preparedness

I had a request from a fellow blogger who wanted me to add a little more insight on Hurricanes and preparedness.  Well, here are some thoughts from watching the news about hurricane Ike last night. 

They said that there were at least 500,000 people in the Houston area without power.  The mayor of Houston suggested that the residents consider and prepare for the fact of living without power for at least 5 days.  He said a lot of other things, but that is the one thing that stuck in my mind.  I remember from Hurricane Katrina that we were without power for 5 days--127 hours and believe me, I was counting!  After just a few hours, the food in the fridge becomes questionable as to whether or not it is safe to eat.  The food in the freezer will last for a couple of days IF you do not keep opening the door.  So, think about this...do you know exactly what is in the freezer.  A list of the freezer contents on the outside of the freezer door is a good idea, because every time you open the door, you lose precious cold air.  I also like to keep the freezer full because it will hold the cold longer, too. So, fill a few milk jugs with water to fill in some of those spaces if there are gaps on some of the shelves.  Those will act as giant ice cubes if the power goes out.  They will come in handy if you find yourself without power.   

Another thing that we faced in Hurricane Katrina was that after 2 to 3 days, people started to have food spoil so they took it out to the curb with the trash.  WELL, because of downed trees and power lines, lack of fuel for garbage trucks, and general inability to get the garbage pickup back on schedule, there were  piles of rotting food lining our streets.  Gross.

So, just do what the mayor of Houston has asked of his residents and think about what you would do without power for 5 days...

thoughts and prayers to the folks in Houston