midgulfmom's WunderBlog

great hint with the garbage bag in the freezer, after Ivan my fridge has never been the same. another thing that is great to have is a solar shower fill it up leave it out in the sunshine and voila warm shower in the evening.

Great tips. My only experience w/ evacuating was during the great SE TX exodus w/ Rita. Only thing I learned there was to stay at home; I'm far enough inland and high enough that surge and freshwater flooding are not issues for me. Run from water, shelter from wind.

[Erin/Opal/Ivan/Dennis tips] Fill all your tupperware (open tops, fill to 1" below edge) with water and put in the freezer early to make ice blocks. Fill all the space you can. Once frozen, they will keep things cold for a surprizingly long time. If the freezer stays cold, the fridge keeps cool as well (at least with my older fridge). Also useful if power is out as they will hold the cold and let you get by on a few generator sessions per day (hour or so morning, noon, and evening).

You can also wrap your frig with moving blankets or insulated blankets. I use bottles of water instead of tupperware, that way when it thaws we drink it.

Oh....

The most important tip!

Leave Early!!!! or you'll be stuck sitting in traffic!

Simplest solutions remain the best if without power. You can still get (hurricane) lamps - run them on lamp oil (kerosene is more volatile and smells). You get more light than a battery lamp, less heat than a Coleman lantern, and one fill will last all evening. Two burner propane camp stove completes your basic kitchen kit and lets you "survive" in style - no need for "camping out" style cooking.

Beachfox - very good point. Just remember to leave room at the top or the ice will bust the bottle. It's just water and cleans up easy - but we had more than enough mess to clean up in the aftermath. We got a couple of 5-gal jugs with a pouring valve for water. Fill it from the tap beforehand and save a heck of a lot of $ over bottled water.

We are all so dependant now on electronics that some of the basics slip by...like a standard can opener, and a battery-based land-line phone. As someone said on Dr. M's blog, often the phones are up before the power, and cellphones may be one of the LAST things to come back.

We leave a 5 gal water bottle in our chest style deep freezer. The large ice bottle lasts longer than most ice blocks. Plus, if it thaws, it is not messy and can be used for drinking water if needed. I would also recommend battery powered fans if you have to deal without electric power. They can make all the difference when you are trying to sleep without AC. Don't forget mosquito sprays/yard foggers. We spray around our house doors to keep them out of the house. Dive bombing mosquitoes are no fun when you are trying to sleep.

Thanks midgulfmom - You've done a great job.

It is great to have these tips in one location.
I've collected some tips from bloggers Tips and Trivia I am wondering if I should post those as comments (a few at a time, or just leave the link here. ( I am leaning towards posting them as comments here to this blog so that it is all in one place )

Again great job!

We spent 16 hours in a car on I45 with 2 toddlers & no bathrooms in sight. If I evacuate tomorrow, I am bringing our Fisher Price potty-training potty (which I saved for future evacs!), grocery bags to line it, and a BIG pack of toilet paper! Leashes for the dogs, a bowl for water (dogs CANNOT drink from water bottles very well). MAPS of all the side roads and back ways home from all surrounding cities. Dominoes. Kids can play the game, make up other games, use them as blocks and build houses, etc. Cards. Markers, Stickers and a notebook for each kid.

I sat Buelah out in Brownsville, TX. Never been so terrorized in my whole life. My Dad brought in 4 car batteries and placed them thru out the house. He hooked light bulbs up to them and we had lights in the most important rooms. I did that with Dolly just recently when we were without power for 6 long days and nights.

you should totally come on dr masters blog more often and update this when there is another evacuation possibly this hurricane season.