Hurricane Preparedness

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AmericaFirst

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New to the beach life, I have never been in a Hurricane. Do y’all recommend stocking anything other then basic storm stuff( flashlight battery, etc)? Do the storms done here cause more lasting damage or outage of services?
 
Welcome to the coast!

Here’s a good resource on what you may need and some basic guidance.

Plan. Prepare. Stay Informed. | Ready NC

www.readync.gov www.readync.gov

Where I am, flooding usually surrounds us, so we make sure to stock up on the necessities, like propane for the cookers, etc. Something some folks don't think of, but if the powers out, make sure you have plenty of games for the kiddos, otherwise everyone is stir crazy.
 
dlee12 said:
Welcome to the coast!

Here’s a good resource on what you may need and some basic guidance.

Plan. Prepare. Stay Informed. | Ready NC

www.readync.gov www.readync.gov

Where I am, flooding usually surrounds us, so we make sure to stock up on the necessities, like propane for the cookers, etc. Something some folks don't think of, but if the powers out, make sure you have plenty of games for the kiddos, otherwise everyone is stir crazy.
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Currently live in an apart on the fourth floor. If flooding represents a sizable threat to me, then I hope you have an Arch.
 
AmericaFirst said:
New to the beach life, I have never been in a Hurricane. Do y’all recommend stocking anything other then basic storm stuff( flashlight battery, etc)? Do the storms done here cause more lasting damage or outage of services?
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Either one or both. A difference between a minimal cat 1 and a max cat 5. You should prepare accordingly; have a plan for each. You could 'ride out' a tropical storm or a cat 1, but a cat 3 is a whole 'nother cat.

The link in the second post is good. Non-perishable, easy to open food; bottled water, batteries, flashlights, battery-op radio, full tank of gas, extra cash and meds. A plan to create a bug-out bag if it goes from "this cat 1 isn't going to hit us" to "this cat 5 is going to slam us" overnight. It happens.

Fourth floor of a building during a big storm, that might not be enough.
 
Insurance, don't wait, get it now.

Plan on a path out of there.
If it's going to hit on top of you, head southwest.
Scout out where you are going to go and make several plans/paths to get there.
 
A way to heat food / boil water (propane grill / burner ) fuel source for that
A small generator for fridge , fans and lights - plenty of gas cans full
Batteries for handheld lights
Extra water
Basic med kit , make sure any required prescriptions aren’t going to run out

If you have trees nearby keep a way to cut limbs that may fall

If you have gas saws and generators- now is the time to make sure they run and function

A little late for this but I would check local flood plane maps - talk to neighbors that have been in the area for years to see how high , bad recent storms have been. Talk to somebody at the fire dept too for this reason as well or your local emergency management station.

We have sheltered in place for every storm in the last 20 years
 
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Some good points made by all. I was thinking about this today. One thing I learned the hard way last time is to have a small compressor of some sort to air up tires. During Florence we were cut off and I ran over something that caused a slow leak. I have a large compressor at my business but aside from a cheap 12v I had no way to pump up my tire after I plugged it. It was not the end of the world as I used a farm truck in the interim but it could have been a bad situation. Now I have a few Viaair off-road compressors and a pancake that I can run off my generators.

For comfort at night we keep several of the battery operated fans that Wal Mart sells in the camping sections. I’ll probably replace those with Dewalt 20v fans as they’re more powerful and I’d rather deal with rechargeables than a bunch of Alkaline batteries.

Fuel started to become a problem during Florence and while I store more now also I’ve added a 2200 watt inverter generator that will run a long time on a gallon of fuel. It’s great for fridges and freezers when I don’t want to run a larger one.

If you’re considering a whole house generator running on propane also consider the fuel consumption. My FIL has a 13kw and during Florence carefully managing running it he managed to stretch a 100 gallon tank to the limit. If it would have been one day longer he’d have been out. A lot of people are running larger 18-22kw units and I’d imagine consumption is quite a bit more. Consider what you need to get by and what you can do without.
 
Chuckman said:
Either one or both. A difference between a minimal cat 1 and a max cat 5. You should prepare accordingly; have a plan for each. You could 'ride out' a tropical storm or a cat 1, but a cat 3 is a whole 'nother cat.

The link in the second post is good. Non-perishable, easy to open food; bottled water, batteries, flashlights, battery-op radio, full tank of gas, extra cash and meds. A plan to create a bug-out bag if it goes from "this cat 1 isn't going to hit us" to "this cat 5 is going to slam us" overnight. It happens.
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This ^^^. Also get some background information. Read all you can about Fran (’96), Floyd (’99), and Florence (2018) for worst-case scenarios. Have a plan for that. I applaud you for your interest in mitigating a problem beforehand. Three days before is not the time to go look for camp stoves and water storage devices.

ronn47 said:
Plan on a path out of there.
If it's going to hit on top of you, head southwest.
Scout out where you are going to go and make several plans/paths to get there.
Click to expand...

Good rule of thumb here ^^^. By the time the storm is 12 hours from landfall, you should have a good gut-instinct as to whether you want to ride it out in Myrtle or ride it out elsewhere. Keep in mind that you may be high and dry on the 4th floor, but you can also find yourself high and dry with no power, no water, and no way to reach safety due to the roads being flooded/damaged ½ mile away from you.

In regards to storm forecasting, to help me separate the wheat from the chaff, I like to use the Tropical Weather Outlook graph on the National Hurricane Center website. It may become your new best friend: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gtwo.php?basin=atlc&fdays=5

The ReadyNC website mentioned in previous posts is where I'd begin if I were in your shoes. The "Plan and Prepare" drop down menu at the top of the page is an excellent starting point.

Again, kudos to you for not sticking your head in the sand. "Hope" is never a plan. You may not see a significant storm for years to come, but if you live in the NC/SC coastal regions, it is never "if", it is always "when".

But mostly, enjoy every day down there in the Low Country!
 
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