I know tumblr isn’t the usual place to post stuff like this, but to everyone preparing for Hurricane Florence on the east coast, I’m wishing you the best. As someone that lost every single thing I owned in Katrina, I learned some of these things the hard way, so here’s some evacuation advice:
Take pictures of every room in your house. You have no idea how many possessions you forget you have.
Don’t rely on plastic containers to be waterproof. Garbage bags are a good backup layer.
MOVE YOUR PHOTOS UP HIGH if you can’t take them with you. They were the most grieved possessions. That includes yearbooks.
If your favorite shirt is in the dirty laundry, take it with you anyway. You’ll miss it.
If you have elderly relatives in assisted living or nursing homes, MAKE SURE there is an evacuation plan for them. We had a very tragic situation here that included my great aunt.
TAKE YOUR PETS WITH YOU. If you absolutely, positively have no way to take your pet, DO NOT LEAVE THEM CAGED OR TIED UP. If water rises, they have no chance if they’re tethered.
Don’t leave guns at home. Looting is a serious problem, and guns are the first things to go. (A guy in my area actually stole an entire MRI machine. Seriously.)
Things float. Don’t leave valuable items on furniture that could move.
Make sure you have access to communication other than cell service. I’ve seen mention of the zello walkie-talkie app, but I don’t know about it personally. 13 years ago we relied on a tiny local forum to find people.
Google Earth is not up to date.
If you have the chance to step away from the news, take it. Find something to do.
If you are staying, make sure someone knows. Make sure they know where you are, where you might move to, what address you’re near, anything. Keep in contact with people as long as possible.
If you do stay, you have to be prepared to use survival skills. Watch out for infections and stay as dry as you can. Make sure you have food and clean water.
So my last bit of advice is don’t stay unless you have no other choice.
Personal story here... My dad was on the phone with us when the storm surge came. In a matter of 30 seconds, the water rose 5 feet where he stood. He made it out of the house (Try not to get trapped.) and across the street to my husband’s boat, but once he got into the boat, it flipped bow over stern. He was found hanging on for his life to a cable that tethered a barge by local fishermen that were on a shrimp boat nearby. (His story is in a book called The Good Pirates of the Forgotten Bayous.) We didn’t hear from him for I don’t know how long, because it felt like a lifetime to me, but when the water went down enough he was left to sleep in our ruined house on my bed which had floated on top of a nightstand so the mattress didn’t get soaked. Feel free to check out my personal Pictures, but be warned, they’re pretty sad. (And remember that picturetrail was a thing 13 years ago.)
Keep up hope. Tragedy does bring out the best in so many people. Believe it or not, a charity called the St. Bernard Project brought volunteers from across the country, and even from Canada to do a 24-hour build and rebuilt my parents’ house (a gutted home that they bought after the storm, ours was destroyed) from the studs up and it was featured on MTV. I wish I could find it online, because I never did get to actually watch it.
Also, I’m always here if anyone just needs a friend. <3
