It’s quickly becoming hurricane season again in Florida. We had a very close call last year with Matthew so this year we’re getting serious about preparing for the worst.

Evacuating

Now, the ‘worst’ is variable depending on the circumstance. Our first and best plan is to pack everything up and evacuate. We didn’t do a great job of this with Matthew - we planned to go to Tampa but didn’t book the hotel for enough days so we trashed that plan and stayed with my sister-in-law in Orlando. Despite the fact the house was filled with four dogs, two cats, four adults and a two year old it went surprisingly well. Apparently, wind speed dies down significantly with distance so traveling even 60 miles away from the coast meant gusty but manageable winds compared to what happened 10 miles from the coast. The upshot of this lesson is book your hotel far away, significantly in advance and give yourself a comfortable margin of time on either side of the hurricane.

With Matthew we ended up taking two cars to Orlando but I think we can squeeze that down to one. First, our beloved dog died so we save a lot of space that way. Second, I’m going to get a trailer hitch for my wife’s car so we can add a cheap Harbor Freight cargo carrier. We also have a nice roof bag so with the cargo carrier we should have plenty of storage - even if we have to take all of our food and water with us.

There’s still a worse situation than having to leave in a hurry: getting stuck in the path of a hurricane. Our house has good shutters and I learned how to secure everything for the last hurricane. I wouldn’t say there’s no real concern about a hurricane, but I know how to do everything I’m able to to secure the house as best is possible. What I can’t handle as well is being stuck in a house with no power or clean water for a few weeks.

Shelter/Climate Control

We need an air conditioner.

Generator/Power

Small generator - 900W max, 700W running. This will either power the refrigerator or a window air conditioner but not both at the same time. It looks pretty basic, but everyone on Harbor Frieght says it’s capable. After this one, the prices go into the multiple-hundreds. I’ve never owned a generator before so I think I’m going to follow my methodology for such purchases: start small and cheap, work your way through the problems, and understand the maintenance and ‘gotchas’ before graduating

Refrigerator power usage: 700-1000W Window air conditioner power usage: ~500W

Water

In the past I relied on 5-gallon water jugs for our emergency water supply. It was easy because we keep a water cooler, so monthly I’d fill up a rack of eight 5-gallon jugs from Sams. I’d pair this with a nifty little manual pump that I got from Amazon and it should work very well in an emergency.

To Do

  • Call storm shutter company regarding sliding glass door shutter
  • Get quote for flood insurance
  • Buy trailer hitch and cargo carrier
  • Get extra 5 gallon water jugs
  • Research pricing on sandbags
  • Put the Kill-a-Watt on the refrigerator and see how much power it draws
  • Research how to connect the generator to my existing electrical (Without killing myself)
  • Get more gas cans?