Sent the following email to my clients this morning and thought it might be useful to some of you others who haven’t yet experienced a hurricane…
Looks like we’re going to get hit with something this weekend — whether we get a full-blown hurricane is still unknown, but we should at least get a big storm, which may lead to flooding, power outages, etc. As someone who grew up in Florida and spent three years in Puerto Rico, I don’t really freak out over hurricanes, but I have learned to take them seriously — better safe than sorry!
Here are a few of my top suggestions to prepare yourself and your home for Irene:
Stock up on water for drinking, and fill your bathtub with water to use for washing up, flushing toilet, etc.
Make sure you have plenty of non-perishable food for yourself and pets
Bring in all outdoor plants, grills, furniture, or anything else that could potentially fly through a window
Buy batteries and an old-school battery operated radio (if you don’t already have one)
Make sure you have a flashlight, candles and matches — don’t use the candles during the storm (fire hazard), but for extended power outages after
Note: Matches will also allow you to light your gas stove
Have a cooler and some ice packs ready for perishable foods and/or turn your fridge up to its coldest setting before the storm and then if power goes out, don’t open it until power returns (note that the more packed your fridge is, the better it will retain the cold — if you only have a few things in there, might want to go the cooler route)
Fully charge your cell phone & write down key phone numbers so you have them handy if/when your charge runs out — I know that I, for one, don’t actually KNOW anyone’s numbers anymore.
Fill your car’s tank with gas and withdraw a few hundred bucks cash (small bills) — if power goes out, gas pumps and ATMs won’t work
Here’s a link to the National Hurricane Center’s preparedness page, for more info on preparing and what to do during a hurricane, in case it does actually happen. And here’s a link to Cambridge-specific info and for Somerville.