It's Hurricane Time Again!
Bend Over And Kiss Your Ass GOODBYE!!!
Once again, my friends, we're in that silly season of multiple tropical storms named for Lower Slobbovian immigrants, tracking any puff of clouds that appears in the South Atlantic with a micrometer, and hoping like hell a Cat 5 hurricane doesn't slide right up the Houston Ship Channel and punch the high hard one up our collective wazoo.
If you're a resident of the Gulf Coast, and you haven't started gathering your emergency kit and making plans to exit the flood zone in a forthright and rapid fashion, you should really get to it. Stock up on bottled water, prescription medicines, emergency rations, pet food, etc. and be ready to get the hell out.
This goes double for you folks with mobility issues or dependency on powered gadgets to keep you breathing/excreting/eating. I know, Reliant Energy has a program to keep power flowing to the houses of those equipped with iron lungs, etc., but when a bus lands on the Reliant call center and knocks the phones out, you're not getting through, and at that point, you're basically phucked.
Let me make that point abundantly clear one more time. If you live in the floodplain, and you rely on the Fed, State, County or Local government to ensure your safety and comfort during a major storm...
YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!!
You HAVE to take responsibility for your own evacuation and survival, it's that simple. If you rely upon the kindness of strangers, you might be OK, but more likely you'll have a group of concerned strangers in a electricity-free emergency shelter staring at you helplessly as you painfully expire as your last ventilator battery runs out or your unrefrigerated insulin explodes your pancreas.
I met a nice lady the other day at one of the many Emergency Preparedness meetings and briefings for citizens I attend this time of year. She uses a ventilator and a powered wheelchair, and without a reliable source of power, she can't move or take a breath. This lady (who I'll call Dorothy Vader, her vent rig's kinda noisy) has a 10 day supply of batteries for her scooter/breather, as well as a portable genny capable of recharging them all. Plus, she's got people committed to getting her evacuated if necessary, backups for those people, and backups for those backups.
That kind of preparation ain't cheap, but at some point you need to decide what's more important, a steak dinner next Friday night, or the supplies needed to keep you alive when the alligators come sailing in your front window on a stiff breeze.
There's some links below to helpful sites that can assist you in preparing for the worst. Keep in mind that after the hurricane season dies down, you can use all the consumables in your emergency kit and restock again next year.
Remember, all you Houston bloggers... When the fit hits the shan and the water starts rising, we're all meeting up at Miss Feisty's place up in the hills. Out of all the bloggers on my sidebar, her recipes are the tastiest. Might as well eat like a king while you're a refugee!
(OK, Jingles, put the chef's knife down... I'm really going to my sister's place down the road!)
Red Cross Disaster Supplies Kit
Disaster Preparedness for People with Disabilities
The City Of Houston Emergency Plan
FEMA Guide to Citizen Preparedness
Once again, my friends, we're in that silly season of multiple tropical storms named for Lower Slobbovian immigrants, tracking any puff of clouds that appears in the South Atlantic with a micrometer, and hoping like hell a Cat 5 hurricane doesn't slide right up the Houston Ship Channel and punch the high hard one up our collective wazoo.
If you're a resident of the Gulf Coast, and you haven't started gathering your emergency kit and making plans to exit the flood zone in a forthright and rapid fashion, you should really get to it. Stock up on bottled water, prescription medicines, emergency rations, pet food, etc. and be ready to get the hell out.
This goes double for you folks with mobility issues or dependency on powered gadgets to keep you breathing/excreting/eating. I know, Reliant Energy has a program to keep power flowing to the houses of those equipped with iron lungs, etc., but when a bus lands on the Reliant call center and knocks the phones out, you're not getting through, and at that point, you're basically phucked.
Let me make that point abundantly clear one more time. If you live in the floodplain, and you rely on the Fed, State, County or Local government to ensure your safety and comfort during a major storm...
YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!!
You HAVE to take responsibility for your own evacuation and survival, it's that simple. If you rely upon the kindness of strangers, you might be OK, but more likely you'll have a group of concerned strangers in a electricity-free emergency shelter staring at you helplessly as you painfully expire as your last ventilator battery runs out or your unrefrigerated insulin explodes your pancreas.
I met a nice lady the other day at one of the many Emergency Preparedness meetings and briefings for citizens I attend this time of year. She uses a ventilator and a powered wheelchair, and without a reliable source of power, she can't move or take a breath. This lady (who I'll call Dorothy Vader, her vent rig's kinda noisy) has a 10 day supply of batteries for her scooter/breather, as well as a portable genny capable of recharging them all. Plus, she's got people committed to getting her evacuated if necessary, backups for those people, and backups for those backups.
That kind of preparation ain't cheap, but at some point you need to decide what's more important, a steak dinner next Friday night, or the supplies needed to keep you alive when the alligators come sailing in your front window on a stiff breeze.
There's some links below to helpful sites that can assist you in preparing for the worst. Keep in mind that after the hurricane season dies down, you can use all the consumables in your emergency kit and restock again next year.
Remember, all you Houston bloggers... When the fit hits the shan and the water starts rising, we're all meeting up at Miss Feisty's place up in the hills. Out of all the bloggers on my sidebar, her recipes are the tastiest. Might as well eat like a king while you're a refugee!
(OK, Jingles, put the chef's knife down... I'm really going to my sister's place down the road!)
Red Cross Disaster Supplies Kit
Disaster Preparedness for People with Disabilities
The City Of Houston Emergency Plan
FEMA Guide to Citizen Preparedness
posted by El Capitan | 4:38 PM
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