Which brings me to another topic. You need to be able to walk for miles if need be. Your default method of travel is your feet. Be ready to use them. You may not be able to run a marathon, and for most of us, training for such endeavors is beyond the scope of what we're willing to do. But if you can't hike a few miles, you need to Fix That. Be in shape. Go to the gym a few times a week, go on walks, go for runs, bike some, DO SOMETHING. The time to realize you need to be in shape is not when you're trying to walk out of a city and you can't.
Thank you for including the bit at the end. I got an email last night from a well-intentioned "preparedness counselor" from my parents' church, all about what to do before and after an earthquake ... 9 hours after the earthquake occurred. In the meantime, there was *no* information included in the email about preparing for a hurricane.
Another friend who's in Miami for the week has been posting, basically, "La la, hurricane! No one down here is worried, and they're veterans! We have nothing to fear! Wish I could stick around to see it!"
And yes, we've been hit by hurricanes before up here. They're usually not nearly as strong by the time they reach us as this one is projected to be. I'm concerned that people around here do not seem to be taking it at all seriously.
Heh, the basics for a hurricane are just food/water/entertainment. The next level up is a first aid kit and some basic tools in case something breaks or you experience some water damage issues. Going out in it is making yourself part of the problem, not the solution. Sometimes the best thing you can do is sit on your butt and do nothing. (For many, this is a difficult thing to do for sure.) Unless the hurricane is evacuation level, you just need to be prepared to ride it out, perhaps without electricity. That means going old-school on your entertainment. Books, games, stories, whatever entertains you without electricity and/or internet. Maybe time to break out the dice and do some old-school D&D!
I can reinforce your warning about cellular networks. This happened during Hurricane Charley's pass through Orlando in 2004. You couldn't get a call through to save your life (literally) for a whole week after the storm passed. Remember also that power will be out most places, and your phone will run down. (You can recharge in your car maybe, but you'll run out of gas eventually, and gas pumps don't work with no power.) That said, text messages, though they are low priority on the network and therefore tend to be delivered late, are much more likely to get through than calls. (Not sure if emails from your smartphone would work the same -- that really didn't exist back then.) This is why I now spend the money to maintain a land line.
The shoes are super important if you are not near your vehicle. Socks, too. I wear "sensible shoes" every day and I have a spare set of socks and undies wrapped up in my bag.
Good point about the socks. Good socks and underwear are important if you're going to be more than just sitting around. That means no cotton, and no bulk pack socks from Walmart. Anything you're going to be walking miles in probably needs to be some Thorlos, Smartwools, or similar. I like the 5.11 level 2 duty sock, and the Underarmour athletic socks as well. Same goes for the underwear. Something you'll walk and sweat in over hours should be wicking and not cotton.
Yesterday was one of the days when my garage spot was worth every dime I pay for it. I'm 8 floors and a 50-yard walk from a week's worth of supplies, plus bug-out goodies. Have to leave the good defensive stuff in VA, but other than that, I'm fat.
[ETA] Drove 2 people home with me, when I left. Room for another, but that was all who needed a ride in my direction.
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Agree 100%.
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Another friend who's in Miami for the week has been posting, basically, "La la, hurricane! No one down here is worried, and they're veterans! We have nothing to fear! Wish I could stick around to see it!"
And yes, we've been hit by hurricanes before up here. They're usually not nearly as strong by the time they reach us as this one is projected to be. I'm concerned that people around here do not seem to be taking it at all seriously.
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The shoes are super important if you are not near your vehicle. Socks, too. I wear "sensible shoes" every day and I have a spare set of socks and undies wrapped up in my bag.
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[ETA] Drove 2 people home with me, when I left. Room for another, but that was all who needed a ride in my direction.
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