#hurricaneprep

Like many in Florida, I am remembering the not-so-distant past experience with Hurricane Irma. In my Monday morning quarterbacking after that storm, I found areas where I did something right, intentionally or not, and others where I got to say, “Oh. NOW I get it.” All the official advice just didn't sink in until I got a taste of the real deal.  Irma was a huge pain and inconvenience for several weeks, but nothing in my area took lives or put us in imminent danger. I realize now, though, how unprepared I was if it had. I am grateful for no property damage or bodily injury, and a chance to do a better job next time. I love camping and have been doing it since I was little, but I take way more time preparing for camping trips than I did for the last hurricane. So as we stare down another record storm season, below are four (of many) lessons I didn’t expect to learn from Irma. Checklist Confusion What I Thought I Did Right: When Irma was one week out, I dug up all the hurricane checklists I had and took inventory. But I became confused about which lists were for leaving town, for staying at home, and for going to a shelter/friend’s home. I never thought I wouldn’t know which it was going to be. Leaving was not a simple option; neither was staying. As we debated, I bounced between the checklists, creating triple the preparation anxiety. NOW I Get It: This could have been avoided with a kit prepared in advance for each option. (We ended up bringing over my 92-year-old mother-in-law, staying in our barely-non-evacuation zone home, shuttered and sandbagged to the max.) Lesson #1: Prepare the kits. Decide early on stay-or-go, and stick with it. Flashlights What I Did Right: All the checklists say, “Flashlight.” I dug up as many flashlights as I could find. I checked the batteries. I replaced the batteries in the ones that didn’t work. The worst of the storm was to come at night, so before bed, I placed one on my bedside table and one on the kitchen counter underneath the light switch. NOW I Get It #1: I quickly realized I was running low on batteries. Unfortunately I waited until the day before the hurricane to check my flashlights, and the batteries were gone from the store shelves five days before that. NOW I Get It #2: When I thought about needing a flashlight, I imagined when the power has gone out before – it would be a handy supplement to dim natural light. What actually happened was the power went out in the middle of the night; the clouds were too thick for moonlight (and there was a new moon, so no mooonlight anyway), and even then, the hurricane shutters blocked out any sliver of light there might have been otherwise. My house was a cave. I could not see my hand in front of my face.…