Tips for Weathering the Storm

Weathering what storm, you ask? Doesn’t much matter. There’s always some storm in our futures. This isn’t as dramatic as a zombie apocalypse; but it’s one whale of a lot more likely, so it’s important to be ready. This post is a set of tips for best surviving and then recovering from storms.

Storm water is dangerous water

As it falls, the main risk of getting wet by storm water is hypothermia. That’s worth paying attention to, given that water steals body heat 25X faster than air.

Once it’s running around on the surface, flood waters get more dangerous. I remember in 1983, Des Moines’ waste treatment facility washed into the Mississippi. Much more commonly, animal confinement facility lagoons are overflowed into surface waters. That waste is potentially full of pathogens. 

Containment facilities for egg, meat, and dairy production have their own lagoons to collect and (theoretically) treat the animal waste.

Animal containment facility lagoons do Not resemble this lagoon. At All. And then the storm washes the waste lagoons into the flood waters…

Also, flood waters are usually impossible to see two inches through due to all the suspended soil. There’s lots of jabby, cutty, bludgeoning, and ensnaring things you can’t see in that water; and current too. River rescue diving is the most dangerous diving I know of for those reasons.

Storms: Unplugged

As Salty is a tech guy, our household’s been on this train even before we really started prepping. Near lightning strikes, brownouts, and power grids struggling to deal with adjusting supply in response to damage all do nasty things to the current supplied to your outlets. These power surges and dips can cause electronics to die. And I don’t mean “almost dead” like in Princess Bride. We’re talking Doorstop Dead. As a bonus, it occasionally causes items in your household to burst into flame. Not a great way to heat your home during the storm.

The best defense is to to unplug the appliances that can be unplugged for the duration. Another option, which works most but not every time, is to install surge protectors between the outlets and the electronics. The latter course has the advantage of working when you’re not home as the storm rolls in. We do a mix, with surge protectors in place but unplugging the most sensitive gear anyway.

If you’re running a generator to power home appliances, turning off the main house breaker is recommended. Sometimes the returning supplied power and generator do not work and play well together.

For high wind storms and fire, close interior and exterior openings

For fires, the reason’s pretty obvious: Containment by compartmentalization. It’s harder (and so less likely) for a fire to burn through a door than just jump room to room through an open door. Also, it makes it harder for the fire to get enough oxygen, and so restrains it. Opening a door on a fire can allow it a truly impressive (scary, dangerous, potentially fatal) energy boost.

For wind storms such as hurricanes and tornadoes, pressure is the problem. Again, closing doors compartmentalizes the building. This time, the benefit is that strong changes of pressure don’t push on as much roof at once. A strong wind going through a house is much more likely to lift its roof than a strong wind blasting into a single room through a broken window.

Ever wonder why roofs tend to pop off like champagne corks in storms? Pressure differences are a big reason; and open doors allow more total force to build.

Never climb away from water if there’s no exit at the top

I heard this one first from my friend Doc, in the most memorable way. She was part of the emergency response to Katrina. Many of those who died were found drowned in their attics when they climbed as high as they could go and there was no way out. Either make sure you can get from attic window roof; or don’t go up there at all.

This is not a great place to be in a flood. But it’s way better than being trapped in an attic with no exit above you.

If the storms cause a house to shift, turn off the gas

This applies to earthquakes as well as high wind storms or floods that may shift or warp  a building. Gas pipes may leak. Do you know where your gas shutoff is? Does it require a tool? If it requires a wrench to close, you can ziptie the right sized wrench right next to it. There are times when you don’t want to be hunting down the right tool.

We shut off our propane tank both at the tank and in the house for the summer months for this reason. It’s one less thing to think about through tornado season.

For storms that may cause a few days power outage

Sure, you can put ice bags in the refrigerator, but the melt’s rather a mess. You can also put the food in the washing machine and put the ice bags on top, then cover the whole lot with good insulation. The water drains harmlessly away, and everything’s packed in for high efficiency. You could even put a few things you’ll want to get into on top of the ice bags for quick access.

If you have insurance that may help you rebuild after a storm

If Mama Nature trashes your place, here’s hoping you have insurance to help take the financial sting out. (You know earthquake and flood insurance are separate from normal homeowner’s, right?) The insurance is a real help, but the documentation can be a pain in the tail. Taking a walk-through video of the house, including opening cabinets and closets to show contents, can make that process much easier. Please just remember to spread around the copies (In the Cloud and on a removable storage device kept off-site, for example). 

While you’re making those backups, do you have copies of your important papers similarly safe and handy?

Do it for Salty: If you’re taking the video with your cell phone…hold the phone sideways. Otherwise the video is the wrong shape and it’s totally annoying.

More on storms

 Many of these tips have been published elsewhere (including here). So why do this post? Either the tips were so good I thought they would bear repeating, or I hadn’t seen them in usual prepper sources and wanted to make them handy for you. If you want more on specific types of storms, we have posts on ice storms, hurricanes, and power outages.