Florida Hurricane preps

[Martin]

Hurricane preparations

In praise of regional shelters and supermarket generators


Give me shelter

Sarasota County has added hurricane shelters, but still faces a critical shortage of space. New, Red Cross-imposed standards require 20 square feet per person, up from 15, according to a recent Herald-Tribune report. That means that Sarasota County, which has a population of 355,000, can only house 26,219 evacuees. That figure seems paltry, especially when you consider that residents of neighboring Charlotte County often head to Sarasota because Charlotte has no Red Cross-approved shelters.

Gov. Jeb Bush is among those who think regional shelters in inland counties would be a better evacuation option. Legislators should seriously consider Bush's request for $16.7 million to create public shelters for an additional 100,000 people and fund a pilot program for regional shelter projects.

Powerless no more

The decision by Publix Super Markets to spend $100 million to equip stores in hurricane-prone areas with generators is good news for Floridians. The effort should pay off in good will and savings in the long run. The chain said it lost $60 million in spoiled food when four hurricanes hit the state in 2004, The Associated Press reported.

Electricity is often out for weeks after a major storm hits. Residents are advised to keep at least a three-day supply of nonperishable food. The Publix decision means that post-storm food shortages likely will be less common.

Long lines -- at gas stations and for tarps, ice and water -- will still be the norm. Floridians can deal with the long waits if they can be sure that something will be left when they get to the front of the line.


http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060316/OPINION/603160498/1030

 

[CelticRose]

Public shelters are good but..... more need to be equipped to accept crated pets...... as I know we prep to bug out WITH our fur child and her preps....... We could not / would not, leave her behind........... ANd I know may others who are like minded.......

 

[JohnGaltfla]

We are so woefully unprepared for "the big one" here in Sarasota County, it's not even funny. Add in Manatee, Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco Counties and you're looking at over 3 million people who are thinking the gubmint will bail them out if the big one heads our way.

You have to imagine an evacuation order like the one in Houston when Rita approached Florida style for our area:

1.5 million elderly drivers moving 10 mph in Oldsmobiles and Buicks with their left turn signals on heading Eastbound towards Orlando and the east coast.

Ain't happening.

God help us.

 

[ofuzzy1]

Good - because Publix would restock the cold stuff ~300 cases per shipment 3x/ week.
These were taken days after the power came back on.

There was a FL state bill to require all gas staions to install gennys, they could deduct the cost from their sales tax collection. It flopped, but is really needed!

 

[day late]

What makes the Fla. situation really bad is location. In Texas, you have three directions you can evac to. West, north and South. Most of Fla. has only one. North. Talk about a traffic jam when "the Big one" comes to town.

 

[lynnie]

I get so tired of the three day chant.

"Electricity is often out for weeks after a major storm hits. Residents are advised to keep at least a three-day supply of nonperishable food."

Power might be out for weeks so be ready for three days. Uh huh....brilliant.

 

[JohnGaltfla]

I get so tired of the three day chant.

"Electricity is often out for weeks after a major storm hits. Residents are advised to keep at least a three-day supply of nonperishable food."

Power might be out for weeks so be ready for three days. Uh huh....brilliant.

One of my friends, 50 miles inland from the coast in Arcadia, was without power for a month after Charlie.

So don't believe a thing about rapid power restoration, etc. when it comes to Florida Flicker and Light (FPL) or the gubmint.

 

[Doc1]

3 days, eh?

Three days? After Katrina, it was 11 WEEKS before I got mains power back and there were many in the county who had to wait much longer.
Generators are great, especially diesel gennies, but one thing everyone should have - even if you can't afford or don't want to deal with a gennie - is one or two inverters. Inverters have come down in price significantly in recent years.
These allow you to turn your car or truck into a generator by converting the vehicle's 12 volt DC current into 115 volt AC.
There's no such thing as a free lunch and so it is with inverters. You can't get more energy out than you put in. What this means is that if you have a small alternator, no matter how large your inverter is, you're not going to be able to run heavy loads (except possibly briefly, when the inverter can draw down some of your battery's stored energy).
In the case of many vehicles, a higher output alternator is a straight bolt in swap and is not too expensive. In other cases, it's a big job. Most garages or auto parts stores can tell you if a high output alternator is available for you vehicle. Definitely worth checking out. Match your alternator to your inverter's needs.
Even if a drop in replacement is not available, all is not lost if you're able to fabricate your own mounts for a different alternator, or are willing to pay someone to do it.
As some of you know, we have all diesel vehicles and I installed inverter systems in our Bug Out Bus and my little Isuzu pickup. The bus installation was the easiest and, ironically, is the smaller system of the two. It has a stock Delcotron 100 amp alternator ( I had a larger alternator on it, but had to change it), a battery isolator, battery bank and a 1500 watt/3000 watt surge inverter. The little pickup has a monster system including second 200 amp alternator and 3000/6000 watt inverter. The pickup system was much harder to install, as I had to fabricate the mount and fabricate and machine the idler pulley arrangement.
I used the pickup truck as a generator after Katrina and it sat idling (off and on) for weeks providing power, when I lived on our property in the bus. The extra work setting it up was worth it.

Best regards
Doc

 

[ejagno]

Lynnie, you are right. Three days is foolish. I was hit by Rita on 09/24/05 and did not have legal (rigged our own while waiting on our utility co) electricity until November. No, I don't live in the middle of nowhere. All of my lines where wrapped up in metal roofing and the entire house had to be rewired for electricity, cable, phone and ethernet. Sure they say three days but even our government buildings were not accessible to get electricity to them for well over a week. It just doesn't make sense.

I had enough preps to see my family through a year without shopping. What I didn't count on was it all being destroyed because I didn't have the room in my little vehicle to bring it with me when I evacuated. Preppers, it does no good to work so hard to accumulate all of this if you can't use it.

 

[SmokeyBear]

Public shelters are good but..... more need to be equipped to accept crated pets...... as I know we prep to bug out WITH our fur child and her preps....... We could not / would not, leave her behind........... ANd I know may others who are like minded.......

Exactly! I applaud Florida for recognizing the importance of bringing pets to shelters, yet I see from your quote that more needs to be done.

Also, other states need to follow Florida's lead on this crucial issue.

 

[drafter]

I get so tired of the three day chant.

"Electricity is often out for weeks after a major storm hits. Residents are advised to keep at least a three-day supply of nonperishable food."

Power might be out for weeks so be ready for three days. Uh huh....brilliant.

I have a hard time imagining that everybody doesn't already have a measly three days worth of food stuck in the back of the pantry. Do these people eat at McD's for every meal or something?

 

[teefleur]

Florida Hurricane preps

... sigh... Nebraska.

And hurricane season begins in just 2 and a half months....

 

[barb43]

I have a hard time imagining that everybody doesn't already have a measly three days worth of food stuck in the back of the pantry. Do these people eat at McD's for every meal or something?

I think you'd be amazed at how many people in America do eat out almost every meal. We have plenty of friends who skip breakfast, eat out for lunch because they don't want to eat sandwiches at their desks, and then eat out for dinner because 1) the kids are grown and it's just one or a couple at home and they don't want to cook or 2) the kids are small and have a ball game, dance, church, etc. so there's no time to go home and cook once they pick them up from extended day at school, etc., etc.

It's really common . . . So, no, i don't think a lot of folks anywhere across the US are really prepped with 3-days to 2-weeks of food on hand, sad as that is.

 

[wasabell]

I have a hard time imagining that everybody doesn't already have a measly three days worth of food stuck in the back of the pantry. Do these people eat at McD's for every meal or something?

As a former Walmart cashier, I've seen folks buying their groceries. They consist of about 80 (not kidding) various types frozen TV dinner, frozen breakfasts, frozen snacks, ice cream, chips. One family added to that: 1 onion (thats right), and a bag of oranges. I quipped "At least you won't be getting scurvey"...They laughed.

I guess some people dont cook anymore.

I still dont know what the onion was for

 

[drafter]

I guess I should consider myself lucky that we don't live close enough to town to get pizza delivery.

 

[hitssquad]

One family added to that: 1 onion (thats right) [...] I still dont know what the onion was for

School science project.