Preparing For Isaac

The last few days have been an absolute flurry of activity around the farm.  Being so close to the Gulf means that we watch the Weather Channel and keep a constant eye out for tropical weather. 

 

When Katrina made landfall years ago, my husband was already living with some friends down here in Central Mississippi, while I was still in Middle Tennessee packing and trying to get our farm sold.  For him, the worst was being without power for days and the exorbitant gas prices.  For me, it was the days of not being able to reach him and just the general unknowns.

 

Watching Isaac roll through the Gulf on it's way to New Orleans, it was a bit of deja vu.  Although Isaac didn't bring the severe winds, it has brought plenty of rains.  Most of which have yet to reach us as of this morning.

 

Days ago, when it seemed certain that we were in for some Isaac-related weather, we put our farm plan into action.  Being several hours away from the Gulf means not only having time, but the hurricane effects have lessened by the time the storm reaches us.  We worry primarily about power outages, since we are far enough into the country that even a typical storm can knock our power out for hours.

Our Plan:

 

1.  Make sure all vehicles have full gas tanks and are parked high enough to avoid any low spots that may flood.  You might be wondering about this one, seeing as how we live so far inland.  While we expect some power outages, the purpose of keeping the vehicles full is twofold; for one, if the power does stay out for an extended length of time, we have the opportunity to leave if needed.  The second reason should be obvious to anyone who remembers Katrina, regardless of where you live.  Any hurricane in the Gulf tends to make the gas prices rise!  This is because offshore drilling stations go on lock down, as to the processing facilities. 

As for the parking, too much rain in too short of time can cause flash flooding no matter where you live.  The higher up you can park the better.  If you need to leave you don't want to go out to find your car is stuck!

 

2. Ensure all gas cans stored in the garage are full.  Why bother if your cars are full, unless you have a generator, right?  Well, that depends on you I suppose.  We have a Coleman dual fuel camp stove that can be operated on Coleman Fuel or regular gasoline.  Having those cans full means that I can have extra gas if I need to evacuate for some reason, or still cook if the power goes out and stays out for a long time.

 

3.  All mobile poultry pens moved out of low, potentially floodable areas. Pens are turned to allow winds to pass through. This is one that I learned the hard way.  When I first began building mobile poultry pens I covered the back and the center, leaving just the end with the door open (and covered in chicken wire of course).  For two years I never had a problem, until one afternoon when I sudden storm blew in from an odd direction and pushed a pen back some twenty five feet, killing a hen and breaking the leg of another.  I had thought it a fluke until a few months ago when another store flipped a pen completely backwards, though no birds were injured.  Now all my mobile pens have been made more open, and if turned into the winds allow it to blow right through.

 

4.  Poultry house vents on the rain ward side should be plastic covered to avoid wetting the inside.  Even with a considerable overhang, rains can quickly drench the poultry house if enough wind is behind it.  A stapler, 5 minutes, and some 4 mil plastic and the problem is eliminated.

5.  Anything and everything that might be blown over is put away or stakes down.  Pretty self explanatory I think. 

 

6.  All stock tanks full.  This one I learned from a regular thunderstorm.  A full tank goes nowhere, but a partially full tank, if it takes enough wind gusts to get rocking, will eventually fall over and promptly blow across the yard (or field).  Full tanks are a must!

 

7.  Check flashlights for batteries.  Should be a no-brainer, but I've read stories where people sat in the dark during Katrina simply because they'd forgotten to check the flashlight batteries.  We use rechargeables, so a few days ago I took them out and recharged them all, plus made sure the extras on hand are fully charged.  You just never know.

 

8.  Make sure oil lamps are full and matches or lights are nearby.  An oil lamp is so much nicer to have during an outage than a flashlight.  However, finding a match, especially during a crisis, can sometimes be difficult.  We plan ahead by putting the matches out by the lamps after I checked their oil level.

9.  Empty buckets are in the garage.  A million uses, and a million reasons to have at least a couple 5 gal buckets.

10.  Garage door is sandbagged.  For us, if enough rain comes down, our garage will flood due to some poor construction when the original builder put the house in.  A few bags of sand will keep the garage dry and gives us one less thing to worry about.

 

11.  All laundry is done and put away.  The key here is just about giving yourself one less thing to worry about. 

 

12.  Dishes are all done and put away.  This is two fold.  One, peace of mind.  Two, hygiene!  If you loose power and/or water, you don't want a sink full of dishes starting to smell. 

 

13.  Make sure there's a good supply of foods that require no cooking.  For me, I made some comfort snacks, including brownies and oatmeal raisin cookies, as well as two loaves of bread for sandwiches.  With a propane grill, a charcoal grill/smoke and also a camp stove I also have the option to cook meals if we choose.  On the water front we always have two cases of bottled water on hand for emergencies, as well as a five gallon bottle of water with pump. 

So as I sit here waiting on Isaac to arrive, we hope everyone out there are being safe and prepared!