Things to consider when preparing for Hurricane season 2016.

Hello my friend and welcome back!  As many of you know, June 1^st was the official start to the 2016 Hurricane season and I thought we might discuss a few things to help you be better prepared for it this year.  Grab yourself a cup of coffee and have a seat while we visit.

I spent last Saturday at the Lafayette Parish Emergency Operations Center getting ready for this year’s Hurricanes.  Now, if you remember Katrina and Rita hitting Louisiana a few years back, then as you might expect, we take Hurricanes very seriously.  For anyone that has never weathered a severe Hurricane, you have no idea how a storm can create a primordial fear in you!  It’s something that just can’t be explained and you just have to experience it for yourself.  It is definitely not something I recommend, as you could easily lose your life in one.

One of the biggest lessons that many of us learned is that no matter what the Government says, they are not on their way to help you!  In fact, during Katrina, the Federal Government seized the opportunity to confiscate all of the weapons they could find from the poor people who had left town to try and survive the Hurricane.  The large majority of these firearms were never returned to their rightful owners, even though they were confiscated illegally and without cause.  The Government never lets a good disaster go to waste.  If they had deployed those troops who were confiscating weapons and used them to help the people of New Orleans instead, they may have saved more lives. Lesson one: “Never depend on  the Federal or State Governments to help you in a crisis!”

Water and medical supplies were two of the items with the highest need once the storm had passed.  Water is a critical component of life and without it we die.  In the case of Katrina, some people did actually die of thirst while waiting for the Government to bring water to them.  Always keep a minimum of one week’s worth of drinking water for every member in your family and if possible thirty days for those who are not Preppers.  This is the single most important thing you can have when preparing for a hurricane or anything else for that matter.  Some people think that just because they have a water well, that they don’t need to keep potable water on hand, yet nothing could further from the truth.  Electric water pumps don’t work without electricity and because of their power consumption alternative power is not always feasible unless you have a good generator that works and is above the flood water. Contaminated flood waters can make getting water even harder.

Every time a hurricane will possibly hit us here in the US, people go running to the stores to buy Generators, and not all of them are lucky enough to find one.  Why you might wonder do they wait till the last minute?  It’s usually because they drug out their old generator and found it no longer works.  If you have a generator, the time to test it is now, not just before the Hurricane makes landfall.  You need to also you have plenty of gas and oil for it put where high water will not get in it.  Take the time now to test it and be sure it will work when you need it.

Medication is another item you should keep stored for a Hurricane, especially if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure or any other life threatening condition.  Remember that after a major Hurricane, Pharmacies may not be open for several weeks or longer.  You need to keep a months’ worth of medicine in your Hurricane supplies.  Talk to your Dr. about it and follow their recommendations.    You would also be well advised to keep a well-stocked first aid kit in your supplies as well.

FEMA now recommends that you keep at least a week’s worth of food, water and medication at all times in case something were to happen. This is especially true during Hurricane season and as Preppers, we are usually well stocked on all of these, but for those who are not Preppers, you need to be prepared because when you are dying of thirst or from lack of medication it is a bad time to realize that you should have been prepared.

Well that is it for today my friend and I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Until next time, stay safe, stay strong, and stay prepared.  God bless America!

-The Sargent-