like Nicole | Tips for Preparedness

Описание: According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data, Hurricane Ian produced 1-in-1000-year rainfall, wind damage, and storm surge. But who are we or NOAA to say that we will get a similar storm next year or the year after?

When it comes to hurricanes, regardless of the category, it is always better to be prepared and safe than sorry. I read social media comments by many who are not familiar with weather events of the magnitude of IAN, asking why people didn't evacuate. Unfortunately, for some people, this is not a choice. Besides, there wasn't a single hotel room available within 200 miles. Without a doubt, lessons were learned, and I hope the tips in this video add to your 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬. Please go through the different chapters and let me know if there is something you guys would like me to address in a future video.

Preparing for a Hurricane Chapters:
00:00 - Preparing for a Hurricane or Tropical Storm
01:54 - Hurricane Evacuation
03:37 - Tips Refrigerator Settings
04:55 - Tips for Generator Size, Usage, and Preparation
07:41 - Gas Cans & Safety

𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 - I have lived through several major hurricanes, including Hurricane Ian, Andrew, Irma, and Hurricane Michael. As a young fellow, hurricane evacuation was never a priority or even on the radar of things to do. On the contrary, a major hurricane was an excuse to have a party, and you are Flo Grown like me. You are well aware of what a hurricane party is all about. However, as I get older, hurricane evacuation is starting to look more attractive. As I said in the video, if you have any mobility issues, can't deadlift your body weight, or have any medical condition evacuating ahead of a large storm like hurricane IAN is something to consider.

𝐓𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐝 - The possibility of power loss during a hurricane is very high, if not guaranteed! Keeping food cold for several days is a huge deal. For years many local TV stations and grocery chains like Publix have printed and distributed a list for hurricane preparedness. These include the obvious and things like water, batteries, flashlights, etc. However, very few of these lists for hurricane preparedness talk about the type of food to buy and how to keep what you have in your fridge cold. The first thing I recommend is turning your refrigerator to a colder setting. However, even if you keep the doors closed, food will only stay safe in the fridge for up to 4 hours - forty-eight hours in a full freezer and twenty-four hours in a half-full freezer. You may have to rely on a generator sooner or later to keep things cold! Knowing the power requirement of your refrigerator goes a long way toward making sure you buy the right generator.

𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 - whether you choose a portable generator or a whole house stand-by unit, investing in a generator is not money wasted. I can see why so many people choose a whole-house stand-by generator, but I personally think they are overkill. Not only do I prefer a portable generator, but I recommend having multiple small units for redundancy. This is also beneficial for managing fuel. One of the things we learned from hurricane IAN was that fuel can be scarce, and finding fuel for generators was sometimes a challenge. And, yes, you can invest in a 300 lbs. underground propane tank but once again a huge expense for a once-in-a-lifetime event. Not only that, but you also need to consider maintenance, a whole-house stand-by generator is not cheap to maintain and requires more maintenance than a portable generator using a glorified lawnmower engine!

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐮𝐞𝐥 & 𝐆𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐬 - As I said in the video, I strongly recommend choosing a gas-powered generator. This is the most reliable and rarely available fuel. Yes, there are several propane-powered or dual-fuel generators in the market today, but I have been disappointed at how much propane they consume. When buying gasoline, it is also important to consider the non-ethanol variety if available. But more critical is gas cans believe it or not! As people realized the morning after hurricane Ian that it would be days, if not weeks, before power was restored, everyone was out hunting for gas cans! For some reason, the local market in the Southwest Florida area got flooded with Scepter 5-Gallon GAS Can. In my opinion, this is one of the worse designs I have ever seen. I mean, the idea is noble, but the execution and quality of craftsmanship are so poor that it prompted me to call them out for a crappy product. It appears to me that they tried to imitate the patented No-Spill 2.5 Gallon Easy GAS Can, but they failed.

When it comes to preparing for a hurricane or tropical storm, there is a lot we can talk about, but these were the most common questions I got asked during hurricane Ian.

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