develop a sensible disaster plan and survival kit

I have a blue plastic bin in my bedroom filled with my journals, a headlamp, photos, all my CDs, and a file folder with all my important paperwork. It’s ready to throw in my car on a days’ notice when I hightail it to Baton Rouge. Out of immediate danger but not so far from New Orleans I can’t get back quickly.

And my roommate is not allowed to leave the area at the height of hurricane season next year. I’m not going through that again on her behalf, and she will know that on no uncertain terms when we get closer to summer.

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.

Before my roommate left on vacation, her instructions to me were to take the truck in case of evacuation, shove the cats into the cat carrier, shove the boxes of photo albums and documents in the back and tie them down, and get the heck out of New Orleans. As for my car, I can offer it to someone who has no other way to evacuate.

Oh, and feed the animals and take the dog for a walk and here are some important phone numbers in case you need to reach me.

Baton Rouge roadtrip, spent the day touring the old and new state capitols, lunch at Louie’s on LSU campus, tour of LSU campus, sushi dinner, spent the night with a friend and soon to be fellow special ed. teacher.

And I hate to think about this, but if I need to evacuate New Orleans next summer for a hurricane, I have a place to go. So this entry should go under the disaster plan and kit goal too.

There is an axe in the attic, just in case. I hope I never have to use it.

There’s a reason so many houses in New Orleans, particular in the Lower 9, have holes chopped in the roof.

Starting this fall I’ll need to have a hurricane evacuation plan. Supplies kit ready to throw in the car on a moment’s notice, extra cash for hotel rooms and meals while evacuated, gas tank as full as possible during hurricane season, etc.

I’m moving to New Orleans. We all have vivid images in our head of what can happen there. Heaven forbid it should happen again, but I’m not taking any chances.

kit includes the following:
18 gallon plastic bin
starter kit from Target (bonus of $10 donation to the Red Cross)
emergency car kit (orange warning triangle, jumper cables, etc.)
6 1-gallon jugs of water
assorted snacks (cereal, breakfast bars, canned pinapple, pudding cups)
fire extinguisher

All for just a little more then $100. See, preparedness doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated.

My family is getting a disaster supplies kit for Christmas. Shhh, don’t tell. :-) As for me, I’ll be asking for that stuff for Christmas. What better gift could you ask for than to be prepared in case of an emergency?

I spent a year as an AmeriCorps volunteer with the Red Cross-the least I can do is have a viable disaster plan and kit ready.

At the very least, we should have a fireproof safe for important documents and a working fire extinguisher. And since we’re coming up on winter storm season, it’s time to get our cars ready and stock up on nonperishable food.

On the plus side, we have a list of important phone numbers (work, school, cell) inside the cupboard.