I originally had the second part of my Atlanta vacation scheduled to post today, but Hurricane Harvey is approaching and these tips are a bit more useful. If you’ve been keeping an eye on the local news then you know that we have a hurricane coming towards Houston and its surrounding areas. Harvey has grown from a tropical depression to a tropical storm and he’s now a full-fledged hurricane. Now don’t get me wrong, we get our fair share of rain here but we haven’t had this kind of rain this fast since Tropical Storm Allison back in 2001. I checked the projected rainfall in my area and I’m right above 28 inches in a 4-day period. That might not sound like much, but it is for my neck of the woods. My apartment might be on the second floor, but our streets are low and it doesn’t take much for the parking lot and the street leading to my complex to flood.
Like most of the people in this part of the Gulf Coast, I plan on buckling down this weekend and keeping my behind at home. I’ve stocked up on some essentials, and I wanted to share that list with you guys in case you find yourself in a similar situation soon are looking for some ideas.
Water – It’s recommended to get 1 gallon/day/person in the household. You’re more than welcome to head to a local store, but you might come across what happened here yesterday and find nothing on the shelves. I decided to make use of my gallon-sized Brita filter, pitcher, and numerous gym bottles. My water will be filtered, but I won’t have to spend a dime in a store for it.
Food – Canned goods are nice to have, but you might want to diversify things with some protein bars or meal replacement bars. One can only live on canned pasta for so long! Or you can get MREs like they started distributing in Houston during Hurricane Ike in 2008. They didn’t look like much but were pretty good once we heated them up.
Batteries – Get all of the AA, AAA, D and 9 volt batteries you’ll need. Make sure that you have enough for your flashlights, radios and whatever other electronics that take batteries as a backup power source.
Mobile phone bank – Just because you lose power home doesn’t mean that cell phone towers are down. Make sure you have a power bank, and that it’s charged up, for instances like this. I’ve been using this one from Anker since last August and I love it. I bought it for traveling and it’s held strong through many trips and I can get about 5 or 6 recharges off of it.
Medicine/First-Aid – I feel like your personal prescription goes without saying, but make sure you have other pain relievers (ibuprofen, aspirin, acetaminophen, etc.) as well as a stocked first aid kit. Bandages, antiseptic cream/spray, all the fixing.
I hope all of you stay safe this weekend, stay indoors if you don’t have any plans that can’t be changed. Make sure you pull out cash, large and small bills just in case there’s a widespread power outage. Remember cash is king. And if you absolutely have to venture out in the terrible weather, remember to turn around and don’t drown.