tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Sept 5, 2017 23:30:58 GMT -5
I think it's good for people to prepare ahead of time. I don't think people should panic while prepping unless they are extremely unprepared. It really should be something you have already made/mostly made (minus the perishables). I am slowly building an emergency kit. We're generally well stocked for hurricane provisions. The two things we need to get within the week before the hurricane arrives is: 1) Gas. Although we have 20 gallons of extra gas storage in portable cans available, gas doesn't store well. So about 5-7 days in advance of a hurricane, we not only top up the tanks in the cars but we also fill the portable gas cans. 2) Bottled water. I hate to buy bottled water. Not only does the plastic taste nasty to me but I think it's a type of environmental sin. So that's another thing I buy 5-7 days out. That's normally plenty of time. To be safe, I probably should just keep some empty gallon containers around that I can fill with tap water the day before the hurricane; I just don't have much storage space so haven't done that until now. A few five gallon buckets from Home Depot will store a lot of water. And they nest for storage until the next time you need them, unlike plastic gallon(milk) containers.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Sept 6, 2017 5:59:55 GMT -5
I'm freezing water bottles to keep my frig cold. I'm sure I should eat all my ice cream immediately so I don't lose it. Regardless of where that storm heads, I'll lose power. My cousin in Coral Gables didn't leave and her kids are furious. My guest room will be ready Thursday so I offered. Of course she'd have to get here and that's quite a drive.
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ilovedolphins
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Post by ilovedolphins on Sept 6, 2017 9:21:07 GMT -5
My son moved to Orlando two months ago. This is his first experience with hurricane weather. He said people at work were telling him that Publix and Walmart were out of bottled water. He is going to go tonight and see if he can find some and get his tank full of gas. This will be a new experience for him.
I looked at Amazon Prime Pantry and was going to send him a food box but it won't get there till Monday. And Walmart.com says 2 day shipping but they say it won't get there till next week. My daughter and son in law have a Disney vacation book for 10 days starting Sept 14 so I hope it doesn't hit hard.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Sept 6, 2017 9:52:16 GMT -5
My son moved to Orlando two months ago. This is his first experience with hurricane weather. He said people at work were telling him that Publix and Walmart were out of bottled water. He is going to go tonight and see if he can find some and get his tank full of gas. This will be a new experience for him. I looked at Amazon Prime Pantry and was going to send him a food box but it won't get there till Monday. And Walmart.com says 2 day shipping but they say it won't get there till next week. My daughter and son in law have a Disney vacation book for 10 days starting Sept 14 so I hope it doesn't hit hard. Your son might have a better chance of finding bottled water in food stores if he checks in the morning before going to work as restocking of shelf goods (at least where I live) occurs during the overnight hours.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Sept 6, 2017 10:53:23 GMT -5
5 gallon buckets work well - but so do Kitty Litter pails (and those are usually plentiful if you know someone with cats). When the city turned off the water for 8 hours a day (for 3 days) while they were making repairs to the water lines (the City sent letters, phone calls, had meetings, notified EVERYONE a head of time) the Pails came in handy to store water to be used to flush the toilet and/or to wash hands/dishes. Pitchers of water (or bottled water) were for drinking/cooking.
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justme
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Post by justme on Sept 6, 2017 11:09:09 GMT -5
They've lost their damn minds. All Florida chill is gone. And the damn thing just moved off shore. I need to buy booze.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 6, 2017 11:35:57 GMT -5
5 gallon buckets work well - but so do Kitty Litter pails (and those are usually plentiful if you know someone with cats). When the city turned off the water for 8 hours a day (for 3 days) while they were making repairs to the water lines (the City sent letters, phone calls, had meetings, notified EVERYONE a head of time) the Pails came in handy to store water to be used to flush the toilet and/or to wash hands/dishes. Pitchers of water (or bottled water) were for drinking/cooking. When we lived in FL, my mom used to fill both bathtubs with water for flushing the toilet and washing up. She had separate jugs for drinking water.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Sept 6, 2017 12:17:56 GMT -5
I've never had a tub "plug" that would keep water in the tub long term - worked fine for baths (or to keep water in the tub for a couple of hours - like when you were washing the window blinds and maybe wanted to let them soak for bit before you started wiping them down). The water always slowly drains out of the tub
That's why the pails are my go to choice for storing water - the buckets don't leak
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Sept 6, 2017 12:44:28 GMT -5
I'm freezing water bottles to keep my frig cold. I'm sure I should eat all my ice cream immediately so I don't lose it. Regardless of where that storm heads, I'll lose power. My cousin in Coral Gables didn't leave and her kids are furious. My guest room will be ready Thursday so I offered. Of course she'd have to get here and that's quite a drive. You should definitely eat all your ice cream now! 😉
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Sept 6, 2017 12:46:03 GMT -5
I'm freezing water bottles to keep my frig cold. I'm sure I should eat all my ice cream immediately so I don't lose it. Regardless of where that storm heads, I'll lose power. My cousin in Coral Gables didn't leave and her kids are furious. My guest room will be ready Thursday so I offered. Of course she'd have to get here and that's quite a drive. You should definitely eat all your ice cream now! 😉 I'll start tonight. It's important to not waste food. 😂
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dee27
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Post by dee27 on Sept 6, 2017 12:51:50 GMT -5
My cousin and his wife are leaving today. Several of my friends are hunkering down in place, and one lives close to the beach and the other has a spouse with health problems. I would have left a few days ago since they have friends/relatives to stay with away from the fray, but roads are now clogged and flights are full.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2017 13:19:16 GMT -5
We eat all our ice cream right away because you never know when you're going to get a power outage.
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Sept 6, 2017 13:21:17 GMT -5
I eat all my ice cream right away because the movie only lasts two hours.
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justme
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Post by justme on Sept 6, 2017 13:28:48 GMT -5
Got four bottles of wine. Probably will need to refill before the storm gets here. 😉
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Sept 6, 2017 13:59:57 GMT -5
Truer words were never spoken Have you seen the commercial where he's on vacation and everyone that sees him runs screaming and he gets the beach to himself?
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Sept 6, 2017 14:02:42 GMT -5
Irma has freaked out the northern Gulf coast too. I went in to Walmart for 2 things (ok, 3 but I forgot one) and you'd think she was sitting 100 miles directly south of us. I know it's a big one and the forecast cone does still show possibilities of her visiting us but for the love of everything, people, I just want a few groceries!!!
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NancysSummerSip
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Post by NancysSummerSip on Sept 6, 2017 14:53:28 GMT -5
Finished prepping the patio stuff and put down some of the shutters. Taking a short break and waiting for the next advisory before heading back outside.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Sept 6, 2017 15:17:38 GMT -5
Our weather is bass ackwards. Drizzle this morning and sun this afternoon
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Sept 6, 2017 16:45:35 GMT -5
Wondering about TheHaitian 's family in Haiti. Hope they're prepared for Irma if they live in an area due to be hit hard. This thing is really scary!
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countrygirl2
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Post by countrygirl2 on Sept 6, 2017 19:40:37 GMT -5
We buy 5 gallon water bottles from Lowes for our water dispenser. Might be hard to find water about now or gas. You can put gas stabilizer in gas and keep it a long time. We do that in the mowers and boats for the winter.
I always keep extra water around, but then I keep food for the zombie apocalypse! I have 60 pounds of flour containers of sugar, pounds and pounds of beans, 30 pounds of sugarright now, all kinds of pasta, canned foods, both home canned and purchased. Just bought a huge box of Bisquick and 5 bottles of syrup. Dehydrating apples a neighbor gave me tonight and going to can pie apples likely Friday. Of course in a Florida situation all my frozen foods in the freezers wouldn't do much good if I couldn't run the generators for several hours each day.
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suesinfl
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Post by suesinfl on Sept 6, 2017 21:04:28 GMT -5
It was nuts in town today. People cutting in line at the gas pumps, honking at people in the turning lane, etc. The line at the pumps were crazy on the way to DS's football game.
I came home the same way and there were only a couple of cars there. I stopped at Dollar General and there were two people in the store and the shelves were not bare, unlike yesterday.
It looks like it's going up the east coast, so I'll have rain and wind. I'm not going crazy with buying food, water, etc. I'll wait till Friday to see where they "think" it's going.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Sept 7, 2017 8:26:06 GMT -5
I found a weather guy who isn't hysterical and that's who I follow. Follow Denis Phillips.
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milee
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Post by milee on Sept 7, 2017 8:31:17 GMT -5
DH just tried to get gas - 7 stations and none had any. Not sure if any are expecting more gas later today, but probably at least some will get more gas. We have a driving population that contains more than the normal amount of 80+ year olds and tourists, so bad driving is fairly normal here. But the last few days people have been driving even worse than normal (which prior to now seemed impossible.) It's not even raining but people look like they're dazed, shell-shocked and vacant. Crazy.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Sept 7, 2017 8:32:27 GMT -5
It's watching the tv that does it.
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swamp
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THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
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Post by swamp on Sept 7, 2017 11:26:58 GMT -5
I just texted my sister, she lives in an evacuation zone. They have waterfront property. She and her husband have to stay because they need to be available for work. I'm worried.
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justme
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Post by justme on Sept 7, 2017 11:30:58 GMT -5
I just texted my sister, she lives in an evacuation zone. They have waterfront property. She and her husband have to stay because they need to be available for work. I'm worried. Are they on the west coast? Unless the storm track changes west coast won't get storm surge.
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swamp
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THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
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Post by swamp on Sept 7, 2017 11:32:51 GMT -5
I just texted my sister, she lives in an evacuation zone. They have waterfront property. She and her husband have to stay because they need to be available for work. I'm worried. Are they on the west coast? Unless the storm track changes west coast won't get storm surge. yes. I've never been through a hurricane and don't know much about who gets the storm surge. I'm happy to hear that.
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justme
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Post by justme on Sept 7, 2017 11:38:26 GMT -5
Are they on the west coast? Unless the storm track changes west coast won't get storm surge. yes. I've never been through a hurricane and don't know much about who gets the storm surge. I'm happy to hear that. Most of it comes where it goes on shore near the eye. The west side of the storm has south winds, so for most places that pushes the water back out. The east has the north winds - which utterly kills Tampa Bay when hurricanes come in from the Gulf cuz it pushes water into the bay and floods everything. Plus the left side of hurricanes is always weaker (save for the area right by the eye).
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milee
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Post by milee on Sept 7, 2017 11:40:56 GMT -5
I just texted my sister, she lives in an evacuation zone. They have waterfront property. She and her husband have to stay because they need to be available for work. I'm worried. I know roughly where your sis lives and she shouldn't get storm surge if the current models hold and the hurricane eye makes landfall on the east coast near Miami. If it moves west, then she (and I) might be in trouble as far as surge goes. I suspect she's actually riverfront there, not Gulf front. If so, even without storm surge flooding is a huge possibility with any of the potential storm tracks. This hurricane is huge, so the rain extends over 100 miles from the eye. That will huge amounts of rain over 100% of Florida. The river she's on will flood, just no way to tell how high it will get. Also, that area is right near where they got 15" of rain over 2 days a few weekends ago so things are still pretty damp...
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swamp
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THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
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Post by swamp on Sept 7, 2017 11:43:59 GMT -5
I just texted my sister, she lives in an evacuation zone. They have waterfront property. She and her husband have to stay because they need to be available for work. I'm worried. I know roughly where your sis lives and she shouldn't get storm surge if the current models hold and the hurricane eye makes landfall on the east coast near Miami. If it moves west, then she (and I) might be in trouble as far as surge goes. I suspect she's actually riverfront there, not Gulf front. If so, even without storm surge flooding is a huge possibility with any of the potential storm tracks. This hurricane is huge, so the rain extends over 100 miles from the eye. That will huge amounts of rain over 100% of Florida. The river she's on will flood, just no way to tell how high it will get. Also, that area is right near where they got 15" of rain over 2 days a few weekends ago so things are still pretty damp... Yes, she is riverfront. They've since moved from their old house in NW Bradenton, where they did get storm surges, but their house was far enough back that it has only made it up to the backdoor.
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