National Hurricane Preparedness Week

Did you know that May 27th through June 2nd is National Hurricane Preparedness Week?  Well it is, so best get prepared.  Tropical Storm Beryl's arrival got me motivated to finish putting together our hurricane survival kit.  I believe we spent around $70 on supplies.  I lived through Hurricane Alicia when I was a baby (obviously didn't learn anything from that one).  I lived through Hurricane Rita recently, and I learned from that one.  Fill up the gas tank on your vehicle wayyyyy early and don't try to evacuate.  That was such a mess for all the Houstonians!  Lots of tragedies just trying to evacuate the city.  My family hung around the city and we ended up having about a 6 hour power outage for that hurricane.  I don't really know what to expect in Florida living so close to the coast. 

Our Water Stash:

70 16.9 oz water bottles from Costco - $7.50

You need 1 gallon per day per person.  At a minimum you should prepare for 3 days, but it is safer to have a 7 day supply.   This is approximately 9 gallons, a 3 day supply for us if Wyatt drank like an adult. 

Reliance 7 Gallon Aqua - Tainer from Wal Mart - ~$15.00

You can put 3/4 teaspoon of regular old Clorox in this container along with 7 gallons of water and be set for quite a while.  The Clorox is really only needed for serious long term storage. This gives us another 2 day supply.

Our Food Stash:

Beef Jerky, Raisins, Ritz Crackers, Tuna Fish, Baby Food Pouches - ~$50

 We do a lot of cooking so if we had to hunker down in our house we would be set because we have plenty of pantry items.  Wyatt is on his way to table food but not there yet so we feel like we need a large amount of baby food. 

Some Necessities:

~$0

We already had this laying around the house for the most part so I can't really give a cost estimate.  This box contains a first aid kit, matches, band aids, clorox wipes, face wipes, anti-bacterial hand wipes, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, can opener, foil, a poncho, a compass, flashlights, sewing kit, swiss army knife, mouthwash, soap, toothpaste, and shampoo & conditioner.

Not pictured we have a power inverter for charging things in the car, a battery operated radio, and several other flashlights and headlamps.  I have a plethora of candles and lighters around the house. I need to buy more batteries for our flashlight.  I also need to get some disposable diapers and wipes for Wyatt because I would not want to be dealing with cloth diapers without water / electricity.  Oh and plenty of guns and ammo. You never know if you will have to defend yourself!

How We Would Cook:

We have a little camping grill that my Dad gave us and some mini propane bottles since we are doing the condo living.  We plan to buy a few more propane bottles.  

What else do we need?
What am I missing? Can you think of something else we would need? Is it safe to live on the first floor of a 4 story building in a hurricane? I don't know de answer.

Do you need to get your hurricane stash going?  If you don't live in hurricane world, how about your "bad stuff is happening in your area stash"?

Some hurricane resources:
Preparing for a Hurricane by Your Own Home Store
Hurricane Shtuff from the Government / FEMA