Necessity, Mother To Both Ingenuity and Invention
We took a direct hit from Gustav last year and we were better prepared because we were in the Hurricane Rita Evacuation and had ample opportunity to learn from our mistakes. What made the Rita evacuation so difficult, it took three days to travel a couple hundred miles,was that Hurricane Katrina instilled so much fear in everyone that everyone decided to beat traffic and take everything they owned with them that wasn’t tied down. Well when everyone decides to beat traffic then you are guaranteeing gridlock and that is just what occurred.
The Gustav evacuation had its own problems like almost every hotel and motel in Texas and Louisiana was filled to capacity and we had no family close enough to stay with who were not evacuating themselves.
Our preparations consisted of taking two vehicles buying two prepaid cell phones for long distance communication and walkie talkies with a five mile range for short communication between vehicles or in case the cell service was down or became overwhelmed which is very likely to occur. We initially stayed at a motel that was still within the evacuation area but far enough away from the storm surge threat to use as a staging point to monitor the hurricanes movements and plan our next course of action. We now keep extra food and water on hand year round so that a rush to the store to get rapidly dwindling supplies is not necessary. We try to keep our vehicles fueled up during hurricane season so acquiring fuel by waiting in long line sat filling stations is also no longer necessary.
Our survival pack consist of mosquito netting, tents , solar powered fans, camp stove and fuel and of-course food and water.Future considerations, hurricane season is right around the corner, might be purchasing those vacuum seal-able space bags to store clothes and various other belongings that should not get wet and we would not take with us, we might even consider devising a way to keep whatever electronics we can’t take with us dry as well. Provided the place we are staying in doesn’t get completely demolished and washed out to sea they will be there and dry when we return. One might even consider adding RF tags to your waterproofed belongings to, in case they have been displaced due to high wind and storm surge. Back up all your memorabilia on-line if possible so you won’t lose those treasured memories which are the only thing you can’t replace.
To all of us that find themselves in the same boat, so to speak, please consider events such as these as opportunities to gain knowledge and experience so that you may help yourselves and your neighbors through all future challenges.
