Hurricane Isaac and Flashlights

Well in the next few hours my area will be battered by Hurricane Isaac. There will probably be a loss of power. I have my stash of flashlights ready to go and I am staying at my parents' house because I don't feel safe in mine. I brought my flashlights there for them to use, but I am keeping my favorite ones in my EDC bag. Actucally looking forward to a power outage, since it will give me an excuse to use my flashlights, lol. Is anyone else in my area and preparing to do the same thing? P.S. If I don't respond for a while, it is because there is no electricity and therefore no WiFi.

I'm all the way up north in New England, so Isaac might just be a tropical storm up here.

Stay safe!

Yes Eric, ready to go here. I dropped my battery charger when I picked it up and it stopped working, talk about bad timing! Luckily it was just a diode that needed re soldering, all batteries charged and ready to go. Plenty of food and fuel on hand so we are ready, keep safe man.

Stay safe and keep your heads down. We might get some rain up here Michigan, who knows.

Keep them flashlights ready & everyone in the area stay safe! I know it is very hard for some people to leave their homes so, be sure to have food stores also. I read the current Government in charge is ready to roll on this one unlike Katrina.

Hopefully you guys have water, food, and fuel stored (for cooking). The best way to prepare for these situations is to make sure you don't need anything from anyone for at least a week.

Stay safe.

Hurricanes are the sort of weather Pak Lites are perfect for. I imagine they would've been worth their weight in gold after Katrina.

I live in a snowy area where in the winter heavy snow or ice storms can knock out power for up to a week. Besides food, water and batteries, I keep 80 gallons of gasoline stored outside. For the backup generator and cars. I find it irresponsible how many people in hurricane prone areas do not have a source of back up power, sump pumps, or emergency supplies. I know you are prepared, it is most people in general I am referring to. It was smart of you to go to your parents house. Stay dry.

brianna said:

I live in a snowy area where in the winter heavy snow or ice storms can knock out power for up to a week. Besides food, water and batteries, I keep 80 gallons of gasoline stored outside. For the backup generator and cars. I find it irresponsible how many people in hurricane prone areas do not have a source of back up power, sump pumps, or emergency supplies. I know you are prepared, it is most people in general I am referring to. It was smart of you to go to your parents house. Stay dry.

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This is good advice but, please be aware that some people do not have the resources for back up power & much less for 80 gallons of gasoline. Not trying to knock you at all.

Stay in, stay safe, and keep an eye on the neighborhood. I don't miss coastal hurricanes!

AnAppleSnail said:

Stay in, stay safe, and keep an eye on the neighborhood. I don't miss coastal hurricanes!

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Well said!

I live in Central Europe, and there isn't much natural disasters to worry about. Although I'm prepared for a long power outage, but my biggest fear is a water outage! I can't imagine a single day without water

yliu said:

Well said!

I live in Central Europe, and there isn't much natural disasters to worry about. Although I'm prepared for a long power outage, but my biggest fear is a water outage! I can't imagine a single day without water

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Stock up! Here it's relatively easy to get 1 gallon or 5 gallon containers. I suppose there it'd be 2L and 12L? Don't go without those. I've been planning (and planning and planning) to stockpile enough for a few days. We have a gas tank for heat and cooking, but if the electricity goes out, so does our electric well...

yliu said:

Well said!

I live in Central Europe, and there isn't much natural disasters to worry about. Although I'm prepared for a long power outage, but my biggest fear is a water outage! I can't imagine a single day without water

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Not to worry! You have alcohol. It's cleaner anyway.

I live in NY and I feel that generally city-folks are more ill-prepared than others. Historically, there hasn't been much disaster or even much extended power outtage. Also, given that most of the homes / apartments here are so tiny and so expensive, it is difficult for us to have extra food / emergency supplies. I can't even fathom how much precious storage space we'll need to give up to store one month worth of food and water for two people.

Last year, we had Hurricane Irene. My wife and I decided to stay at home and prepared as much food / water / batteries / flashlights / emergency supplies as possible. We each had a bug out bag packed and ready to go on a moment's notice and we each had two flashlights on us (Fenix E01 on a "breakable" chain on our neck and a primary flashlight in our pockets). Long story short, the hurricane died before it even got to us, so it ended up just being nothing more than a large storm for us.

Anyway, good luck to the OP and all of those who are in the area.

xcel730 said:

I can't even fathom how much precious storage space we'll need to give up to store one month worth of food and water for two people.

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A month! Phew, start small! Come home with a gallon jug (On-island prices notwithstanding) and look where it could go. Dead shelf space in the closet, under a bed, or something. My foldout couch had space for a person to hide under the rear cushions, for instance. Even one of these gallon jugs would let you have a bit of water for the night. In large cities, usually things will be seen to quickly.

I think we have about a week supply. Most of the dead space (under bed, above closet, under sofa) are have stuff in them. With a massive 900 sq ft apartment, there aren't much real estate to store supplies.

Bottled water is nice to have, but if you run out the average hot water heater holds 40 gallons - be conservative and that will last a while. Watch out for sediment at the bottom :green:

AnAppleSnail said:

Stock up! Here it's relatively easy to get 1 gallon or 5 gallon containers. I suppose there it'd be 2L and 12L? Don't go without those. I've been planning (and planning and planning) to stockpile enough for a few days. We have a gas tank for heat and cooking, but if the electricity goes out, so does our electric well...

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Yeah, I do have some drinking water stocked. As for shower, I guess I have to skip that in a situation like that. Toilets are another pain in the a** sine they won't work w/o water.

My point is that, at least for me, a power outage is much less worse than a water outage.

ericjohn, best of luck to you and your family. I understand about wanting to use your lights, but be safe first. I hope your home akes it through the storm ok!! Karl

Best of luck...this is the perfect time totest out your RC options and see if they hold up...which is why I have a healthy stock of primaries. Hope everything comes out good for ya though! Let us know how it went!