These are very simple instructions that may or may not be obvious to you until you live through a major hurricane. The worst part is not the storm itself, the worst part is what happened after it passes. How your world is torn asunder. How business and work become nearly impossible.
Step #1 Stock up on gas
Make sure you have full tanks and backup tanks. Gas is used for everything, generators to chainsaws. All types of machinery use this essential element. So make sure u have enough to store and trade.
Step #2 Make sure you have drinking water
If you can collect clean rainwater to use for toilets and washing clothes do so, but keep a separate stock of drinking water. Due to our own contamination and lack of funds for EPA, we have poisoned our own lands, so rainwater is often contaminated. Do not drink rain water, unless boiled and chilled.
Step #3 Food
Stock up on food. Non perishables are always recommended but make sure once you open a can use it asap. Feed the neighbors, dogs and cats, but do not think canned goods will never perish. Also, try to keep a balanced protein diet staying away from meats. You never know what meat people are selling and if there is no power how they are storing the food. Meats hold more bacteria than plant based protein, and if stored improperly it will make you sick. So consider nuts dried fruit seeds and if u must the beef jerky or canned meat. Hate to say it but Peanut butter jelly time.
Step # 4 Cash
Take out around $3,500, depending on how bad the natural disaster hit. If power is out, most places will only accept cash.
Step #5 Back up electronic gear
Those famous back up battery packs that are so expensive may not seem like a necessary, but come in handy when the electricity is out. Also get a battery powered radio and maybe a wireless speaker. The silence in the aftermath will drive you mad.
Step #6 Get a machete
A machete seems like an extreme tool but is very useful in these instances. The hurricane probably turned entire trees into projectiles, using a machete will open more doors and can be used to cut away fallen branches.
Step #7 Print resumes
Do to the aftermath and lack of communication, you may not have a job anymore. Always have a plan B. Employers obviously do not like when employee circumstances are not convenient for them, and this makes the perfect excuse to fire those they want to remove.
Step #8 Stay in the big city area
Big city means big clean up and the city will be the first to have power and running water. All commercial zones are where response will come first. You can walk to most places and food sources will be open.
Those living many miles from a major city will have a very long wait for support. You will need triple the food and water, and should plan to be self sufficient for weeks or more.
Step #9 Necessities
A first aid kit equipped with peroxide and antibiotics. Most places are openly exposed to a sorts of infestations, try to get citronella candles too. Keep it clean and healthy, hospitals and help centers will be a breeding ground for diseases.
Look at the experience as an opportunity to grow, and stay calm and collected. Most people do not have the emotional maturity or patience to work through this. It is not the end of the world but only the prepared survive.
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