Thread by @sim_kern

Some Gulf-Coast-dweller advice for folks in the path of Henri 🧵
-Have a go-back packed w/important documents & electronics wrapped in plastic
-Move precious things & books & stuff that’ll be destroyed by water to high shelves or to a 2nd floor if you have one
1/

-If you have a car and street-park, move your car up into a high parking garage or to a higher street before the storm hits if you can
-Plan for your power, water & gas to be out for days (here we always plan for a week)
-Adults need 1gallon/person/day of drinking water
2/

-Have a few days of food thats both nonperishable & doesn’t need to be cooked. PB&Js are good, trail mix, snacks, spaghetti-o’s, jerky, etc.
-If you’re a drinker, some drinks can really help calm the nerves during the storm. But don’t get wasted, in case it goes bad for your area

Charge all your devices & if you have charger packs, make sure those are charged too. During the storm, use everything, especially your phone, plugged in until you lose power. If your power goes out, assume it’ll be out for a few days & use devices accordingly.
4/

When the storm starts fill up your bathtub with water for bathing & flushing toilets. Again hopefully this isn’t your drinking water source & you’ve planned ahead. But if you forget, definitely do this. Even if your water stays on, it’s often contaminated in a big storm. 5/

-This one’s quite worst case, but if you live in an area at risk of flooding & you have an attic, you need an axe, and you need to put that axe in the attic. People drown because they flee to their attics, have no egress point from there, and if the water comes up, they drown
6/

-If you have a yard, imagine anything out there that’s not tied down can become a deadly projectile or smash your windows. Everything loose has gotta come inside. Trim dead branches.
-check your street’s storm drains and clear them of sticks & leaves BEFORE the rain hits
7/

-It is very nice to get a battery-powered radio to get updates from your city if the power goes out. If you don’t have one, definitely recommend
-I also recommend headlamps for extended outages. Hands stay free & you can wrap one around a water jug facing in to make a lantern
/8

These are climate change times, rapid-intensification times, and failing-infrastructure times. Don’t use how things have gone in the past as a benchmark. Since Harvey, I always assume serious weather events are going to be worse than predicted, and I’m usually right.
/9

Worst case scenario if you over-prepare for a storm that’s a dud, you’ve got some extra food & water on hand.

Worst case scenario if you underprepare? Precious stuff gets destroyed, you suffer more than you had to, you’re endangered, you die.
/10

more stuff for your go-bag
-Medications!
-If you have allergies or asthma, they’ll get way worse after a flood or big storm.
-First aid kid
-Disinfecting wipes
-Toiletries for life at a shelter
-Change of clothes, extra socks & underwear
-kid/baby stuff if u have em
/11

-Also, have all your laundry done & dry, particularly towel & blankets. We were able to use them to dam up our doors & save our house from worse flooding during several tropical storms. Have buckets on hand to wring out the towels as they get saturated.
/11

If you have kids and/or pets, you need to consider what all you’re going to need for them as well if you’re stuck at your home for days without power or, worst-case, have to evacuate your home for a shelter.

Reminder that 6 INCHES of floodwater can sweep an adult off their feet

I mean, the "hurricane party" is quite the tradition in the Gulf, but it's also sort of a terrible idea. If things go south, you want to be able to make good decisions, and have all your motor skills available to you. It's also very dehydrating--not good if your water goes out

All super important, especially the carbon monoxide thing. That was the # 1 cause of death during winter storm Uri

https://twitter.com/mrogerswrites/status/1429096935885971459

-Have all your laundry done & dry, particularly towel & blankets. We were able to use them to dam up our doors & save our house from worse flooding during several tropical storms. Have buckets on hand to wring out the towels as they get saturated.

Some more really good advice/perspective from @saracress: npr.org/2018/09/11/646…

Oh yea, and also there's a pandemic. Add some masks sealed in plastic ziplocks to your go-bag.

Ooh someone posted about ice--yeah it's good to go to the gas station and get a couple bags of ice to keep in a cooler. You can put 'em in the fridge/freezer if the power goes out to keep stuff cold a bit longer.