POOR RICHARD’S CORNER: STORM WARNING

I see by the news that the tropical storm will skirt the east coast and bring drenching rain starting on Wednesday. While the I-95 corridor looks like a safe bet to get a good hit, we here at the foot of the mountain may or may not get a shot depending on a different front holding the storm more to the south and east of us. But since there is a reasonable possibility of the storms hitting us, the question is, what do I do now as a prepper?

Actually we don’t have much to do. Our gear and plans are fairly well together for this type of situation.  Here’s how it looks for us.

First off, we are too far above the river to be directly affected by flooding, and we have no streams near us. We could get cut off by flash floods covering the roads leading to where we are.

High winds could bring down limbs or trees that could damage the house. We have ropes, tarps and saws ready to deal with that if it happens.

More likely we’d be somewhat affected by the secondary results as follows:

WATER: There could be a boil water affect due to run off. We’re good with our stocked up drinking water and have enough non-drinking for washing even if the water has to be cut off.

FOOD:     The frozen food has frozen water bags around them and some are in mini-coolers with ice packs. The same would be true for cold meats, etc. in the refrigerator if it looks like high winds are predicted. (That’s one small step we can take in minutes as we have the mini coolers and ice packs standing by.) There is plenty of canned and non-perishable foods ready and alternate ways to cook.

SHELTER: Unless a large tree falls on the house, we should have no problem there. If necessary we can sleep in the living room.

FIRST AID: The kits are stocked and standing by as the roads to the hospitals would be blocked or flooded.

ALTERNATE POWER: From flashlights to generator, from ice packs to 12v coolers, from solar to crank powered, we have lights, radios and ways to keep things cool if the power goes out.

FUNDS:  If the banks and ATM’s stay down for a few days, we have a small, but sufficient amount of cash if we need to get something.

SECURITY: We have solid doors and dead bolts (passive security) and sufficient deterrent force items (active security) to deal with any possible looters. Given our location, our little town, our neighbors and our police department, only a fool would try anything around here.

We’re ready for the storm, would you be? If you aren’t and care to learn, we’re here.