Question(s) of the Day

What did you do during the hurricane? Were you prepared with food, water, ice and gas? Did you stay in a safe room? Were you glued to the TV? What advice would you offer others? I had bought plenty of canned food and other staples in case I needed them, filled up the car on Wednesday before everyone else panicked and had 5 bags of ice. I also bought a battery operated small TV before Charley (which was the best $25 I spent in a long time). I hung out in my family room with the dogs (when one wasnt hiding in my walk-in shower) and one of the cats (the other one was hiding under the bed). I talked on the phone with family and friends checking in with them and watched TV news none stop. I lost much sleep waiting for the winds and rain to come, then waiting for them to end. My advice would be to go out and buy a five dollar big plastic tote (got mine at Dollar General Store) and start a "hurricane kit", put some canned goods (tuna, vegetables, parmalat, etc), lots of batteries, flashlights, a radio and other essentials in it and tuck it away and hope you never need to pull it out. But at least you will already have some of the items you may need on hand. So many of us think we are safe because we are inland but the last three weeks proved that doesn't matter. Have a great day Amy

We were prepared with everything except ice. But I know where a couple of ice machines are, so that was Ok. With or without electricity, we stayed at home with the dogs. The best advise I can give people, with all the cordless phones and phone/answering machines, that need electric, make sure you have a plain phone that dosen't need electric. When your electric goes out, it dosen't mean your phone neccessarily goes out, we lost poser, plugged in an older phone, and could still keep in contact with everyone. Steve

We were busy like everyone else watching the storm's movement. They evacuated the islands around us so we had some "company" to stay with us. We even had a couple of cats come visit. We were prepared. Canned foods and lots of candles, camping lanterns and flashlights. We also have a camping toilet should it flood (sewers fill up, potties don't flush) Amy has great idea. We have a cooler we use for our "hurricane supplies" . That way we can store candles, propane, etc without the worry of them getting too hot. We are looking into a generator to help out. Best advice I can give is keep calm as possible. Be alert and pay attention to the news and know where the weather is. Leaving home is not always the best idea. Since these storms showed us, they can change paths, some people moved right into the path. This time of year, cars should be kept full of gas. There were stations without soon after it all started. I also always go take out money early when one is coming because I remember that credit cards and checks are useless if things get rough. Hope we hear from others today and let us know they are okay. Carol

Carol, I really like the cooler idea versus a tote, I couldnt find one last week but as soon as they are back in stock, I'm going to buy a really nice big one (on wheels LOL) and use that as part of my hurricane kit. Also, I had to giggle when I saw your comment about making sure you have cash. I had a pleasant surprise today while I was looking for a phone number in my wallet. I found the $60 I had hidden before Charley hit. I had forgotten all about it, that was a very nice surprise . Amy

HEY! AMY.........Did I mention I lost $60 the other day...I must have lost it in your wallet... Seriously.......Isn't it nice to find money that you have hidden from yourself. Always make me smile.. Carol

"What did you do during the hurricane? Were you prepared with food, water, ice and gas? Did you stay in a safe room? Were you glued to the TV? What advice would you offer others?" Answer: Well we drove to our Aunt and Uncle's house that is just a block or so away, but isn't a manufactured home so we were safe. We had everything, good food, ice and pleanty of gas. We've been through a lot of Hurricanes (this makes number eight for me) and know what to do in advance. We were in the bedrooms sleeping when the storm came, our power went out at nine am the following day. We were glued to the tv during the power outtage cause my uncle has a generator. Advice for others: Don't hesitate. Never think twice about what you are going to do. When it comes to mother nature prepare for the worse and hope for the best. Always fill your gas tank as full as possible. Bag your own ice if you have an ice dispesner. Why buy when you can make your own in preperation for the storm? Place all valuable items such as old photographs, court papers or anything important in plastic bags and then inside rubber made boxes. Always have on hand matches, candles, lighter fluid, flash lights and a stash of batteries. Buy a gallon of water for everyday just for yourself. Every person drinks on average one or more gallons of water. Usually it is safe to buy up to 10 gallons because no matter what its going to be finished off Keep on hand some comfort food as well as highly nutritenal food (sorry for spelling errors) to keep yourself from getting ill. If you can find them get the little battery powered fans that squir****er to keep you cool after the storm has come and gone taking the beautiful breeze with it. Please be ready this year is NOTHING compared to what weather forecasters believe next year to be like. (Read your paper!) One of the leading personal for the weather channel I believe stated that we may experience hurricane seasons like this for decades. We were on the slack side now we are the target (the entire east coast BUT florida was singled out this year). So just a heads up. Glad to see you posting Amy and that your good as well as everyone else! Im still at my Aunt and Uncles because EVERYONE around us has power except our little manufactured home community. Whats worse is we have a leaning tree about to fall on a power line and NO ONE has done anything about it. Shame, I feel like trash ~_~

Opps I forgot something else as well! Keep in mind that when these storms are both coming and going Tornado's are bound to pop up anywhere! Always be on the lookout for low hanging clouds with a spiral patteron. If they are spinning in the upper atmosphere theres no telling what could happen. But these are good signs of possible tornado's spawning. If anyone saw the storm as she made land fall and they did a doppler view of her, when she would route you would see in the actual storm seperate cells that were spinning in a circular motion. These areas as many found out were very tornadic. Also stay off the roads, I know its nice to go out, heck we did yesterday but its very dangerous when its still raining like it was and the wind is blowing at gusts 30+. If you feel a sudden temprature drop while outside be very wary, look to the sky .. if things look okay get to your destination as FAST as possible. Okay, good advice? I hope so. Im a bit of a weather freak, I don't know all the terms but I know what to look out for and I hope you will to. Just do research to educate yourself on what to be on the look out for when Hurricanes come. Tornados do pop during the storm but its almost impossible to see them because it is all ready so dark outside. Trust me...Hurricane Fran proved this well.... She came through, and our downspout from the gutter was spinning around and round as if there was a tornado right there and whooosh. There it went...A transformer blew and thats when i saw it! The thing was HUGE. Our house, thankfully did not get hit by it but it went down our street...scary yet oddly beautiful T_T

First of all, I just got my power back. Boy am I spoiled. And promise not to complain when I pay my next 370.00 power bill. I work for school transportation and I stayed here to help evacuate. I learned alot. Do not depend on cell phone, we did (at work) and they didn't work when we needed them to. Thank goodness we had hand held radio's that worked. We had alot of people to go to shelters. I did learn from Floyd to keep PBJ and bread on hand. When your hungry, its the best sandwich around. I personally missed my computer. I pay bills online and couldn't remember who needed to be payed. Well, I hope everyone is safe. tina

We were prepared well. We had loss of electricity for about 20 hours. My adult children (from West Palm Beach and Port St. Lucie)thier children and my college age daughter (at Fl Southern in Lakeland) were all home. It was fun. While we had electricity the girls cooked brownies and cookies since mom had bought mostly "healthy stuff". We had some wonderful family meals -- just like the holidays. All our "northern relatives" would call to see how we were doing and we'd say, well we're playing cards on the patio or swimming in the pool. Of course, you know by now that So. Miami faired well during this storm. Yesterday they all went back. My son's home was without any damage and they had freezer food loss. My older daughter's home had roof damage and their fence was blown away. She already has her FEMA registration number. We thank God that their loss was kept to a minimum. My prayers are with all who lost much more. LuvitsunnyV@goal

Well we just got our power back at about 6pm. Troy, me and the 3 kids all slept in the hall Saturday night, thank god for big hallways. My parents hung out in my dads room, which all of this is the old brick house. Saturday morning we lost power, but we were prepared! My husband and I ran outside and started the generator, ran the lines through the house and put on a DVD for the girls. With all the stress going on, I got sick, very sick I slept most of the day away trying to drink liquids. Next day ...it really upsetting. Today I am doing good again, thank god. The kids drove me crazy today. I am really happy we have a huge pantry stocked with food and water, we really don't have to do much shopping before a hurricane. We do have to stock up on gas for the generator. This time we did go buy a window A/C unit, but it is still in the box, we were going to open it tonight. I am so glad to hear people are safe. Tracey