Hurricane Sandy survival tips and prep info!!!

Extra pair of shoes under the bed in case power goes out and windows blow out. Don't want to walk around barefoot lookin for your shoes.

Wind-up combo radio and flashlight.

If the winds look like they will be bad and you can't depend on you neighbors to clean their yards tape up the windows to keep the glass from flying when they break. it will also help support the center of large windows from heavy gusts, fill up any propane cylinders you have for you bbq so you can cook if need be. seal up basement windows if the are prone to flooding and place rolled up newspapers on the floor under them in case the leak. kitty litter also works on small leaks. if water is trully a concern leave some buckets tied to down outside to collect some. Park you car in the garage but disconnect the garage door opener before hand if you have one. If you have a generator get it started before the power goes out not after.

If you have ever been through a Hurricane or Blizzard I'm sure you have valuable information that you could share with others on GLP.

Lets all put our heads together and share experiences, tips and ideas that might help someone get through Sandy safely.


I'll start...


-Secure loose items outside your house!!!! The winds may not be strong enough to break a window but flying debris will break glass. That means take down wind chimes, bird feeders, bring in trashcans, move plants inside, secure patio furniture, etc. Anything left outdoors can and will become a projectile. If items are too large to be brought inside, secure them the best you can. Ask you neighbors to do the same so their items do not blow through your windows.

-Freeze jugs of water. Then you will have block ice to keep food cold and after the jugs melt, you have drinking water. Once the power goes off, move jugs of frozen water from the freezer into the fridge and keep the fridge door closed. You can also move the jugs into a cooler filled with drinks to minimize opening the fridge. Remember, if your power is off, the corner store will not have ice either.

-The refrigerator will keep food cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened. A full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half-full) if the door remains closed. If your freezer is not full, fill it up with everything you can think of before the power goes off, i.e. water bottles, jugs of milk, even newspapers to fill in empty space.

-If you run out of drinking water, everyone who has a hot water heater has access to 40 or so gallons of clean water. Simply drain the water from your hot water heater via the valve on the front. Also, if you have a washer in your home, fill the washer with water, when it starts the wash cycle, turn the washer off and you have gallons and gallons of fresh drinking water. Filling the bathtub is also a good idea.

-30 or 40 gallon plastic trash cans are a good place to store large amounts of water for flushing toilets, washing dishes, and drinking if need be.

-Newspapers are good to soak up water with. You don’t want to clean up water that may seep into the house with towels because if there is no power for prolonged periods you have no way to wash and dry wet towels. Newspapers are easily cleaned up and can be thrown away.

- Do laundry and wash dishes before the storm hits. When the power goes out you don’t want heaps of dirty dishes or clothing to deal with.

-Charge up all you electronics before the power goes off.

- Fill your car with gas and have cash on hand because ATM’s will not work.

-Stock up on can goods and make sure you have a manual can opener.

-Batteries, flashlights, candles, and lanterns are a must have.

-A good cheap way to keep clean without power is to take wet washcloths, put a little soap on them, and seal them in zip lock bags...homemade handi-wipes.

-If you are on medication, get your scripts filled before the storm.

- Don’t seal your car windows up airtight. When the pressure drops your window’s can implode.


Lets keep this list going!

Get your close family together.

Discuss together and make firm, binding decisions about who to let in or turn away when the lights go out.

No wavering. Establish guidelines NOW.

Motion activated LED flood lights. Home Depot sells them. I am not in the danger area, but we are putting them all over the house and outside for times when power goes out here in winter. If you can only afford one, I'd recommend getting it. If you can put up brackets for an outside one before the storm, but keep it inside with you to put up for the aftermath, it might be handy.

One more thing I would add would be latex gloves. You never know what kind of mess you will have to clean up.

I'm not sure if you know this or not but LED flood lights will do you no good if there isn't electricity. Just because the are efficient they aren't ran off air. Solar panels or wind turbines will help you much more then LED lights

In addition to duct tape, have tarps, in case there is a gaping hole in your roof. After the storm, the snow is supposed to come....gotta keept the house warm and dry.

I personally DO NOT LIKE oil lamps, as I used them after Charlie (in FL), and they stunk up the house AND filled it with dirty smoke. I prefer wind-up led lights. Granted, it isn't very light, but it's cleaner and safer, and you don't run out of batteries. You can use candles if you don't have animals to knock them down.

Buy about TRIPLE the amount of batteries that you think you will use. Buy them now, they will be GONE quickly as soon as everyone starts taking this storm seriously. In fact, buy about TRIPLE everything you think you're going to buy!

Gasoline (for cars ANd generators), etc. BTW - if you use a generator, please, PLEASE do not use it indoors. No need for it during the storm, just hunker down and endure it....it's only going to last a few hours (even if it's up to 24 hours, just do the best you can). If your generator is outdoors, CHAIN IT UP with a sturdy chain so it won't walk.

I DISAGREE with the poster who says buy a lot of them and GOUGE your neighbors! That's cold. One think we did was we shared everything. One would cook coffee every morning (we were 12 days without electricity), one made sandwiches for lunch, I had a great generator, so we constantly had COLD drinks and jello and ICE CREAM!!!

We also stretched an extension cord across the street to the little old lady, so she could watch tv and run a lamp at night. It meant so much to her. We made sure she had food during the day, so she didn't need to cook....

In the end, the point of this thread is: just get ready early, folks. It's going to get crazy.

Sorry, I forgot to specify battery operated LED lights. We have one in our wood shed that lasted all last winter and is still strong.

You have heard of batteries???

You are probably the guy who gave me a short tempered negative karma, but I would say, lighten up. No pun intended.

plenty of hard liquor to deal with the bitching n moaning

As someone who lives on the gulf coast i have been through several hurricanes and i have some great financial advice. Go out and buy as many generators as possible and a few chainsaws. Start selling the generators right after the hurricane hits for twice what you paid for them. Then use the chainsaws you have to go door to door asking if people need any trees cut up.

I did this during Ike and made a pretty substantial amount of money doing so. I used my credit card to finance the whole thing and come out way on top.

Also, stock up on as much gas as you possibly can.

Turn your refrigerator and freezer to the coldest setting NOW so that food will last longer should the power go out.

-Capture rain water in a 5 gal. bucket placed under a down spout. You can wash dishes and flush the toilet with it. If you have to drink it, purify it first. Secure the bucket with a couple bricks or big rocks.

-Make sure you have important medications.

-Make sure you have coinage. Stores without power but are still selling goods may not be able to break large bills to make change.

-Liqour and beer :)

-Deck of cards

-A couple bags of charcoal so you can cook up your freezer contents if power is out for more than a couple days.

Yeah! Nothing like taking advantage of the misfortune of others.

very good thread CowgirlK! We lost power for two days with the Halloween snow storm last year. We lost power for a week with Irene. It was easy with Irene because it was warm. A little harder with the snow storm last October.

It's a good idea to have several oil lamps with extra oil. Keep matches by the oil lamps so you won't have to hunt for them when the lights go out.

keep the ideas coming!

AND TAMPONS, pads, etc, etc as necessary!!!

If you don't have a 4x4, have a friend who does.