I live, write, and garden in the PNW with my husband of 27 years, disabled daughter, college-aged son, and my 84-year-old mother. We have paid off $250,000.00 worth of debt (if you include the interest) in the last fifteen years and as of 6/12/2020 are 100% DEBT FREE!!!!So we're getting ready for what they are calling a post typhoon cyclone coming our way. This will likely be the worst storm to hit the west coast in my lifetime. Actually, it is to be a series of 3 storms to hit in rapid succession which are stemming from a Super Typhoon called Songda that is making its way across the Pacific Ocean from Japan.
We have plenty of shelf stable food, I've canned so much, and we have all of the staples I normally keep in food storage. We have our regular two cases of water in food storage and tonight we'll fill one of the bathtubs just in case we end up needing washing water or flushing water. We also have the 3 50 gallon rain barrels for further backup and to water the animals.
We've got a new, full BBQ-sized propane tank and 2 of the smaller propane tanks for the camp stove in case we end up having to cook on that. We've filled up the gas tank in the van. We've got the power station charging. It'll run my c-pap machine and DH's b-pap machine if we lose power. DH and I have been talking about getting a generator as well. I'd like to have something we can plug a couple of heaters into and a lamp and the fridge.
Our batteries are stocked up. Our cameras and cell phones are charged. Our computer batteries are charged. Our flashlights that don't take batteries are charged. Our regular flashlights and candles and lighters have all been rounded up.
We've tied down the garden low tunnels but we are talking about 50 to 70 knots of sustained winds so I am not sure it will make any difference in the end. Hopefully it will though. We've got all the empty pallets stacked in the garage now so they won't get rained on or go flying.
The rabbits have been taken care of early and the shutters are locked on the rabbit shed. The birds are going in early as well with extra food and water in case they can't come out tomorrow. Garage chicken has been secured with extra food and water (she's recovering from an injury) in her cage.
I can't think of anything else we need to do. We don't generally get storms quite this bad. Those of you who go through hurricanes on a regular basis over on the East coast, can you think of anything else I might need to do to prep?
Storm Prep
October 13th, 2016 at 11:52 pm
October 13th, 2016 at 11:58 pm 1476403099
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October 14th, 2016 at 12:11 am 1476403917
Do you have extra fuel for your van? If power is out for awhile and you do need to drive, stations won't have power either. We saw a lot of long lines at stations after the storm, because some people didn't have power and were filling up for their generators at stations that did have power.
You might also make sure to have cash on hand, ATMs won't work so great without power!
Stay safe! Avoid driving through any water covered streets after the storm passes. Roads do deteriorate. Most of the deaths here in the last week have been from drownings.
October 14th, 2016 at 12:53 am 1476406402
The large refillable water bottles (5 gallon or more) are easy to store as well. In an emergency, plastic food-grade buckets with lids will do. We keep the cat litter buckets with lids to fill with non-potable water for flushing.
October 14th, 2016 at 12:57 am 1476406632
October 14th, 2016 at 03:36 am 1476416217
A wrench to turn off utilities if necessary?
Extra prescriptions if necessary?
cash in case machines or power is down?
Fire extinguisher? ( I know silly with a rain storm but could be handy.)
Tarps if needed for chicken coop or rabbit hutch? (or roof?)
I live in an urban area and prefer quiet generators that don't use gas/propane. I have two goal zero solar generators: one Yeti 1250 and several of the Yeti 400. I like them because they can be left plugged in to a wall source but when power is out can be repowered by solar energy. I use the 400 when we go camping. The 1250 weighs 65 pounds and even though it has a little cart to move it around it stays in my master closet charging until needed. While it would keep my refrigerator cold for about a day I actually have a 3 foot dorm fridge that would plug in that would hold the important perishables from the fridge. I have a back yard that gets lots of sun to charge them.
October 14th, 2016 at 04:24 am 1476419041
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