You boys down south getting ready?? Pulled out all the generators (4) and got them all running and did all the service. Getting all of the gas cans together to get fueled up soon. Checked stash of MRE's and water. Have alot left over from last year. You folks up north I know have your own share of problems but down here these Hurricanes are getting nuts. Most of my family have diesels and we are looking at getting a 250-350 gallon tank set up on the land, beats the hell out of trying to find a gas station that has any fuel. Alot was learned from last year.

Kip

 

Maybe you should look into biodiesel refining while you're getting that big old tank.

I'd like to do it, but it's hard not having a permanent yard anywhere.

 

Jarhead,
I hear yeah. Up on our place in North Florida we have enough supplies to take care of a small army -water, rice, beans, dried goods, fuel, shells/ammo, etc. I can run the well off batteries/solar if needed. It's well positioned and if need be could be well protected if you know what I mean. As for our house in Merritt Island well if it blows away it blows away. We have a 33' travel trailer that is always full with water, LP, food and ready to go. Generator checked out 2 weeks ago. Gas cans will be filled up here soon and I was just in Tractor Supply yesterday looking for an auxl. fuel tank for the truck. 2 years ago it was just nuts here trying to get anything. We evac'ed twice once to GA and once to our place in N.FL and I have to tell you it is a scary thing to walk into a Wal Mart Super Center and the shelves are all empty. You live and learn. Many of us were prepared but...you just never know what the local yahoos will do if they cannot get food, water, fuel etc. I think we all saw last year with Katrina what can happen.

 

Better start putting lots of $$ into a quick intrest account to get ready for when the first one hits and the price of fuel rockets to $5+ a gallon. It's a comin !!!

 

Luckily the Commander of my base made our little exchange gas station for active duty military and reserve/guard on active duty only. That ****** off alot of retired but oh well, we had to have the fuel for all of the relief stuff and so forth and so on. People were driving I know of 150 miles to find gas.

 

last year i was in Pensacola fl. all summer. holy cow. i am from up north, and never had to deal with a huriacane.

so now i have a 2 gens. a new yanmar diesel gen. good for 5.5 kw, and an old 5 hp honda as a back up. and just found out the house is wired for a gen. fans, fridge, stove, and a/c. got 2, 55 gal. drums for diesel. 4, 5 gallon cans of gas. 1, 50 gal. plastic drum for drinking water. 5 cases of bottled water. couple boxes of of mixed can goods. 4 cases of MRE's. some good flash lights. on extra 50lbs bag of dog food. and a portable camping shower.
i think i am set. and a locking gas cap for the 1st gen. caught some one atempting to syphon " gas " from my diesel tank last year.

any thing else i might need. this will be my first year actually on my own. last year the navy just let me evacuat base and head hear, to my house.

Bob.

 

last year the day before katrina hit i was in bay st louis, miss(witch ive been told is no longer there. Then when rita was coming i was of shore of cocodrie, la and had to evacuate. those days sucked.

 

90DODGE, You are doing good. I wish more of these folks down here would just think ahead and do a little planning. I swear I despise these people that don't stock up on water and food because they know that the government will eventually give them food,ice,and water. Too many people depend on the government for things they should do for themselves. Every scum bag also tries to and does file with the red cross and Fema and get money for damages and losses even if they did not lose a dime. I better stop now. I am making myself mad.

 

See my location. Living in New Orleans has been quite an experience for sure. My family was VERY lucky. Only one of my aunts had plenty damange, but they recouped very quickly are are living normal again. I can't say the same for many people. My commute to school involves passing through the area right where the 17th street canal breached. You talk about some sad sights. Things are coming back together, though. I don't think the city will ever be what it was, but it will be pretty close.

 

The folks are looking at buying a generator for this season. I'm far enough inland that I'm not to worried about anything. Not to mention that the only thing in my fridge worth saving is the beer.

 

crosby is about 15-20 miles north west of the northern tip of galveston bay the morning we left (thursday)they were saying that rita was going right up the bay. the next town over, dayton, is just about where all the fema help started. a buddy of mine that lives maybe 4 miles east of me was having fema guys come to his house giving him water, food, and tarps.

 

Well I'm in college station which is about an hour or so north and slightly west of houston so I'm not to worried. My folks however live in richmond and we evacuated for rita because had it hit where it was originally intended to then my folks would have been hit head on.

 

A couple words of caution to those storing large quantities of gasoline. Please be careful how you store it. Having 25 to 30 gallons of that stuff sitting around is like sitting on a small nuke device if it is near fire. Gasoline stabilizer is also a good thing if you are going to store it for a while.

 

One of the things I have learned having been through at least 7 big blows (in the islands and Florida/states) is that the food/supplies you store and keep on hand for the big one should not require ice or special handling. Your plans for recovery should not include the need for ice. If you get ice, lucky you but, beans, rice, canned fruit and veggies, tuna fish, canned stew, MRE’s etc will get you through the hard times. You will not have to stand inline for anything if you plan ahead. All the idiots that we saw in line were there because of the free handouts they knew they would get. Sure we saw some that really got whacked hard but those were the same people that stuck around to help once they got what they needed. They were not the ones grabbing as many cases of water and running with it or 5 bags of ice without even owning a cooler to put the ice in (yeah they wanted a free cooler).

The thing boils down to in the end you need to take care of yourself because when it gets right down to it no one else will. My wife and I are hoping for a summer with no big storms but as we have learned nothing is certain so we prepare. Someone on here asked what do I need to be ready - well it all depends on your situation and needs. For us what is important is having a place to stay when we evacuate (our travel trailer), a vehicle to evacuate in (our truck), having food and water, enough fuel to get where we need to get, important paper work (insurance, registrations, family pictures, etc), batteries for our various devices, sufficient supply of ammo, duct tape and a very patient attitude with a good sense of humor. We have a generator but honestly if you can do without, that needs to be in your plan unless you like standing watch overnight to ensure no one steals it – YES THEY STEAL THEM even when they are running. Bottom-line comes down to preservation of life and you need to do whatever it takes if you want to preserve yours and your family’s lives.

 

Something that keeps causing unneeded deaths after a strom is these rocket scientist's that will run their ginny INSIDE the house or garage. On the radio and TV they keep saying DO NOT DO IT. But people just don't listen. I guess some folks just don't realize that Carbon Monoxide is the silent killer.