Be Prepared

As a Florida Native, I've lived through many a hurricane and tropical storm.  So, rather than talk about shoes or clothes, I'm going to share a few personal tips.

1. Never leave your pets.

Our last year in Florida we had 4 hurricanes go through our area in 6 weeks.  Category 3s.  We did not leave our pets.  We lost power.  It was a pain.  I still would never have left, because many shelters still don't allow pets.  This is my personal POV but I would never leave my pets to fend for themselves.  Especially seeing all of what happened in Katrina.

Here is a Pets and Disaster checklist from the Red Cross.

Here is a list of places you can evacuate to in NYC for the storm from the ASPCA.

USE THEM!

2. You should save water and have food.  Fill up your freezer now with containers of water.  It will help keep it cold should the power go out for a bit and you can drink it later.

3. Batteries, candles, flashlights, fans - yep!  But be careful with the matches.

4. If power goes out, assume water from the tap is not safe to drink.  Water treatment stations are probably without water too.

5. You can still cook on a gas stove (possibly) even if the electricity goes out.  Stay safe too!

6. Texts go through easier than calls.

7. Do you have a battery operated radio?  How will you know what is going on if the Internet and power is out?

8. Towels are multi-purpose

9. No power or water?  May want to consider the old adage "if it's yellow, let it mellow...".   You'll only get so many tank refills.  JUST SAYIN!

10. Make friends with your neighbors.  You can pool your resources and help you cook and eat all the food that's about get spoiled.  If you fridge goes about 50 degrees for any significant amount of time animal-based foods will be risky. Great time to go vegan!

Need advice?  Let me know.  The hours before the storm are the most boring part.  There is only so much the TV stations can say that they haven't said 50 times in the last hour.