marathoner452 is a special education teacher at a school called "hope."
I have an out-of-area phone number, as do half of the people who live in New Orleans. 504 (local) numbers didn’t work after Katrina because all the local towers were down, but out of area numbers did.
I will keep my car’s gas tank at least half-full at all times.
I will check the weather and the National Hurricane Center website daily to track any storms that might be developing.
My roommate has been through this before, so I’ll trust her decision on whether to stay put or evacuate. She also has the supplies we need: generator, battery-operated radio, flashlights, bottled water.
I have a first-aid kit in my car along with jumper cables and a tow rope and additional fluids (oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid) to keep my car going.
I have friends in Baton Rouge if I need to get out of New Orleans for just a day or two, and family in Maryland and Michigan if I need to leave for longer than that.
I do need to stock up more on non-perishable foods, which I will do next time I go to the grocery store. In a pinch, I have some poptarts in the pantry and granola and cereal bars and pecans and Gatorade powder. Which sounds like enough, but if we’re staying put we may very well need more than three days’ worth of supplies.
Why the Gatorade powder? As a distance runner I know you sweat more than just water, and you need something to replace the electrolytes you lose. If the power goes out in the summer it’s gonna get meltingly hot indoors very quickly and we’re going to be sweating a lot. Given the neighborhood, opening the windows and doors while we sleep is just not an option.
I should have a Louisiana ID so I can prove I live here. I’m a full-time graduate student so I’ve been able to put that off thus far, plus I didn’t want to transfer my car registration here and incur all of the associated fees and hike in car insurance rates. If I wait until my next birthday I’ll be 25 and should be able to save on insurance, plus I should have a teaching job by then and so be able to afford it. That’s early August and the risk of a major storm by then is relatively slim.
