Hurricane Preparedness

I haven’t had anything interesting to say lately, so I have wisely held my counsel and said nothing. Not that I usually have anything to say of interest to anyone else, but blogging is an exercise in solipsism more than anything else. I’m interested, so y’all will just have to endure my meanderings.

Hurricane season is well upon us now, with Alberto dreaming up ever more reasons to restrict our constitutional rights using dubious arguments about executive privilege and security. Umm, wait, wrong Alberto. Alberto is washing ashore in Florida, having decided he’d rather be a pathetic slacker and not become a hurricane. One of his cousins did a considerable amount of damage around these parts with the same career path, so maybe he’ll amount to something after all. Allison proved to everyone in the greater Houston metro area that locating essential and or valuable items underground when the elevation is only a skosh above sea level was a stunningly bad idea. Given the regular pounding Florida takes from hurricanes, I would hope everyone there understands this lesson, but perhaps not.

Anyhow, J and I have been discussing our plans for hurricane prep this year. I can summarize them as follows: board up and wait. It’s the same plan we followed last year for Rita. We made the command decision early on that we weren’t evacuating. Our reasoning was simple. Our house didn’t flood during Allison, when the city got two feet of rain. We are far enough inland so we won’t get storm surge. So all we have to worry about is the wind tearing the place up. Based on the logic of "run from water, hide from wind", we should be good.

I have been buying plywood anchors up on random trips to the hardware store and have enough for the main house. The garage and guest house are as yet screwed. I’m thinking another bag or two will cover me. Then it’s time to get some more plywood and trim it to fit. I’ve put together a small tool bag with some general purpose tools, but I can add hurricane specific items from my collection as needed. I have the odd looter deterrent about the house and enough ammunition should law and order in our sleepy middle class community break down completely. I’m not betting on that, but one does like the option.

We are looking at generators. I think a generator will be handy all around for some things, plus if the power goes out we can blog assuming the cell network stays up. Other than that, we have perused a number of the disaster prep lists and have stocked up where necessary. Not much was actually needed for us. Aside from the generator, we just need to stock up on a few more canned comestibles and we’ll be good.

I full well realize we may not need all of the stuff. However, as last year proved beyond any shadow of a doubt, once you need things, you can’t get them. Disaster supplies are like guns: when you need them, you need them badly. Of course, in the perverse way of the universe, having the supplies will help to ensure that no hurricane comes anywhere near us this season. I don’t harbor any illusions that my actions will determine the course of a storm, but it does seem that if you’re prepared it’ll go elsewhere. Unless you live in Florida, in which case you’re pretty much screwed.