Cheap ways to prepare for hurricane season?

[Amy752]

Last year we got socked -- waited til the last minute and spent a ton on bottled water, non-perishable food, batteries, etc. This year I am trying to start early (but hurricane season is less than 100 days away - YUCK!). I am trying to buy and stock up on canned goods and stuff when they're on sale. I'm also saving and cleaning out all of our milk jugs so we can use them for water instead of buying bottled. Any other ideas?

[cercis]

I don't know Amy.

Using your freezer to store water will help. You can fill the milk jugs (but beware, the plastic degrades fairly quickly). Unused bottles will help to keep your food from spoiling.

For radios and flashlights, buy ones that don't need batteries. We have 2 flashlights that you charge by shaking and a radio that cranks up (and is solar powered as well).

Start now buying long shelf-life foods (they don't have to be canned foods).

My biggest fear with a hurricane is not being able to evacuate. We have 2 roads out of the valley, how quickly will they become congested? My friends in Houston sat on the road for 36 hours just to get to Dallas. If the hurricane hadn't turned, they would have been sitting ducks.

[frugalfarmwife]

Yikes I feel for you guys being in hurricane country, we're in tornado country and although I'm not thrilled with them I'll take them over hurricanes and earth quakes any day!

kj

[cercis]

Yeah, KJ. I grew up in OK. Tornadoes I get. They come, they go. No real prep needed (because if you prep and it hits you, well, all your water and food are gone).

I don't miss the ice storms though. Nope, not at all.

[frugalfarmwife]

I've lived here for 42 years and the closest tornados have been within a mile and no one has been killed, just trees down and minor home damages, fences etc. My mom said that about 50 years ago one went through downtown and took out a bank.

The ice isn't that bad, but these dreary March days with no sun are REALLY getting to me this year, ugh.

kj

[cercis]

I think the closest I got to a tornado was probably within a few hundred yards (not within eyesight, but in the hills of OK, they don't have to be that far away). Those were always while I was in the car.

At home, the closest I got was 50 blocks or so.

The ice storms bother me because we lose power for days on end. Then the water pipes freeze (the pipes coming from the treatment plant, not the ones in the home). Yeah, I don't miss those. OK usually gets 1-2/year.

[Amy752]

Hmmm... I moved here from snow and tornado country and won't EVER go back, hurricanes or not...

Anyway, any other ideas?

[34saving]

This certainly isn't as frugal as possible, but simply picking up some bottled water/batteries at a place like Sam's Club before everybody else is doing it will certainly help. (I think 48 1 L bottles is something like $5 . . .you could certainly buy the gallons cheaper than that.)

Also make sure you car never has less than 1/2 (3/4?) of a tank of gas. Keep your emergency kit ready so you don't forget something simple and have to pay a lot for it. (Medicine, CASH, change of clothes, baby suppplies if needed, can opener, disposable plates/utensils, toiletries, flashlight, sleeping bags, etc. . . .stuff you probably have already, but might forget if you had to leave quickly.)

This may sound weird, but find a place to go. IE, arrange with friend/relative X to go to his/her house. Have a key, phone numbers, directions, etc. in your emergency kit. (Maybe have a back-up friend just in case?)

[contrary1]

I'm no expert in hurricanes being from the Pac. NW, but I do have an emergency kit here. One thing I have is my list of accounts & numbers, so I can contact my banks, stores I have accounts with, etc. And, this is one time I think a CC may be appropriate, I've got one I don't use, with a zero bal, that is tucked in my kit.
I've also included decks of cards, travel size cribbage board, etc in our stuff here....doesn't take much room & might save our sanity.

[Ima saver]

I have 12 gallons of water made up all the time. I keep stocked up on charcoal so we can cook if the power goes out. I also have one of those camper type stoves. The type of flashlight that you shake to get it to burn. Lots and lots of candles and some battery operated lights.
Best thing to do is move to the mountains of North Georgia!

[cercis]

Ima - aren't those flashlights the best?

We have a flashlight that you crank but it sucks. The radio we have that cranks works much, much better (the flashlight was free).

I really recommend these 2 items because then you don't need batteries and don't have to worry about whether they've expired.

[baselle]

Sounds like you're getting the basics down, and now its a case of improving your conditions if the worst hits. I suggest off the bat 1.) a first aid kit. Red Cross sells a great soft kit you can stow in either home or car; and 2. foods ready to eat that don't take a lot of fancy preparations. I kept a stock of energy bars. Not gourmet but they're a meal in a pinch.

For hurricanes, the power might be out for weeks. In addition to the barbeque grill, a camping cookstove and a couple of bottles of propane will help you cook some of those frozen and canned goods. A trip to the sporting goods/camping supply store can give you some ideas, and now should be a good time (not quite camping season yet.).

For earthquakes, it was suggested to us to partner with a family or a friend outside your area code that you can call out and send word of your condition. Keeps the local phones from being tied up by the "Are you all right? I'm fine call."

[Amy752]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys - these are great! Fortunately we have a generator that my parents gave us, so I don't forsee losing a lot of food. But then the problem becomes expensive gasoline to run it, plus being able to get the gas when it's in such high demand. Not sure if there's anything we can do about that....